Samir Luther was staging a hunger strike outside the Michelangelo Hotel, where only the highest level government delegates were residing while at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa.
“I’ve been fasting since last night at ten, and I won’t eat again until midnight,” he added.
Luther, along with a number of other young people at the Summit, were fasting to draw attention to the “extravagant lifestyles” of world leaders attending this Summit, whose goals were to alleviate poverty and protect natural resources.
According to head chef Desmond Morgan, the hotel had stocked up in advance on an array of wines and delicacies to meet the tastes of the average head of state. Special purchases included 5,000 oysters, 4,400 lbs of steak and chicken, 1,000 lbs of bacon and sausages, 1,000 lbs of lobster and shellfish and 450 lbs of salmon.
“In my experience, heads of state don’t decide what they want to eat or drink until the last minute. So I have to make sure I have everything they can possibly want,” Morgan told local Sun newspaper.
The young hunger strikers took particular issue with the fact that this kind of consumption was occurring only a few miles away from the shacks and shantytowns of Alexandra, Johannesburg, where the average weekly wage is less than the cost of a vintage brandy at the Michelangelo.
© GLOBAL YOUTH REPORTERS PROGRAMME 2002
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