'˜Hunger banquet' highlights famine

A '˜hunger banquet' has been organised at Queen's University to highlight the millions of lives threatened by famine.

The interactive public event will see guests draw tickets to discover what meal they will eat with 20% getting a sumptious feast while 50% will get rice and water.

Their tickets will assign them to a high, middle or low income tier – based on the latest statistics about the number of people living in poverty.

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Each income level receives a corresponding meal. The 20 percent in the high-income tier are served a sumptuous meal, the 30 percent in the middle-income section eat a simple meal of rice and beans, and the 50 percent in the low-income tier help themselves to small portions of rice and water.

Right now about 30 million people are experiencing alarming levels of hunger and malnutrition in north-eastern Nigeria, South Sudan, Somalia, and in war-torn Yemen. Famine has been declared in South Sudan, is likely to be already happening in parts of in northeast Nigeria, while Yemen and Somalia are on the brink.

Event organiser Evan Storrs-Fox added: “Global hunger is more important now than it has ever been. We could not be organising this event at a more topical and a more critical time, as millions of people are starving.

One country is in famine and three others are on the brink. This is unprecedented in modern times.

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“So the hunger banquet will be an engaging experience with a serious message and an important point – and hopefully it will inspire others to join us in campaigning for global action to tackle extreme poverty and injustice.”

The QUB Oxfam Society’s Belfast Hunger Banquet takes place on Wednesday May 3 at 7pm in the Great Hall at Queen’s University. Tickets are free from Eventbrite, but any voluntary donations on the night are welcome and will go to Oxfam’s Hunger Crisis Appeal.

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