Vigils at the El Dorado County Court House-- Main St. & Bedford Ave. Placerville-- 6-7pm Ongoing-the last Monday of each month. October 25 San Francisco March and Rally see p. 6

“EMPTY BOWLS” EVENT Placerville --November 22nd 5-8 p.m. Smith Flat Grange

See page 3 for Meditation Groups

January 2004 Buddhist Monks in Placerville see p. 4

Empty Bowls Gale Martinez

Yesterday, I cleaned out my refrigerator. Over-the-hill romaine lettuce, a wizened Japanese eggplant, and half bunch of blackened basil: to the compost pile all of you! A hardened heel of sourdough dusted gray-green with mold: fly through the trees for the birds and raccoons! This ritual is always soothed by the thought that the worms, birds and four-legged scavengers will transform my oversight into nourishment for the soil. But underneath is the uncomfortable realization that I, in my time and circumstances, can be careless about food while others in the world suffer from the lack of nourishment for their bodies. Empty Bowls is one way to move towards bringing food to all who need it.

The Empty Bowls idea occurred to a high school art teacher in Michigan in 1990. He wanted a way for his students to be able to take action through a "community event to address poverty and hunger in our community and the world." His idea? Have his students make pottery bowls and then offer the bowls for a fund-raising community meal. The bowls would be filled with a homemade soup, which, along with bread, would comprise the meal. Eating this simple fare would serve as a reminder of the hunger in the world, and the bowl, taken home, would insure against forgetfulness.

This concept struck the imagination of thousands, and now Empty Bowls events are offered in almost every state of the union. This year alone, in California fund-raisers have been organized in Sacramento, Encinitas, San Diego and Santa Barbara - and, once again, in Placerville.

The Peace and Justice Community held its first Empty Bowls fund-raiser here in 1994. With the generous interest in and support for last year's event (200 bowls were donated, made by students as young as fourth-graders as well as, well-known professional potters) we decided to make it an annual fundraiser.

And where will the money go? This year we decided to divide the proceeds between two organizations, the local SHARE food closet of the Federated Church and the International Hunger Project, Oxfam. Oxfam is a confederation of 12 organizations in more than 100 countries in Central and South America, Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Oceania. It supports programs like small loans to farmers and rural women, and the establishment of urban gardens where vegetable supplies are sparse. Oxfam also funds campaigns, like providing affordable medicine for people struggling with AIDS and other illnesses, working with WTO patent rules and US restrictions on generic medicines for developing countries. In addition, Oxfam provides emergency relief for war-torn countries like Liberia and Iraq. Their goal is to create a “lasting solution to poverty and suffering.”

Empty Bowls will be at the Smith Flat Grange this year, on Saturday, the 22nd of November. The doors will open at 5:00 p m and food will be served until 8:00. Donations will be $15 to $50 (although more will be accepted.) Children under 10 are free, if they receive their soup in a disposable bowl. For a pottery bowl their parents must make a donation. The Celtic folk music group Nightingale will provide the music for the evening.
If you'd like to donate pottery bowls (or know a local potter who might), call Rich Waters at 622-6900. If you'd like to donate soup (vegetarian minestrone, beef barley or potato) call Carla Turoff at 622-9549 or e-mail her at turoffc@earthlink.net. For recipes, check out our website at www.edpjc.org See you on November 22nd!