The Final Trek

I haven’t eaten for seven days. To walk up stairs is like climbing Everest and I have almost forgotten what food tastes like. However, while this week has been a challenge to my daily routine, I woke up reeling with a combination of sleep deprivation and dizziness this morning knowing that this day marked an important moment for my future. This is the day that I have been waiting for, December 7^th, the start of the international climate talks in Copenhagen.

I am accompanied in my hunger strike by about fifty Williams College students and faculty, and countless others, who are fasting in solidarity with the Climate Justice Fast! team in an effort to make a strong impact on leaders in Copenhagen at the COP15. We are hoping to convey the extreme significance of climate change and the critical need for progressive action internationally. Officially starting on November 6^th and running until the end of the negotiations on December 18^th or longer, the Climate Justice Fasters will consume (or have consumed) only water for periods ranging from 24 hours to 42+ days.

When I started last Monday night, no one really knew that I was going to fast for a week. On Tuesday, my friends, and even a few people I had barely met, came up to me to give of encouragement. ‘You’re so strong, I could never fast for that long.” “Wow! That will be hard… I’m glad someone is doing something about climate change.” While I was thankful for the support, I was frustrated that people would tell me I was strong for this. I DO have a choice about whether or not to eat now, but if climate change continues to disrupt ecosystems, weather patterns, and agriculture, I may not have that choice in the future and neither will those who surround me.

I joined this fast because I feel like something radical has to be done. I’m fasting to make a statement about the seriousness of the issue. I’m fasting because it is one of the few things in my power to control as a student who can’t be in the center of the actions taking place. But, most of all, I’m fasting because I want to know what hunger feels like. I want to feel what I have the luxury to not.

We are in an environmentally and socially precarious situation because those with privilege don’t have the same experiences as those who live at risk for their survival. Most of us do not understand what it’s like to be starving, to not have clean water, or to not have a means to escape bad circumstances. If we did, perhaps taking small steps or encountering minor inconveniences in our daily lives to minimize our environmental impact wouldn’t be a sign of ‘green-ness,’ it would be common sense, and far more. With this fast I’m asking, like so many others in the climate movement, that we take a stand politically against corporations and industry lobbies that are standing in the way of a global agreement on combating climate change. I’m also asking myself what is actually necessary for my daily consumption and what I can do without. Obviously, people are stronger than they think.

As many well know, today marks the start of negotiations in Copenhagen, and on the 18th millions of activists who have been working day and night to influence the debate will finally see the results of their efforts. I have worked with the amazing people of 350.org and Avaaz, and I know that hundreds of other groups have come together on this issue to make sure legislators know climate change is our number one priority. Now, it’s our leaders’ turn to get to work. However, in an expression of solidarity with those of us fasting, I ask that we all take a step back and examine whether we are living in the same manner that we are fighting for change. If I have learned one thing from this whole experience it is that I do not want to be the cause of another person’s hunger, whether now or in days to come, just so that I may throw away half of my oversized American meals or sit on my laptop and write about fighting for change.

More information about the Williams College fast can be found at williamsfasts.blogspot.com or see our local press in the North Adams Transcript or The Berkshire Eagle.