The goal of a hunger meal is to simulate
the reality of hunger and poverty. A hunger meal provides a way
to put our own faces on the hungry in the world, to experience
some of the dynamics that shape the lives of hungry people, and
to hear Jesus call to action. An ideal time to hold a hunger
meal is at the transition from Epiphany to Lent or during the
Lenten season (such as when many congregations hold weekly
Lenten suppers) to help participants increase awareness of the
causes of hunger and explore connections between faith and care
of God's creation. The meal can be a catalyst for change in
participants' lives as it offers a real, hands-on look at what
hunger is.
A congregation-tested idea from
Joanna Mullins, a member of Trinity Lutheran Church,
Philadelphia, PA:
On the last Sunday of her church's
hunger-emphasis month, Mullins organized a hunger meal that was
a bit complicated and took some preparation, but it was
effective in teaching people the differences between the wealthy
and poor. To do this, Mullins says, "We invited people to attend
a hunger meal and had them sign up in advance so we'd know how
many to expect. (Then we added five to the total to cover last-minuters.)"
Mullins used two resources as the
basis of this meal:
- information she gathered from the
World Hunger Appeal that says one-fifth of the world's
population is malnourished;
- a graph of world income by
quintiles in Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger (Table 14 in
chapter 8, "Structural Injustice Today") which divides the
world population in equal fifths, the richest 20 percent
receiving 83 percent of the world's income; the next fifth 12
percent; the next, a little above 2 percent; the next, a
little below 2 percent; and the poorest, 1 percent.
Next, Mullins explains, "I set people
up at tables of ten, so that all five quintiles would be
duplicated, and the richest and poorest would end up sitting
next to each other at each table. I ‘color-coded' the seating,
using cards with only Hunger Appeal stickers on them - only I
knew which color represented which meal. (Blue was the richest,
pink the next, green the next, orange the next, and yellow the
poorest.)"
For the "big meal," she used a recipe
for turkey cutlets and cranberry rice and divided the portions
like this:
- people with blue cards received two
cutlets, cranberry rice, bread, a side salad, a choice of
beverage and dessert;
- pink got one cutlet, a little less
cranberry rice, a side salad and a choice of beverage;
- green got plain rice, a side salad,
bread and water;
- orange got plain rice, a side salad
and water;
- yellow got plain rice and water.
Thus rice was part of every meal, but
served differently for the richest and the poorest. One out of
five got a completely inadequate meal.
This simulation exercise works well,
since "rich" and "poor" are seated next to each other, and often
if the meal's organizer does not give any instructions or
minimal explanation, sharing of food will take place among
people with no prompting, which is a lesson in itself, learned
by people on their own.
Mullins adds, "The comment that sticks
with me is that of young teenager Alana Boris, who was seated
next to the pastor's husband, John Bailey. Alana got a full
meal, whereas John had the bowl of rice. Alana took one look and
said, ‘That's so mean.'" |
