Those who attended the Oxfam Hunger Banquet at Tusculum College on Tuesday evening quickly realized it was not a typical event.

Banquets do not commonly have a majority of the people sitting on the floor nor does the menu usually vary drastically among the participants. It did at the Oxfam Hunger Banquet, sponsored and hosted by the college's Bonner Leaders Program.

But, then the Oxfam Hunger Banquet is not designed to be a dining experience in the traditional sense, but an illustration of the daily reality for the world's population in terms of food resources.

Giving a monetary gift or donation of a canned food item as they entered, participants were given a ticket which indicated in which area representing an economic level they were to sit.

Eighty percent of the donations were given to local charities and 20 percent of it to assist with international efforts of Oxfam to combat hunger. The donations of canned foods were given to the local food bank of the Greeneville-Greene County Community Ministries.

Sixty percent of those attending sat in the low income level, representing the part of the world's population that lives in dire poverty and for whom having enough to eat is a daily struggle. People in this level were given plain rice and water, and sat on the floor, eating their rice with their fingers.

Twenty-five percent were in the middle income level, representing people with yearly salaries between $900 and $9,999, and were able to serve themselves beans and rice. This group ate at unadorned tables and had plastic silverware.

Fifteen percent were in the high income level - those with yearly salaries $10,000 and above, and were served a three-course meal at tables neatly set with silverware atop white tablecloths.

Afterwards, students said the banquet was a learning experience in that it helped illustrate a reality for a large portion of the world's population that is sometimes difficult to understand for people in a country as prosperous as the United States. Students who were in the high income level said that it was embarrassing to enjoy a good meal while so many people were having rice and beans or just rice.

Members of the community who attended the banquet said it was a learning experience. Cate Hamilton, director of the Greene County Chapter of Habitat for Humanity, said she wanted to attend the banquet because the problems of hunger, substandard housing, and poverty are all inter-related.

"You are our future leaders and you can make a difference in ending these problems in the world," she told the students.

Sally Causey, director of Rural Resources, and Carmen Ricker, director of the Greeneville-Greene County Community Ministries, spoke briefly.

Causey shared information about a new Rural Resources project to bring fresh produce to people who may not normally have access to it through a mobile farmer's market. The project, slated to begin this summer, is being funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Tusculum students helped do some of the research needed for the grant application, Causey noted.

Ricker thanked those at the banquets for the donation of food and challenged them to continue to be involved in efforts to end hunger. Hunger is a threat for some people locally, she said, and the Community Ministries provided more than 700,000 meals last year, a record. This year, the Community Ministries is on pace to surpass that number, she added.

Also attending the banquet were members of a service-learning class from North Greene High School, who had an informational display about their activities set up at the banquet.

The Hunger Banquet was also sponsored by the Tusculum College Center for Civic Advancement at the college, members of a Service-Learning class, and Sodexho, the campus food service.

© 2005 Tusculum College | Telephone: 1.800.729.0256 | email: webmaster@tusculum.edu