Celebrating a 40 Year Tradition with Oxfam!

Across the country, Action Corps cities are participating in Oxfam America Hunger Banquets. The very first Oxfam Hunger Banquet took place nearly 40 years ago, and today it’s a tradition that takes place all over the US in synagogues, temples, churches, schools, offices, libraries and community centers. Hunger Banquets are a simulation, where luck controls where you sit and what you eat. No one Hunger Banquet is the same but all participants leave with more knowledge about the harsh realities of global hunger. 

This year, 8 Action Corps cities held an Oxfam America Hunger Banquet, contributing to the over 400 held this year!  Nearly 600 people participated in one of the following Action Corps hosted events, and many more learned about global hunger through Action Corps outreach.  For more information on hosting your own Oxfam America Hunger Banquet, click here.

Take a look at the photos from these inspiring simulations:

Boston

 This Oxfam America Hunger Banquet drew local college students, activists, and Oxfam enthusiasts!

For more on the Boston Oxfam America Hunger Banquet click here!

Des Moines

Des Moines was the host of two Oxfam America Hunger Banquets this year!  One, with the Global Youth Institute drew a crowd of 300 high school students during the Borlaug Dialogue in Iowa.

300 high school students participate in this Oxfam America Hunger Banquet

Hunger Banquet with the ONE Campaign!

Hunger Banqueter chooses her fate 

For more on the Des Moines Oxfam America Hunger Banquet and the Borlaug Dialogues, check out the Iowa Action Corps' blog here!

Minneapolis

Minneapolis joins in with CHANGE leaders at Macalester college!

For more on the Minnesota Action Corps, check out their blog here!

Seattle

University of Washington Bothell Clubs and Organizations, Cascadia Community College, Human Equality and Rights Everywhere, and the Seattle Oxfam Action Corps came together to host an Oxfam America Hunger Banquet!

Participants are split by lower, middle and upper income

Keynote speaker Ray Offenheiser, President of Oxfam America

To see more from the Seattle Action Corps, click here!

Columbus

Columbus Action Corps partnered with the Salvation Army of Central Ohio and the Foundation for the African Diaspora for the annual Oxfam Hunger Banquet. 

Participants discover what their meal will look like

Chicago, Madison, Kansas City

Chicago hosted an Oxfam America Hunger Banquet with North Central College.  Stay tuned for pictures of their Hunger Banquet with Loyola University coming soon!

Madison hosted a Hunger Banquet with the University of Wisconsin Madison!

Kansas City joined with Adelaide College to host one too!

In total, Oxfam America Hunger Banquets were hosted in 8 Action Corps cities, at colleges with participating CHANGE leaders, and at a variety of high schools, community centers, and religious gatherings around the nation!


For almost 40 years Oxfam America Hunger Banquets have drawn in people of all ages, leaving participants with an unique perspective on global hunger. This year, thanks to the Oxfam Action Corps, over 600 people attended Oxfam America Hunger Banquets and experienced how global hunger affects each and every one of us.


For information on Oxfam America Hunger Banquets or how you can host your own, click here. You can also follow Oxfam Hunger Banquets on Twitter, check out events in your area, and read a first-hand report of an experience at the Boston Oxfam America Hunger Banquet to get a feel for what these events are like.

                                                     

The World Food Prize Recap!

The Iowa Action Recaps the World Food Prize, one of the most prominent events in Agriculture and one of the Action Corp's most important and influential events!  For more on the Iowa Action Corps and the World Food Prize, visit their blog here.

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On Sunday, October 14th, we started “World Food Prize Week” with a Des Moines Area Sisters on the Planet potluck. We were able to hear from the 2012 Female Food Hero Susan Godwin fromNigeria about the challenges she and her community has overcome such as changing market demand for products, low prices offered by middlemen buyers, and weak institutional support for smallholder farmers.

Tuesday, October 16th, was the kickoff of the Iowa Hunger Summit. Howard G. Buffet (yes, that Buffet!) was the keynote speaker and spoke to a room of 700 about the fight against world hunger. He said, “The solution is not setting goals and campaigns, the solution is changing our mindsets…When I started, I thought if we could produce more, we could feed more people. I was wrong.”


Wednesday, October 17th was the kickoff of the 2012 Borlaug Dialogue at the Downtown Des Moines Marriott. For three days (well, two and a half), leaders, panelists, and other stakeholders gathered to discuss the variety of ways that partnerships lead to food security and how to set an agenda that feeds the world. Oxfam America hosted a GROW luncheon and we, the Iowa Action Corps, had a great dinner with the Oxfam staff. We spent the day tabling, asking folks to sign-on to our World Food Day Dinners, and sharing a “tea time”.



Thursday, October 18th was another day of the 2012 Borlaug Dialogue and the evening saw the Laureate Award Ceremony at the Iowa State Capitol Building. Watch the recorded version here. Great speeches all around! We were excited to have such honored guests (like the U.N.Secretary General) in Iowa!

Friday, October 19th we traveled to Marshalltown Community College and visited their Rural Entrepreneurship Incubator (REI) and student gardens on campus. We heard about “Harvest from the Heart of Iowa” – an initiative to bring local producers and distributors of Central Iowa together as a resource for the community. That evening, we traveled back to Des Moines to experience the Global Youth Institute’s Oxfam America Hunger Banquet. 300 students from all over the country (and others) gathered to experience our world’s food security problem.

Saturday, October 20th saw the departure of our beloved Action Corps visitors and Oxfam staff. We spoke with many visitors at our table at the Downtown Farmers Market and had a chance to share the GROW Method with them. Farmers markets are so much fun and a great way to show people first-hand how their purchases benefit small farmers. We had a sample platter with fair trade chocolates and locally-grown and chemical free sweet peppers, spinach, and apples.

Whew! Can you really be exhausted and rejuvenated at the same time? (The answer is yes!) So many thanks to our fabulous volunteers for their time and energy over the long week and we have many exciting things coming up for our month of November! Hope you can join us! If you haven't signed our pledge and would like to get involved, email us here. Don't be shy - we'd love to have your support.

Oxfam Action Corps at the Prize!