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

[Gerry Gras]

That's quite a story!  (The Hunger Project Banquet).
I guess that's an evening that will be remembered
for a long time!  I sort of wish I had been there,
(as long as I would not be one of the global rich.)

Thanks!

Gerry


Tian Harter wrote:

> 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.
>