[Sosfbay-discuss] A couple of food stories...

[Tian Harter]

Last Wednesday Laura Stec and Eugene Cordero Ph.D. gave a talk about
their new book about the global warming issue here in Mountain View.
The book is beautiful, with lots of pictures, recipes, and fun little
tidbits of info in boxes that put the major themes in perspective.
You can check out my notes from the event by visiting this page:

http://tian.greens.org/MountainView/CastroSt/BooksInc/CoolCuisine.html

On Sunday evening I went to a "Hunger Project Banquet" in San Jose.
When I got there they took my $20, gave me the name "Teresa" and 
explained that I was a landholding farmer in Mozambique. The woman
showed me where to sit, in the last empty seat at the middle class 
table. They did something similar with all the other guests, breaking us
into three groups.

The table of "global rich" was four people who had a many course meal
(salad, steak, cheesecake plus condiments, side dishes and who knows
what else) accompanied by wine and candles. Each of the people at that
table had two servers waiting on their every desire. They started on
their first course long before the rest of us.

While the rest of us were waiting for our food the woman running the 
show led us in a discussion of the global causes for hunger. What I 
found out was that the rich got as much air time as they wanted to 
express their feelings, and the poor got most of the rest just because
there were always lots of them with their hands up. I never did manage
to put my two cents worth in.

The table of "global middle class" was about a dozen of us including me.
We had enchiladas (our choice of vegetarian or chicken) with optional 
sides of lettuce, salsa, and sour cream, and a brownie for desert. It 
was served with chilled tea. We had to go through a food line, just one
step above serving ourselves. The meal was delicious if somewhat plain.
It was hard not to be irritated at the rich, over there eating food we 
could smell long before we got a chance to eat a bite.

While I was going back for seconds they had some special presentations
by a couple of kids playing roles. One was a poor farmer whose choice
was to either farm soil known to be salted with bombies (little bombs
what could easily blow off your foot and leave you handicapped for life)
left over from the last war or starve to death. The other was a native
South-American who had been pushed out of the forest by industrial 
agriculture, couldn't find a job, and was forced to scavenge for food
from the dumpsters of Rio De Janeiro.

The rest of the group, something like fifty people, had to sit on the
floor. After listening to all the above they were served rice and beans,
after even the middle class had their fill of seconds. I tasted their
food, and the only spice was a bit of salt on the beans. They didn't
even get a glass of water to go with the food. I can't imagine how they
felt.
-- 
Tian
http://tian.greens.org
Latest change: Added pictures and commentary from Cool Cuisine talk.
I gave a HI quarter to Terry Rayl Friday evening. She is my President.