On Wednesday night, members of the Georgetown community paid for dinner at a fundraiser. But rather than the usual catered fundraising fare, attendees received a few snacks based on different D.C. wards.
The first Hunger Banquet in the Bioethics Library, sponsored by the Jesuit University Humanitarian Action Network Fellows in conjunction with D.C. Reads, the D.C. Schools Project, Delta Phi Epsilon, HOPE and the Community Garden, sought to raise awareness about nutritional disparities within the District and raised approximately $400 for the nonprofit Bread for the City.
The JUHA banquet was styled after the Oxfam model, where participants’ seating at the event reflected how different areas of a city have access to food. To that end, attendees were divided and seated by D.C. wards. Participants in Wards 3 and 4 received milk, water, carrots and ranch, while attendees assigned Ward 6 and 7 ate soda and chips.
“I don’t know how shocking our [event] will be, but the idea of a shock factor is important,” JUHAN Fellow Whitney Pratt (COL ’14) said. “I think having that visualization can really spur conversation and discussion that just having a lecture doesn’t really encourage as much.”
“A lot of work that we do is internationally or globally focused, but we wanted to also bear in mind that there are issues in our own city, not too far from us, even within our own Ward 2, where we live that are serious and need to be addressed,” JUHAN Fellow Sophia Berhie (SFS ’14) added.
School of Nursing & Health Studies professor Myrtle McCulloch spoke about child obesity and its perpetuation in low-income areas during the event.
“Instead of the grocery stores, what you see are corridors of fast food restaurants, and these fast food restaurants pick those areas to open their various places because they know that’s where they’re going to get most of their money,” McCulloch said.
McCulloch also said a large problem is that children in poorer areas are not used to eating vegetables.
“People who live there have been living on a diet of french fries and stuff like that,” she said. “You’ve got generation after generation that didn’t get used to eating vegetables. So even if you give it to them, they don’t want it.”
Catherine Benvie (COL ’07), who works at D.C. Hunger Solutions, addressed the stigma around food stamps.
“I think it’s important to note that most households are only on food stamps for about six to eight months. I think there’s a perception out there that people stay on food stamps for years, but that really isn’t true,” Benvie said.
In addition to the banquet, the JUHAN fellows organized a date for students to volunteer at Bread for the City’s southeast center, tentatively set for Dec. 13.
“We don’t want this to just be the end of the educational experience,” JUHAN Fellow Mary Oeftering (SFS ’14) said. “We want this to be the kind of event that motivates people to take action.”