The End of Hunger

The Filipino phrase WALANG GUTOM, with which we have marked aprons, bowls, and masks, means both the imperative END HUNGER and the descriptive THE END OF HUNGER.  Here, we use it to refer to the end of our work in the Philippines and in this “final” post, we will reflect on our experiences and set some goals for going forward.

As we were leaving, we were put in touch with exactly the artists we would have loved to meet on day one. These are Precious Leano and Alex Baluyut of the Art Relief Mobile Kitchen (ARMK).

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Bacolod Events

We returned to Bacolod in mid-November specifically to work with Sagup Negros and the Negros Museum on events connecting hunger action, food rescue, and the arts.

Celebration at A J Kalinga Center

On 10 November we made another visit to the Arnold Janssen Kalinga Center, where we have volunteered several times already, helping with their program for feeding the unsheltered.

Ozamiz

Our goal in Ozamiz (a small city in the Western portion of the island of Mindanao) was to forge a connection with the members of La Salle University in Ozamiz (LSU). and to inspire connections between the arts, hunger action, and ongoing projects at La Salle in a potential partnership with a cluster of indigenous families currently living in the town of Penacio.

Bahay Kalinga

Bahay Kalinga is a program of the Arnold Janssen Kalinga Foundation (whose central Manila operation we’ve visited several times) in which annual cohorts of roughly a dozen unsheltered men are given the opportunity to join a seven-month residential program intended to support them in their effort to (re)join the workforce and find affordable housing. We knew little more than this when we headed off to visit Bahay Kalinga, but were very impressed by what we found there.

Walang Gutom

While we were in Bacolod, a package arrived in Manila containing our aprons. We were relieved and a bit surprised that they were not held up at customs. The aprons are printed with a version of the Spatula&Barcode logo that replaces the gingham pattern of the Foodways series with a pattern of rice grains and includes the words WALANG GUTOM, which can be translated as an imperative to END HUNGER or the descriptive phrase THE END OF HUNGER.

Sagup Negros: Social Enterprise in Bacolod

We traveled to Bacolod, a small city in Negros, to meet with members of Sagup Negros, a social enterprise initiative focused on creating a model for the reduction of food waste from the wholesale market.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Call for Proposals for concurrent issues on ‘Hunger’ in the journals:

Global Performance Studies (GPS) Vol. 5 No. 2 (Oct/Nov 2023)

Performance Research: Vol. 28, No. 7 (Oct/Nov 2023)

Editors:
Laurie Beth Clark, University of Wisconsin–Madison, United States
Jazmin Llana, De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines
Michael Peterson, University of Wisconsin–Madison, United States

Deadline for Proposals: 1 November 2022

Compiled Links to Foodways Philippines Posts

Oldest to newest:

Our introductory post, 13 June 2023.

“Tara Na“, on our first set of activities and visits, 20 June.

The swag we created for PSi27 Hunger Conference, 07 July.

A wrap-up of the conference, 12 July.

“Remembering Hunger“, reflecting on hunger in our earlier work, 5 August.

A “Return Visit” to AJ Kalinga foundation, 17 August.

A spectulative think-piece about some of the questions that have emerged for us so far, 17 August.

The call for proposals for two journal special issues we’re co-editing “On Hunger.”

Our visit to Sagup Negros in Bacolod.

Walang Gutom: new aprons, bowls, and masks.

Our visit with the residents of Bahay Kalinga to see their community feeding program.

An encounter in Ozamiz with members of La Salle University and a Subanen indigenous community.

Our celebration with folks at AJ Kalinga foundation.

Our final events in Bacolod.

The “end” of hunger.

Can Beggars be Choosers?

This post reflects on several of our early experiences and discussions around hunger and raises some of the emerging questions about the culture(s) of hunger that we’re thinking about. It’s speculative and far from any kind of settled thinking.