Hungry Games and Hungrier Planets

Here are some suggestions for things to do this weekend: go see a movie about food insecurity (that addresses it in a BIG WAY), or an exhibition about food around the world.

HUNGER GAMES:

Do you know the premise of "The Hunger Games"? It's a movie based on the book. The book is quite good. Colonies in the future send children to fight to the death to determine which communities win food for the year. Not a great "beach read," but an interesting narrative twist on food insecurity. And interesting timing too, given the week. Uh, it does make me think that it might be a good idea to solve this food insecurity problem stat.

HUNGRY PLANET:

How about a food exhibition? Wednesday night, Mike and I went to the Burke Museum to hear about Cooper Island, a fascinating study in climate change by a scientific researcher in Alaska named George Divoky. Worth looking at here (and nothing to do with food, unless you like filet o' guillemot). While at the Burke, we also wanted to check out the "Hungry Planet" exhibit, based on the book of the same name. I've been a fan of photographer Peter Menzel for years, so was excited to see his work in an exhibit instead of the usual book format.

And the "Hungry Planet" exhibit delivers! Small,

but effective, a photo exhibit that

examines what people eat around the world. The authors asked families to gather up all the food they would typically purchase in a week, and then photographed the families with their food. You can imagine the diversity.

While wandering and scanning the photos with Mike, I began to get hungry...really hungry. I had eaten about $2.50 worth of vegetables and fruit and oatmeal for the day, and it wasn't enough. Looking at third world nations and the amount of food available there made me grateful for the food I had eaten. But my stomach was definitely responding to the German chocolates, the Ecuadorian fruits, even the Alaskan seal meat.

Been hankering for a steak this week. All meat is starting to look delicious.

Well, not the pink slime, but you know what I mean.

One comment in the exhibit says that Native Alaskan peoples consider food to be "the center of culture." It's funny, because defining culture is something that has come up lately in many conversations -- what does it mean to be a part of "American culture"? "Midwestern culture"? The "artist culture"? "Conservationist culture"? and so on. All these ways in which we define ourselves, inwardly and outwardly...how we define our "tribes."

Physical statements are the most obvious way to express what we value -- fashion, appearance, what car we drive, how we build and furnish our homes. We can show ourselves and others what we value through these direct expressions.

But the metaphysical, the intangible is more difficult to define -- conversation, art, music, theatre. These require interpretation on behalf of the participant and audience.

Food seems to stand firmly in the middle of these two realms -- the physical decisions about what we eat (vegetarian/organic/regional) and the transformation into something "other," the combining of elements, the changing of chemical and physical structure (cutting, cooking, microwaving, spices), the presentation at the alter of the dinner table (cutlery, plates, centerpieces)-- food is also an expression

of our inner selves.

It is finally dawning on me that my relationship with food is complicated because food itself is complicated. Knowing that, I feel better about my shortfalls this week, but see the need to renew work toward solving food security more than ever. While food is a basic need, it is also deeply rooted in cultures around the world, and has meaning beyond sustenance.

It makes me grateful for the opportunity to explore the Hunger Action Challenge as I continue to explore this relationship.