Hunger Banquet

Yesterday I had a really great experience attending the 20th Hunger Banquet. Now, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the Hunger Banquet, it might sound like an oxymoron. But the Hunger Banquet is not your average feast; in fact it is the only dinner I know of where people will pay eight dollars to attend a dinner they will likely leave hungry from.

The hunger banquet is divided up into three groups, high-class, middle-class, and the poor. The size of each of these groups is proportional to the world’s actual economic ratios. Ten percent of the people who go are randomly chosen to sit at super nice tables with all the trimmings and eat delicious food catered by Tucanos. Twenty percent sit in chairs and eat hotdogs with chips and a can of soda. The remaining 70 percent sit on the floor and have beans, rice, and tortillas. It’s an eye-opening experience to see such a visual representation of the amount of people in the world who leave hungry from every meal.

Besides the meal (I was middle-class so I got a hot dog) they had performances and a interesting key-note speaker. The speaker spoke on the theme of the night, “Celebrating Human Dignity.” He said that all people have the same value even though their economic circumstances might be different. He called us to action and said that we can make a difference in the world by supporting organizations that teach people how to help themselves leave poverty. The speech was short, direct, and memorable.

The best meal I ever had that I left hungry from.