You may be wondering why you are sitting in such an awkward seating arrangement.... We are here today because 1.3 billion people live in poverty. 

And we are here today because in our world 923 million people suffer from chronic hunger.  This constitutes 14% of the world's population

 Every 5 seconds, one child dies from hunger and other preventable diseases.  That is 16 thousand children a day. 

 You may think that hunger is about too many people and not enough food.  Not true.  Our rich and bountiful planet produces enough to feed every woman, man and child on earth.  It's about power.  The roots of hunger lie in inequalities in access to education and resources. The results:  illiteracy, poverty, warm and the inability for families to grow or buy food. 

 This hunger banquet is a metaphor for how food and other resources are disproportionately distributed in the world.  Today, we are unable to recreate the many complex ways poverty manifest itself in regard to healthcare, education,

employment opportunities, basic human rights, and the realities of the day-to-day struggle for survival for some people in this world. 

The one thing that we would like for you to remember is this: Everyone on earth has the same basic needs; it is only our circumstances - where we live, the culture that we were born into and our access to opportunities that differ.  Some are born into relative prosperity and security, while millions - by no choice of their own - are born into poverty.  As each of us walked in the door here today, we chose our lot, at random.  Look around, and you will see that equality and balance do not exist here.  Please remember: this room is not meant to signify a specific country or single part of the world.  We are here to remember that stark inequalities prevail everywhere, even here in the United States as Mr. Higgerson mentioned earlier. 

MOVE NEAR HIGH INCOME GROUP

If you are sitting over here, you represent the 15% of the world's population with a per capita income of $9,076 or more.  You are fortunate enough to be able to afford a nutritious daily diet. As a group, you consume 70% of all the grain grown in the world, most of it in the form of grain-fed meat.  Since most of you exceed your daily requirement of calories, you face health problems such as heart disease and diabetes.

But most of you don't worry about getting healthcare.  You have access to the best medical care in the world.  It is a given that your children will attend school.  Access to credit?  You turn down more offers than you can count.  You and your family live in a comfortable and secure home.  You own at least one car and probably two televisions. 

MOVE NEAR MIDDLE INCOME GROUP

If you are sitting here, you represent roughly 25% of the world's population. You earn between $912 and $9,075 a year. The levels of access and security you enjoy vary greatly.  You are the folks who live on the edge.  For many, it would take loosing only one harvest to drought or a serious illness to throw you into a whirlwind of poverty and hunger.   

You probably do not own any property or your home.  You may work as a laborer or in some domestic field.  You hope that your job, which doesn't even pay a living wage will be enough to feed your family everyday and keep your electricity on at least for the rest of the month, if you have electricity.  You pray that no one in you family becomes ills since you do not have health in insurance for you or your children.  Please meet Henry.

My name is Henry...

MOVE NEAR LOW INCOME GROUP

If you are sitting on the floor, you represent the majority of the world's population - roughly 60%.  Your average income is less than $911 a year - although many of you earn much less than $2.50 a day.  Everyday is a struggle to meet your family's basic needs.  Obtaining food, water and stable housing may consume your entire day.  Many of you are frequently hungry.  Most of you are either currently homeless or face frequently spells of unstable housing. 

Even though education is the single most powerful weapon against poverty, school is a luxury many of your children will never experience.  Adequate healthcare is out of the question for many of you in the group.  For most of you, early death is all too familiar, with many mothers expecting to lose one or two children before they turn five.  

If you are lucky enough to work, you are probably a tenant farmer who must give your landowner 75% of your harvest.  Or, you may be a labor pool worker standing in long lines at 4 in the morning, fighting the crowds to be places at a labor pool site.  If you are lucky enough to be chosen that day, you are most likely working in horrible conditions and making only a fraction of what you deserve.  Meet Adis Gemada.

My name is Adis - I live in the Rift Valley of Etheopia which has been plagued with cronic droughts.  My husband died and I known care for our 7 children alone.  If times are good, we eat one meal a day.  Some of my children have been exposed to malaria and other illnesses related to the shortage of food.  I did own 3 goats at one time, but I was forced to sell them in an attempt to feed and care for my children.  I have nothing left to sell. 

This is just a small slice of life as it plays out each day around the globe. 

Now, we invite you to eat. 

Those of you in the high income group will be served a nutritious meal and be given utensils to enjoy your meal. 

Those of you in the middle income group, please stand in the buffet line for rice and beans, women to the back - to represent the experience of nearly 17% of women in on our planet. 

Individuals in our low income section will be served rice and water.  You can not afford basic utensils or clean water.  Please enjoy your lunch