Hungry for Justice: CKP's Conference Heads to Baylor University

This October, as students settle into their Fall semester of coursework, 500 participants from across the United States will descend on Waco, Texas to attend and interact with a collaboration of efforts from local and national hunger relief communities.

The Campus Kitchens Project will share its annual conference (October 8 to 10) with Baylor University’s Poverty Summit, which brings the student and community populations closer to problems and solutions surrounding poverty.

Waco is the fifth poorest city in Texas, so the issues surrounding poverty – homelessness, trafficking, hunger – are a central focus of Baylor University’s student population and administration. Amanda Allen, who is helping plan the joint effort, says the Vice President of Baylor University views the conference as one of two signature events at the largest Baptist University in the world. He’s even sent letters to Vice Presidents of other major universities, inviting them to attend.

“It will be good just to have an event this large on campus, and have prominent speakers so the university community sees this as a worthwhile thing to talk about,” said Allen. “It’s a step in the right direction for Waco.”

The conference, titled Hungry for Justice: Social, Economic, Environmental will also draw a diverse population, from dozens of Campus Kitchen leaders to local hunger leaders, farmers, and professors.

Friday, participants will convene for a welcome lunch and launch into a day of The Campus Kitchens Project’s breakout sessions. Coordinators and other professionals will lead presentations on anything from campus gardening to throwing a food-related carnival for child nutrition education. One session will cover how other schools can start their own Campus Kitchen.

To wrap up the day of student-led hunger relief networking, D.C. Central Kitchen CEO Robert Egger will give the keynote speech (accompanied by dessert.) Then, Baylor University will launch the Justice Exhibition, an opportunity for attendees and speakers to promote other hunger-related events, and strike up conversation.

“Last year we had people stay for two hours,” said Allen. “And it was really good conversation. That’s really where the conference isn’t just about listening to different speakers – it’s about giving them a tangible way to act.”

Shannon Sedgwick Davis, a prominent anti-human trafficking advocate, will kick off the following day of discussions, centered around the broader issue of poverty. Breakout sessions with people like Jeremy Everett, Executive Director of the Texas Hunger Initiative and Baylor faculty, will provide different perspectives on what poverty is in and outside of Texas.  The afternoon will bring an off-campus service opportunity, and later, a hunger education banquet and documentary screening: Lunch Line.

On the final day of the conference, participants will listen to the closing keynote speaker, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and are invited to attend church.

Organizers of the conference are also making every effort to be sustainable, providing recyclable binders, aluminum water bottles, and bracelets made by women in Kenya, through a project for economic empowerment, to serve as your ticket into the conference.

“I’m just excited about having all the participants from the different schools coming in,” said Allen. “Being able to feed off of students that are passionate about the same things, I just think it’s fun to have people with similar hearts and minds in the same place.”