BOSTON--More than 400 people joined in an effort to fight world hunger at the third annual Oxfam America Hunger Banquet in the Boston Center for the Fine Arts last night.

The dinner was organized to teach participants about the disparities of worldwide food supply.

Fifteen percent of the guests were assigned to banquet-style tables and received substantial meals of gourmet chicken and side dishes, while 25 percent sat on upturned barrels and were served rice and beans.

But the majority of the guests sat cross-legged on newspapers scattered over the brick floor and dined on rice and water.

Participants who sat at the gourmet tables said they were embarrassed to be dining so lavishly while many of their friends and family members were seated on the floor.

"I feel guilty sitting up here while my husband's down there," said Lynne A. Turner, an representative from Stonyfield Farm Yogurt which sponsored the Hunger Banquet.

The dinner--and similar ceremonies held in Los Angeles, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C.--culminated Oxfam America's 19th annual Fast for a World Harvest.

Students Fast for Somalia

Fast for a World Harvest was also celebrated at Harvard through the combined efforts of Phillips Brooks House Hunger Action Committee and Harvard Dining Services.

Instead of their regular Wednesday dinner, students had the option of fasting or consuming a subsistence meal of rice and beans.

For each student who agreed to fast, Harvard Dining Services will send $1.50 to Oxfam America for relief in Somalia.

Approximately 1200 Harvard students choose to fast each spring and fall, said Rose M. Eromin, administrative assistant to HDS director Michael P. Berry.

Molly G. Ware `95 who helped organize the student fast, said she believed students' interest in the fast was increased because donations were sent to Somalia.

"I think we probably averaged about 100 students per house," Ware said.