Banquet puts food into perspective

It was a banquet with a twist. Last night at Houston Hall, around 40 students gathered for a "Hunger Banquet," one of the several events organized for Penn's Poverty Awareness week. Upon entering Bodek Lounge at Houston Hall, students were given one of three cards which gave them an identity either as a lower, middle or upper-income individual -- and were treated to a meal based on the card they were handed. "It's a simulation to talk about food distribution throughout the globe," Civic House associate director and event organizer Heather Kilmer said. "We don't have a shortage of food," Kilmer said, "we have a surplus of food." Those in the lower-income group received only rice and water. Beans were added to the middle income group, and the upper-income attendees were given chicken and juice as well. "We didn't choose our lot," moderator and second-year Graduate School of Education student Ayala Abramovici said, highlighting the fact that those who are hungry do not choose their status. Abramovici stressed the fact that hunger is a worldwide problem. "No one section of this room represents a single country," she said. In her opening remarks, Abramovici increased the interactive nature of the night by shifting people from one income level to the next, reflecting a hypothetical job loss or gain. "It's not like you can miss the people that are hurting," History Professor David Ludden said of those who travel to countries plagued by hunger and poverty. "The great majority of them are children," Ludden added about the segment of the population most affected by hunger. Ludden went on to describe some of the medical conditions which hungry children suffer from, like being "stunted," or seriously undersized for their age. The impact of hunger on the United States and Philadelphia was discussed as well. Tanya Seh, of the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger, stressed the importance of government involvement in helping those who suffer from hunger. "It's very important to have these programs because the government needs to take responsibility," Seh said. A lack of nutritious food for Americans was discussed as well as hunger. Bob Pierson, the founder of Farm to City, which tries to connect local farmers to food markets in Philadelphia, blamed problems like "the epidemic proportion of adult onset diabetes" on "a misallocation of political will" and the "the loss of the kitchen culture." In a reflection session at the closing of the event, students praised the experience but emphasized that it was only a simulation. A student who was placed in the lower-income group said the event reminded her that she was lucky because she could get food as needed. "I can go to Allegro's if I get hungry," College of General Studies student Melissa Byrne said. "It's not okay for someone to freeze in Chicago when you have abandoned buildings all around," Kensington Welfare Rights Union member Galen Tyler said. Tyler, who used to be homeless, is chairman of the organizing committee of KWRU, a union of currently and formerly homeless and poor individuals. He was eager to stress that massive improvements are necessary. "You can't put a band-aid over a gaping wound," he said.

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