 "Photo: Eric Zoeller")
The ECM building was host to two banquets that provided opportunities for learning this weekend: The International Food Festival and the Hunger Banquet.
The International Coordinating Council held their International Food Festival on Saturday. Food from 11 different countries was served buffet-style to over 170 people. The money raised at the Food Festival will go toward funding activities planned for International Week next year.
Some of the food included pakora, a mix of vegetables that are batter-dipped and fried; bulgogi, a Korean dish of beef, garlic, onions and green peppers; fiskesuppe, a creamy fish soup from Norway; and crème brûlée, a dessert from France made with custard and caramel. Traditional dishes were also served from places like Saudi Arabia and Paraguay.
Gina Wagle, senior in marketing, said she enjoyed her experience at the banquet. One of her favorite dishes she tried was the miso soup from Japan.
“It’s a good opportunity to try international food from all over the place in one setting,” Wagle said. “We don’t have a lot of international restaurants around here.”
Meredith Lynch, senior in history, said she attends the banquet every year because she enjoyed exposure to different cultures.
“Especially if it involves food,” Lynch said. She particularly enjoyed the Indian curry and the Thai iced tea.
K-State Fair Trade Advocates held their third annual Hunger Banquet yesterday. The Hunger Banquet was the final event in Fair Trade Week and attempted to teach people about world hunger, how world trade works and how Fair Trade helps improve the quality of life for farmers and producers in third world countries.
Stephanie Alderman-Oler, senior in secondary education and president of K-State Fair Trade Advocates, said they strived to make this year’s Hunger Banquet more interactive for participants to help them learn about world hunger.
“It went really smoothly,” Alderman-Oler said. “I was really happy to hear people answering questions, working together.”
As people came in, they were given cards with a description of a character they represented and ate in areas designated for their “class.” The classes were divided in the same proportions as they are in real life around the globe, and their meals reflected the difference between the classes.
Half of participants were designated as lower class. They were made to sit on blankets and pillows on the floor and given only rice and fruit to eat. About a third of participants made up the middle class and were given chairs to sit on, but no tables. Their meals were the same as the lower class, except they also got beans. The remaining three participants represented the less-than-15 percent of the population that is upper class. They had chairs to sit on, a table with table cloth on it and nice glasses to drink from. Their food was pasta with dinner rolls.
Soon after being served their meals, the upper class decided to share their basket of dinner rolls with the other classes.
After eating, there was another activity to illustrate how world trade works in real life. Participants were divided into groups of independent cocoa farmers, Fair Trade cocoa farmers, the companies that purchased beans to make them into chocolate and the stores that sold the chocolate. Each group had to keep track of their profits and present their results at the end of the activity.
The discussion group afterward revealed no group had made much money because of the many problems they encountered. As time passed, the harvest seasons would change, altering the prices of cocoa and affecting each of the groups. Beans could often not be manufactured quickly enough to be sold in the quantities needed.
One of the cocoa farmers, Mary Tucker, sophomore in park management and conservation, even admitted cheating to get better results. Tucker sold some of her lower-quality cocoa beans as high-quality ones to make more money. In spite of her efforts, her group still made less than $2 by the end of the activity.
“I felt like I learned a lot about Fair Trade,” Tucker said.
Nathan Retta, senior in chemical engineering and member of Fair Trade Advocates, felt both the dinner and the activities were a success.
“People learned a little about the dynamics of world trade,” said Retta.
David Jones, pastor for ECM, was also pleased by the participation of the groups and the lessons learned about poverty and world trade.
“Consumers have a lot of power, and it’s important to think about how they spend their dollars,” said Jones. “It does make a difference in the lives of other people.”
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