Campus & Community

Oxfam Hunger Banquet Will Highlight Global Crisis of Hunger

Wednesday, November 28, 2018, By News Staff

Oxfam at Syracuse University will host an Oxfam Hunger Banquet on Friday, Nov. 30, from 2-3:30 p.m. in the Strasser Legacy Room, 220 Eggers Hall. The banquet is an interactive experience that teaches guests about food distribution and hunger throughout the world. All are invited to attend.

Oxfam Hunger Banquets have helped people understand the reality of hunger for over 40 years at thousands of events attended by more than 875,000 people around the country. Before the event, guests draw tickets at random that assign each to a high-, middle- or low-tier based on current statistics of people living in poverty. Each income tier receives a meal that corresponds to their income level. The high-income tier is served a sumptuous meal; the middle-income section eats a simpler meal of rice and beans; and the low-income tier receives rice and water.

According to the United Nations, approximately 815 million people suffer from chronic hunger worldwide–more than the population of the United States, Canada and European Union combined. Currently, conflict and drought have pushed four nations to the brink of famine. South Sudan, Nigeria, Yemen and Somalia are facing catastrophic humanitarian crises, where millions are at risk of starvation.

“This banquet is especially important because it encourages participants to realize that hunger is about power. Its roots lie in inequalities and one’s access to resources. At the banquet, we emphasize that if we eliminate certain inequalities and injustices, we can eliminate hunger,” says Arva Hassonjee, an international relations and citizenship and civic engagement major in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and co-founder and president of Oxfam at Syracuse University.

“This event is a metaphor for how food and other resources are inequitably distributed in the world and it brings this global crisis to life, and will help the Syracuse community to see hunger in a new way. Attending an Oxfam America Hunger Banquet is actually what led me to co-found the Oxfam chapter on campus freshmen year.”

This year’s banquet is sponsored by Oxfam at Syracuse University, the International Relations Program in the Maxwell School and Nourish at Syracuse University.

For more information, contact Hassonjee at arvahassonjee@gmail.com.