IDEAS MATTER Lecture Series
Winter 2005
The Examined Meal
The first lecture of the series was well attended!
Several faculty members of the Philosophy Department attended as well.
Sharyn Clough and Jonathan Kaplan smile for the camera.
Lani Roberts sat up in front of the lecture hall talking to students.
And, in case you missed the lecture, it was taped!
Michael Scanlan of the Philosophy Department introduced the presenters.
The first lecture of the series began with Courtney Campbell of the Philosophy Department. He outlined the history of our culture's philosophical and theological obligations to one another, especially to those who are the most vulnerable in our communities.
Courtney Campbell
Bruce Weber of AREC followed with statistical information on how Oregon compares to the rest of the country on the issues of hunger and poverty. He introduced the phrase "food insecure;" this means that a household is "uncertain of having, or being able to acquire, enough food to meet basic needs of all household members because they had insufficient money and other resources for food." In studying this issue, Dr. Weber and his colleagues found evidence that blue collar workers of both genders, year-around, full-time employees and households with two adults had higher hunger rates in Oregon compared to the national average.
Bruce Weber
The final speaker was Joan Gross of the Anthropology Department who read her paper consisting of interviews with the people suffering from the affects of poverty. Her presentation put a human face on the abstract principles of philosophy and statistics introduced earlier. Dr. Gross found that the high cost of housing and health care impacted a family's ability to eat well and to eat enough. Also, she found that our eating habits have changed over the generations, especially since our work schedules have become longer, and we are working farther away from where we live. Adults are no longer directly involved with gathering, preserving and cooking food for their families on a regular basis because of time and resource constraints.
Joan Gross
After the presentations, facutly, students and community members participated in a question and answer period.
