Hunger Banquet aims to illustrate need for programs

Guests in the audience Sunday at the second annual Hunger Banquet chose how much they would be eating for lunch based on a scrap of paper.

Three colors divided the room, and guests were asked to sit accordingly. Those designated as being in low-income families received just a plate of rice and plastic cup of water; medium-income, a plate of beans and rice with water; and the high-income participants received a full plate: chicken, green beans and mashed potatoes with gravy, complete with a chocolate dessert.

This method of dining was to show the reality of how billions of people are fed, every day.

The event was hosted by Rebekah Lawson and Rachel Buenemann, both seniors at Southeast Missouri State University. Inspired by their professor, Anne Marietta, the two began planning early this school year after hearing about the first banquet.

The guest of honor was Francis Tayie, a new professor of human environmental studies at the university this semester.

Tayie was born in Ghana, and for a large part of his life felt real hunger.

"When you mention hunger you are actually thinking some of what I've gone through," Tayie began. "I am the epitome of hunger."

The large screen behind Tayie flashed to a black-and-white photo of a young boy, staring absently into the camera ­-- it's Tayie at age 12 in Ghana.

"[This boy,] he's not laughing, he's merely looking into the future," Tayie said. "I survived because I had coping strategies."

Tayie explained his childhood: filling up a 50-gallon drum of water every morning before breakfast, becoming so thin he had to continually move to be better supported, and finding fruits and plants along the river that he would sometimes eat, not knowing if they were edible.

He explained the years of starving, from 1981 to 1983, surviving on international donations air dropped from U.S. planes, and then in 1985 when the drought ended, having a superfluous amount of food.

"There was so much food that half of it got rotten," Tayie said. "What an irony."

Now, Tayie said he feels an obligation to share his story with his students, to help spread the word of what being hungry is really about, and to help put an end to it.

Lawson explained throughout the meal that hunger is an issue felt locally.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture and the SEMO Food Bank, in 2012 one in five children in Cape Girardeau County are food insecure, Missouri was the seventh most food insecure state in the country, and countrywide, 14.3 percent of people are food insecure.

The USDA defines food insecurity as "consistent access to adequate food is limited by a lack of money and other resources at times during the year."

On the tables, participants had access to more than a dozen local organizations to help battle hunger in Cape Girardeau County.

After the meal, during which all participants were eventually given the high-income portion, Jamie Jones, the Jefferson Elementary parent liaison, spoke about the backpack program offered at Jefferson.

Each week 42 children receive a backpack filled with food to support a family throughout the weekend. And, as Jones explained the program, it was obvious how passionate she felt about it. The program began nine years ago, feeding 25 children. Now, Jones said, the 42 children are able to provide meals for 122 of their siblings; their parents not included.

Many of the families are single-parent households, Jones explained, and parents will make meals expected to last the weekend stretch all the way to Wednesday. It's an amazing program, Jones said, but with local community donations coming from different venues every year, Jones constantly worries about where next year's funding will come from.

Jones said it takes $320 to support one child and their family for the entire school year, with each child receiving one backpack of food per week.

"I have one fourth-grader, his mom works three jobs and has six kids, and he's the man of the house," Jones explained. "And each Friday he stands proud with his backpack, knowing he's providing the food for his family."

smaue@semissourian

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