The Hunger Project: Inside Out by Carol Giambalvo (December, 1988)

Note of warning and apology: For those individuals reading this paper who have participated in
The Hunger Project, est/The Forum or any of Werner Erhard's programs, please be aware that I have
used the "jargon" of Erhard's programs in many places in this paper. This is done to illustrate loading
of language and the confusion that the use of such abstract language can cause in individuals. I
apologize if this triggers any reaction.
The Public Story:
In its promotional pieces, The Hunger Project presents itself to the public as: "a non-profit, charitable
corporation whose work is to generate the will to eliminate the persistence of hunger by the end of
the century." Established in 1977, The Hunger Project works to educate and inform people about
the problem of hunger and to support them in participating effectively in its solution. The work of
The Hunger Project is primarily educational: it is not a relief organization or a development agency.
Nor is it a political lobbying group. Through its programs, it is generating a massive expression of
personal commitment by individuals to eliminate hunger. A grass roots network of volunteers carries
out most of the work of The Hunger Project. It has "enrolled" over 5 million individuals in the
commitment to end hunger.
The Project Is Born:
Since its inception in 1977, The Hunger Project has been the target of much controversy. Most of the
controversy is because its principal founder is Werner Erhard, the founder of est, an educational
corporation that offered the est training and, later, The Forum to individuals as an opportunity to
transform their lives. Est, as such, no longer exists. Its name was changed to Werner Erhard &
Associates and its program renamed The Forum. In addition to The Forum, it offered seminar
programs, special events with Werner Erhard, satellite events and other "transformational" programs
to individuals and businesses. In 1991, Erhard sold his enterprises to his employees and his brother,
Nathan Rosenberg. Eventually the for-profit corporation was renamed Landmark Education Corp.
Erhard continues to receive royalties from Landmark for the use of his "technology." Now and in the
past, The Hunger Project denies any affiliation with Werner Erhard or est. This is true only in a
technical sense, as The Hunger Project was legally incorporated as a separate charitable entity, in
the State of California. But, the link between Werner Erhard and his organizations, both
philosophically and in personnel remains.
In an early publication that was later withdrawn, The Hunger Project attributed its inception to four
years' research and discussion between Erhard, Buckminster Fuller, Roy Prosterman and other
experts. The project was "formally presented at the February 1977 meeting of the est Advisory
Board. The est Foundation took responsibility for the role of bringing the project into existence as
initial custodian for those to whom the project actually belongs. The Hunger Project belongs to
everyone."*
1
In a letter to est graduates from the est Foundation, signed "Love, Werner" graduates were told of
the opportunity to participate in Werner's new project, The Hunger Project, and invited to attend
Werner's presentation on October 1, 1977 (in New York City). This presentation was one of eleven
listed in cities across the U.S. Graduates of the est training were encouraged to bring friends and
family. The unique opportunity to participate in The Hunger Project began when a person signed
an enrollment card, stating "The Hunger Project is mine completely. I am willing to be responsible for
making the end of hunger an idea whose time has come."
In 1978, Werner Erhard stated, "The Hunger Project is not about solutions. It's not about fixing up the
problem. It's not anybody's good idea. The Hunger Project is about creating a context creating
the end of hunger as an idea whose time has come. As a function of The Hunger Project, we will
learn what we need to know to make an idea's time come; then we will know how to make the
world work."*
2
Joan Holmes is the Executive Director of The Hunger Project (now called the Global Hunger
Project). Despite disclaiming affiliation with est, in the August 1977 The Graduate Review (the
newsletter sent to all graduates of the est training), Joan Holmes was described as "The est
Foundation's manager for the recently announced project that has been formally named The
Hunger Project."*
3
Before becoming the Manager of The Hunger Project, she was the Manager of
est in Education.*
4
She admittedly has taken the est training and says, "the est training altered
everything for me."*
5
Joan Holmes is not the only person involved in The Hunger Project that has
taken the est training or The Forum. The majority, if not all, of the personnel on staff of The Hunger
Project and its hundreds of "grassroots volunteers" have taken either program.
Describing the process of the formation of The Hunger Project, Bob Alman stated, "This work was still
gathering momentum on Valentine's Day, 1977, when staff members of the est Foundation met
with Werner to discuss the problem. [author's note: The est Foundation was originally incorporated
in 1973 as a non-profit foundation in the State of California under the name of 'the Foundation for
the Realization of Man.' An amendment to the articles of incorporation was filed in July, 1976,
renaming it as the est Foundation] As the meeting drew to a close, Werner said, 'I take responsibility
for ending starvation within twenty years'. .The est Foundation people went off to think about it. A
few days later, they were managing The Hunger Project even before they knew exactly what it
was. Werner crystallized what the project stood for and formulated his presentation of it several
weeks later when he discussed it with the est Advisory Board, and it began taking its present
shape."*
6
In describing the production of the film, "A Hungry Planet" by Keith Blume, Alman states,
"the est Foundation funded extra prints and distribution of the film; Keith Blume graduated from the
est training and [then] his involvement in The Hunger Project had begun."*
7
The film was later
distributed to volunteer committees (later renamed "communities") to be shown in Hunger Project
presentations.
In a memo from Joan Holmes to est seminarians, dated November 1980, she stated, "est graduates
represent the state of transformation in the world, the space of having the world work for everyone.
Four years ago the graduates took on The Hunger Project and the end of starvation on our
planet..."*
8
Werner Erhard shared The Hunger Project with graduates in a special series, The Workshop on
Seminars, as a laboratory for giving The Hunger Project a form.*
9
He asked five graduates in the
seminar to form a committee to explore ways for other seminarians and their friends to participate.
One of those five seminarians was Lynne Twist, who later became The Hunger Project's Assistant
Executive Director. Prior to her being employed by The Hunger Project, Lynne Twist was on staff at
est and in charge of training the Guest Seminar Leaders and teaching them how to "enroll" people
into the est training.
Later, Erhard developed a new seminar called The Hunger Project Series. As controversy
surrounding The Hunger Project grew, this seminar was renamed "Making A Difference."
Controversy: Werner Erhard, Est And The Connection To The Hunger Project
Criticism of Werner Erhard and his est training began as early as 1974 when East West Journal's
interview with Erhard quoted him as saying:
"If you blow somebody's mind, you can quickly slip in some data about being. . .est blows the
mind."*
10
He further admitted "est puts you in a permanent meditation state."*
11
Psychology Today, in its August 1975 report, stated that the guiding precept of the est organization
is "to serve Werner and make est work."*
12
The author described the methods of the est training:
"we're going to throw away your belief system, tear you down and put you back together."*
13
It
described the methods as designed alternately to confuse and enlighten subjects, to develop the
authority of the trainer and build his suggestive power. The training contained common-sense
psychology from which anyone could profit; simultaneously it was a masterful amalgam of
consciousness-altering techniques that powerfully effect the innocent subject. The author's
description of several stages in the training demonstrated the step-by-step confusion and
helplessness experienced by subjects until they crack under the pressure and, in the helplessness of
the moment (which Conway and Siegelman call "snapping"), embrace the system.
*
14
A study of the est training reported in the Annual Review of Psychology in 1982 reported that no
substantial proof of benefits from the training can be offered, but there has been reported
incidents of psychiatric disturbances following the est training.*
15
Legal actions have been filed charging emotional damages experienced by subjects, death
during the est training, non-payment of a $15 million loan and non-payment of IRS taxes and
penalties.
Who Is Werner Erhard?
Born Jack Rosenberg in 1935, high school was the extent of Erhard's formal education. Married at
age eighteen, he worked several jobs before leaving his wife and four children and running off with
the woman he was later to marry and, subsequently, divorce. Simultaneously, he changed his
name from John Paul (Jack) Rosenberg to Werner (from Werner Heisenberg, physicist, philosopher)
Hans (from Bishop Hanns Lilje) Erhard (from economics minister and, later, Chancellor Ludwig
Erhard).*
16
His lover changed her name simultaneously from June Bryde to Ellen Virginia Erhard.
They settled for a while in St. Louis, where Erhard sold used cards. Later, they were to relocate
further west and he sold correspondence courses, encyclopedias and later trained door-to-door
sales personnel. He worked in this capacity until 1971 with Grolier Society, Inc., which then was
undergoing legal actions for fraudulent and deceptive sales techniques.
Critics point to Erhard's study of many disciplines as the foundation for the est training.*
17
His studies
included hypnosis, self-motivation techniques (Napolean Hill, Maxwell Maltz), Karl Marx, encounter
and the Human Potential Movement (Maslow & Rogers and Esalen Institute), Zen (via Alan Watts),
the Dale Carnegie Course, Subud and the martial arts, and Scientology. He went through five
Scientology levels and received approximately 70 hours of auditing. Of L. Ron Hubbard, Erhard
says, "His genius has not been sufficiently acknowledged."*
18
Much of the concepts and
terminology used in the est training came from Scientology.
Erhard later took Mind Dynamics and became an instructor. Mind Dynamics went out of business
and was sued by the State of California for fraudulent claims and practicing medicine without a
license. According to Erhard, however, none of these disciplines resulted in the est training. He
attributed the founding of the est training only to his transformational experience on a freeway in
California. According to Erhard, "it did not happen in time and space . . .I realized I knew nothing -- I
realized I knew everything . . .I realized I was not my emotions or thoughts, my ideas, my intellect,
my perception, [nor] my beliefs, what I did or accomplished or achieved. I wasn't what I had done
right or wrong . . .I was simply the space, the creator, the source of all that stuff. I experienced Self
as Self in a direct and unmediated way. I didn't just experience Self. I became Self . . .I am
I am."*
19
(emphasis mine)
In December 1978, Mother Jones magazine published a major critical article concerning The
Hunger Project, exposing its connection with Werner Erhard and its possible use as a recruitment
arm for his est training. Suzanne Gordon pointed to The Hunger Project as the first attempt by one
of the "self"-oriented movements to address social or political issues. She raised such issues as: who
gets the money? Are people participating in The Hunger Project pressured to take the est training?;
why, if The Hunger Project claims no connection to est, is there an est seminar called "The Hunger
Project Series"?; why is Hunger Project office space or telephones often housed in est centers
around the country?; why do famous est supporters such as John Denver and Valerie Harper (also
serving on the est Advisory Board) serve as spokespersons for The Hunger Project?*
20
Following this
publication, est graduates in the seminar programs were handed a statement from Don Cox,
President of est, which quoted The Hunger Project's response to the article: "naturally, The Hunger
Project would prefer immediately to enumerate and make statements correcting the lies. [Legal]
counsel has advised us that public reference to the specific instances of libel in the course of
refuting them could give license to others to restate or republish the lies, innuendos and
misrepresentations. Barring any such specific references on our part, the laws on libel provide that
anyone who republishes or publicizes the defamatory material in these publications is also subject
to legal action for libel."*
21
Considering this statement, it is interesting that after quoting statements
from the Mother Jones article, a newspaper, a TV station and the Council on Mind Abuse in
Canada were sued. In plain English: The Hunger Project declined to address the issues raised in the
article, which left it free to sue anyone who cited the Mother Jones material in question.
Kevin Garvey, in a series of articles for Our Town, (New York City newspaper) states that The Hunger
Project is Werner Erhard's political springboard. He quotes a volunteer fundraiser for The Hunger
Project as stating that The Hunger Project is a force for spreading the wisdom of Werner Erhard and
it plans to spread this wisdom through political action and efforts at public education.*
22
A Guide to World Hunger Organizations described the controversy generated by The Hunger
Project and its relationship to the est movement: "Erhard founded The Hunger Project as an outlet
for the creative and charitable impulses of est graduates. The financial relationship between est
and The Hunger Project ended with the repayment of an initial loan. However, est remains the
philosophical inspiration for the work of The Hunger Project and has provided The Hunger Project
with a philosophy for how the world works, much of its leadership and personnel, a language and a
style of work, and effective techniques for volunteers."*
23
New Internationalist, a world development publication, also questioned where all the intense
activity of The Hunger Project was leading and whether it was capitalizing on people's concern
about world poverty and using it to insinuate the ideas of a mind-manipulating cult.*
24
Again, it was
pointed out that the project's key organizers are est graduates and many of the techniques it
applied to thought (or non-thought) about hunger issues are strikingly similar. Their point is well
taken that there is no shortage of people concerned about hunger, that the shortage is of people
willing to make the political decisions needed to change things. Yet, The Hunger Project shied
away from this and used its money and volunteer energies to sustain the campaign to persuade
people to sign a personal commitment to end hunger. It further asserts that "The Hunger Project
seems to be absorbing the energy of a great number of people. You only have to show up at one
of their meetings to have been considered to have endorsed the project."*
25
An article published in Seeds magazine questioned The Hunger Project's use of measurements and
statistics to prove its thesis and is wary that its use of the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) in reaching a
"non-hungry" status for countries will be substituted for the much harder goal of ending hunger.*
26
In the Fall of 1985, Forbes' writer, Richard Behar, began an investigation of The Hunger Project and
Werner Erhard. He reported that The Hunger Project retained one of New York's fanciest law firms to
attempt to bully and to intimidate him and another reporter into permitting them to censor the
story. In his article, Behar pursued a lawsuit concerning a $15 million low-interest loan from
Wolfgang Somary of Zurich to Erhard that was not repaid. The entangled loan plan involved a
Costa Rican foundation, The Fundacion Soberana Orden de San Juan de Jerusalem that served as
intermediary for the loan and the 2% interest rate. This Costa Rican group had been set up by an
Erhard friend just several days before the transfer and stood to benefit by receiving a major portion
of the interest payments. Strangely enough, Behar reported, The Hunger Project co-funded a
project with Save The Children to award one of its grants (a $1 million 5-year development grant) in
Costa Rica. According to The Hunger Project's own barometer (IMR of less than 50), Costa Rica is
not considered a hungry country. The person who put the deal together? None other than
Fernando Flores-Banuet, the same individual whose charity served as the conduit for the $15 million
Zurich loan to Erhard in 1981.*
27
(Note: Flores-Banuet was also on the Advisory Council of The
Hunger Project. The President of Save The Children, David Guyer, (now deceased) had also served
on the Board of Directors of The Hunger Project.)
The McGill Daily reports that CUSA, Oxfam International; the Peace Corps and other respected
hunger organizations have dissociated themselves from The Hunger Project.*
28
On May 30, 1981,
the national board of directors of Oxfam, Canada passed a resolution that they will not endorse or
support any activities or programs sponsored by The Hunger Project nor will they accept any funds
from the Project.
It seems The Hunger Project has turned to the threat of legal action when it learns of the possibility
of critical exposures by the media. Both the McGill Daily and the Canadian Broadcasting Corp's
The Fifth Estate were threatened with suits. The Hunger Project followed through in the case of The
London Sunday Times, which published an article raising issues regarding how The Hunger Project
spent its money and the possibility that people who give money to The Hunger Project believe that
they are actually feeding people.*
29
It also questioned whether Hunger Project people were
recruited to take est. They quoted a Hunger Project volunteer as boasting of connections between
Live Aid and Sport Aid and that they were "very much a partnership" with Geldof's efforts in those
events.
Canadian newspapers The Ottawa Citizen and Toronto Star pointed out that The Hunger Project's
"Ending Hunger Briefing" program was barred from Metro [Toronto] schools and from Ottawa and
Carleton schools because of the controversial nature of The Hunger Project.
On October 23, 1986, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.'s current affair program, The Fifth Estate,
(similar in format to 20/20 or 60 Minutes) aired a documentary on The Hunger Project in which Joan
Holmes denied any connection, either philosophical or otherwise, with est. Herein lies the heart of
the on-going controversy. Denial. Deception. People being enrolled into The Hunger Project and
being asked for contributions were not fully informed. Volunteers, most of whom were est
graduates, were kept so busy doing the work of The Hunger Project and immersing themselves in
the "principles and abstractions" that they very often could not see that there was a vast difference
between what they were told to say to the general public and what actually was being said to
those inside the organization regarding its ideology.
Personal Experience And Opinion:
For the five years that I was a full time volunteer, I denied even my most nagging doubts. What
happens to a person to produce such denials -- to ignore one's own questioning? My critical
thinking was bypassed by focusing only on the positive aspects: surely God would want hunger to
end, for His children to be fed. For me, this was "the end justifies the means." I thought it was
absolutely true that education about hunger was needed in order for hunger to become a priority
issue. But what was this nagging question within me? Why did I cringe every time I met a "Werner
hater" while out enrolling people in The Hunger Project or making a public presentation? Why was I
being asked to deny the association between est/Erhard and The Hunger Project? Was this not
deceiving people? Why did I feel disloyal if I even allowed myself to ask these questions of myself?
I see these controversial issues as questions worthy of an honest answer. I go even further than
these questions to reveal the hidden agenda of The Hunger Project: what it does not say to the
public. The hidden agenda of The Hunger Project is to transform the world according to the
"principles and abstractions" (technology of transformation) of Werner Erhard. Yes, they want to
end hunger. The fervent staff members and volunteers have committed their lives to that end. But,
hunger is just the vehicle. It could be any issue: peace, disarmament, prejudice--you name it.
Hunger is an issue that most people would agree needs our attention. After all, who wouldn't want
hunger to end? How can you fault an organization with such a noble purpose?
When we were enrolling people in The Hunger Project -- at flea markets, on the beach, at concerts,
railroad stations, on the street corners it was fairly easy to get a person to agree that they wanted
hunger to end. From that agreement, more times than not, we could get them to sign an
enrollment card saying that they were willing to be responsible for making the end of starvation an
idea whose time has come. Think of what it would imply if an individual did not sign the enrollment
card -- that they must not want hunger to end. This, in itself, is an unethical emotional manipulation.
Because one does not want to support a particular organization does not mean that one does not
want to see hunger end.
The Hunger Project uses its noble purpose to deflect criticism and to shame anyone who might
criticize a "noble" organization which has such a noble purpose. This implies that a noble purpose
protects an organization from deceptive behaviors and hidden agendas on the part of its
volunteers, staff and the organization's founders.
And noble we were. We were the warriors, living on the cutting edge of transformation. The
believed the world was deceived regarding the conditions contributing to hunger and was
unaware of the technology available to end it. The world operates under false assumptions about
hunger that actually serve to keep it in place. The world is denying its responsibility for the cause of
hunger and has not taken responsibility for ending hunger -- we lack the simple commitment to end
hunger in the world. Here we were, The Hunger Project volunteers and staff, vowing to tell the truth
about hunger in the world, committing ourselves to raising the commitment to end hunger in the
world. We were being totally responsible. How could we possibly think that we were perhaps being
deceived ourselves -- let alone that we were deceiving the public? How could we possibly
entertain the idea that we were the ones in denial? After all, we were the warriors against
deception and denial which keeps hunger in place. We are the embodiment of truth, courage
and total commitment that is creating the end of hunger and starvation on our planet as an idea
whose time has come.
Werner Erhard wrote the "principles and abstractions" of The Hunger Project found in the "Source
Document." Yet, The Hunger Project says it has no philosophy. Likewise, Erhard says that the est
training and The Forum have no philosophy. According to Erhard, it is nothing to be believed, since
"the truth believed is a lie." Regardless, these principles and abstractions remain the backbone of
The Hunger Project.
Marty Leaf, a Hunger Project volunteer and one time partner in the law firm of Leaf, Duell, Drogin &
Kramer in New York City, wrote: "True satisfaction comes from the transformation of Self realized by
maintaining the integrity of Werner Erhard's abstractions and generating principles."*
30
His partner,
Ellis Duell, has served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Hunger Project.*
31
In The
Hunger Project's 1988 Periodic Report [Form CT--2] to the State of California, it is interesting to note
fees for legal services of "Leaf, Sternkler ET AL" in the amount of $108,399. Also of note in that report
are fees for video production services in the amount of $35,602 paid to Johnathan S. Duell (son of
Ellis Duell).
The Inside Story:
The Hunger Project had over 6 million people who have signed an enrollment card, committing
themselves to the end of hunger. Consider that amazing result. Consider, also, the fact that many
well-known politicians and respected hunger organizations have either aligned themselves with The
Hunger Project or, at the very least, are not suspicious.
Isn't it silly to get people to sign a little white card to "commit themselves to the end of hunger?" Not
so silly when you ponder how effective it would be to say to your congresspersons or other
politicians that over 6 million people stand behind your organization. Wouldn't it tend to open some
doors which otherwise might not have been open?
I have no issue with drawing attention to the problem of hunger or educating the public regarding
hunger. My issue lies with The Hunger Project's underlying philosophy and the methodology used to
have the volunteers produce these amazing results.
There are other organizations dealing with the issue of hunger that have clearly stated agendas,
i.e., Bread for the World indicates that it is a Christian lobbying and education group. Yet, The
Hunger Project finds it necessary to deny a philosophy. In my experience as a full-time volunteer, it
became clear and intolerable that the image being presented to the public and the reality
working within the organization are two entirely different agendas.
The network of thousands of volunteers who produce the work of The Hunger Project (Werner's
"work") is managed by the paid staff and by other volunteers who take on a managerial role. Most
of the employees and volunteers have taken the est training or The Forum or other Erhard
programs. Managing tools consist of communications (telephone) calls, lengthy conference calls,
conferences, Briefing Leader's training weekends, written communications, audiotapes, etc. It is
from these arenas that the volunteer is brought to commit to the goals, the ideas and work of The
Hunger Project.
The fundamental ideas of The Hunger Project are revealed in "The Source Document," which was
written by Werner Erhard. Among those are:
The Principles and Abstractions of The Hunger Project:
Individual and Personal Responsibility
Alignment of Wholes
Create a Context
Transformation*
32
**************************************
Definition of Responsibility*
33
"Responsibility starts with the willingness to experience yourSelf as cause. It starts with the willingness
to have the experience of yourSelf as cause in the matter.
Responsibility is not burden, fault, praise, blame, credit, shame or guilt. All these include judgments
and evaluations of good and bad, right and wrong or better and worse. They are not responsibility.
They are derived from a ground of being in which Self in considered to be a thing or an object
rather than context.
Responsibility starts with the willingness to deal with the situation from and with the point of view,
whether at the moment realized or not, that you are the source of what you are, what you do and
what you have. This point of view extends to include even what is done to you and, ultimately,
what another does to another.
Ultimately, responsibility is a context, a context of Self as source for the content, i.e. for what is.
* * * * *
Volunteers were instructed to read the Source Document. In fact, Briefing Leaders made an
agreement to "stay grounded" in the principles and abstractions by rereading the Source
Document a minimum of once each quarter.*
34
We were told that if volunteers live their lives
according to the principles and abstractions, hunger will end in the world.
In addressing the question of "What is The Hunger Project?" at a volunteer conference, Joan Holmes
said:
"The Hunger Project has a set of generating principles, the expression of which out into the world, is
The Hunger Project. The Hunger Project is about locating in the fabric of Self the end of hunger and
starvation, so that [it] can show up there. It is our sense that when that is done to any appreciable
degree, that we can have the end of hunger...what we stand for is having the end of hunger and
starvation be a natural expression of who someone is: a Self."*
35
Erhard's explanation of Self (as preferable to operating in the Mind State) is:
"Where one realizes the one is the context of all contexts; that one is not your mind, your belief
system, ideologies, traditions and identifications." "The Self is the unsubmitting, unresisting, unformed
matrix in which all forms, all processes and all metaphors exist."*
36
In the est training, trainees were led to believe that "the mind" was a negative concept. If an
individual was in their "mind state," they were being rooted in their past rather than being in this
moment.
Erhard and his trained leaders claim the authority to determine whether a member's actions or
statements were arising out of the "Mind state" or the "Self", depending on whether those actions or
statements agree or disagree with him or the goals of the group. These concepts set an individual
up in a constant state of self-examination and vigilance am I operating from the state of Mind or
Self?
Similarly, we were taught in the est training and seminar programs that the Self, being the context
of all things, means ultimately that we are all One. There is no one outside ourselves but projections
of ourselves and no reality that we have not created and for which we are not responsible. Since
we are all really One in being, it is out of relationship with each other that hunger will end. Joan
Holmes speaks to volunteers on this concept:
"Now in a larger sense, you are all One. But you express yourself individually...and our relationships
with Self is the space in which hunger will end...the original sin or lie, as I can determine it, is that I
said I wasn't you. It's to pretend we're separate is the original lie. . .if the Self won out over that one,
then the Mind would have no control over that person . . .see, Werner knows who he is because he
is everything and everyone. And so the Mind has really no control over him."*
37
Holmes continued illustrating the concept of the battle our minds has for control of us by addressing
what happens when one realizes that they are Self:
"...that is the last barrier. And the Mind will do anything because once you recognize that [you are
Self], the Mind has lost its survival battle . . .the last hold that the Mind has on us is to say that we're
separate and not connected. So when you have things like enrollment and money [targets] and all
those things to confront, the Mind will pick what it can to get you to think we're not connected."*
38
This basic philosophy that if we all knew we were all Self, there would be no more hunger, is very
different from the image The Hunger Project presents to the public: that The Hunger Project is about
education and information. In a quotation from the Assistant Executive Director, Lynne Twist, a
further understanding is revealed:
"Our relationship with each other, our relationship with Joan [Holmes], our relationship with Werner
[Erhard] is really why we're doing all this work."*
39
The constant reminder that we are the hungry people of the world and the emotionalism used at
conferences and on audiotapes, influenced the volunteers to recommit themselves to more and
more work. Often, Joan Holmes spoke in tears, with her voice cracking. Emotional manipulation at
conferences got volunteers reinspired and rededicated, which led up to the point when the new
campaign targets were promised. A conference day began with acknowledging the quality,
dedication, courage and commitment of volunteers. There usually followed a time that was called
in est a "clearing." ("Clearing" is a term coined by L. Ron Hubbard in his Dianetics/Scientology
technology) In this "clearing," a person introduced themselves and said whatever they need to say
(to clear what's going on in their mind and to be present in the room to hear what they need to
hear). After this process, volunteers were told what results have been produced in The Hunger
Project so far and what results were produced during in the last campaign. Each volunteer was
"acknowledged" for having produced all those miracles, every single volunteer created that
happening. Then the new campaign was introduced.
At this point, volunteers were usually on an emotional high. At a general volunteer conference, all
four programs of The Hunger Project (and any additional ones) would then be targeted for the next
campaign.
Targets are not to be figured out or based on what we had produced in the past, or based on our
time or energy availability. In Hunger Project jargon, they are not to come from the Mind. If a
person were to try to assess what they had produced in the past, what time and energy they were
going to have available to produce the targets in the next campaign, this was considered to be
"figuring it out;" coming from your Mind. Targets are to come from the Self. One is to "get" the target
by looking into the Universe and seeing the Truth and declaring it give our word that we will
produce it. Behind the idea of giving our word (declaring a target) was the concept taught in est
(and later in the Forum) that all individuals are is one's word. Targets are to be a "go-for-it" figure --
never do you declare a target that is smaller than one you have already produced.
Very often, upon returning from one of these conferences and having promised a target made
from what we called our Self, we would then face the reality of our home and work schedule. That
schedule would then need to be readjusted to fit the target since, as Hunger Project volunteers, we
must keep our word and do what we said we would do or hunger will not end. It is no wonder that
often we were told by our manager that for every one person we enrolled (or later on in our
experience, every one person we briefed), one less person died of hunger. Since we are all one
anyway, each individual enrolled is a "hungry person." The effect that concept had was if we did
not make our targets, more people died of hunger, which produced a sense of guilt. However,
since guilt is not responsibility (refer back to the definition of responsibility), we were made to feel
guilty for feeling guilty. When we expressed these feelings to our manager, the manager reminded
us that we have an agreement to produce satisfaction and aliveness for ourselves out of our
participation as volunteers and that the targets are only a game anyway. If it was a game, why
were we confronted for not making the target, for not keeping our word?
If we were not meeting our target, on the weekly communications call with our managers we
would need to look at what stood in the way of making the target and reaffirm our commitment to
next week's target, no matter what. We were to look at the entire National volunteers' targets as
ours from the point of view that if we were the only ones left in the world, we would make the
targets. There was a constant mixed message: "people are dying because we aren't keeping our
word," and "it's all a game."
When a person completes a program in Werner Erhard's Network, they are led to believe that he or
she creates his/her reality and "can have it all." To keep that magical thinking, one has to
disconnect with the people in their life that don't think that way. Neither est nor The Hunger Project
tells one to do that, it is a natural response. As expressed by Erhard's biographer:
..."a transformed individual demands transformed relationships because only in such a context can
he or she naturally express a transformed individuality."*
40
"Erhard says, 'an effective siege on Mind cannot be directed only to the individual, as in the
training, but must be directed to relationships and to the social environment, too. Thus, the larger
est program has a revolutionary goal: to create the conditions the space, the context -- in the
larger community to foster transformation at each level: individual, family-relational, and
organizational-institutional.'"
It is this transformational work that each volunteer is to live out, living the abstractions both within
their personal lives, having their relationships, job and finances "work" and extending out into the
organizations and society within which they live. In speaking about the accomplishments of The
Hunger Project, the work we did on ourselves and the necessity of maintaining the intensity of the
volunteers' work, Joan Holmes addressed the volunteers at a conference:
"You've got to complete all that stuff in yourself FOR THE WORLD. When you've completed it all
yourself, internally, and you have a critical mass of people who are doing that with you, those
statistics [hunger] will be down completely . . ."*
41
"Our personal IMR's [Infant Mortality Rate] are 24 people are dying a minute. And I'll tell you, we did
a Hell of a lot of work on ourselves to get it down that far AND there's a lot more to go. So, if you
stay at the same rate, you will go backward. There's no doing that. You can't do that in this game.
It'll come back in on you. [The Mind] You will stop producing results. The problems you solved in your
life will be RESURRECTED. So, all that stuff you already handled in your families and your personal
lives, that'll all come back to do again. You remember how great it was the first time? (Laughter) It'll
be worse the second time. They're gone now if you continue . . ."*
42
The abstraction that the Mind will continuously try to get a volunteer to slow their efforts or stop
doing the work was emphasized. Holmes spoke to this concept:
"How many people ever got sick so they could take off, to give themselves an excuse? I just want
to underscore that because it underscores the strength and the dirty playing of the Mind."*
43
Holmes then used these concepts to build up to targeting for the next campaign:
"Raise the bar. You didn't think you could go over it how high you raised it last time? You went over
it. You're a champion. Raise it. Up the ante. Press yourself into more brilliance. You've just begun.
We've just begun. We've got a long way to go. You're beautifully trained. You've put yourself
together well. You have a great relationship. Deliver on the promise. Raise the bar. Raise the ante.
And go for it. And you will need to decide to do that and do it in spite of the instructions your Mind's
going to give you, whether you ask for it or not. You need to strive for more brilliance. You need to
raise the targets. You need to increase the gradient. You're on a very high gradient. Don't get off. It
would be very dangerous to you. Things will get very messed up for you if you do that."*
44
Phobia induction is not uncommon in groups that manipulate members to do their work (become
deployable agents) and who create in their members a dependency on the group and the other
group members as their only source for feedback. As previously stated, the individual has already
been convinced that the group has the only answers and the outside "world" has lost its credibility.
After all, the world does not really want to be transformed. In est and Forum seminars, we
continually heard: If you don't share your transformation, (give it away by enrolling others) you will
lose it. You need to be in a transformed environment, you need to be supported in doing 'the work.'
You will lose your transformation if you leave. Joan Holmes used a more overt threat to volunteers in
the previous quotation.
Consider the effect the message that "coming from your Self" rather than "from your Mind" can
have on an individual. It denigrates the process of critical thinking to make decisions that are best
for the individual. We were not to declare a reasonable target -- one that we could meet without
causing a conflict of time and energy to spend on other important areas of our lives such as jobs,
marriages, children, etc. An example from my personal experience was that I would come home
after stating a target and have to allot extra time to either do those extra enrollments myself or
manage other volunteers to produce the result I had promised. With two teenage children at home
and having to having to spend for time on the work of The Hunger Project, it often meant that I
spent less and less time with my children. In addition, during the est training, the trainer had
confronted me on the fact that I had created my diabetes in order to manipulate my father and to
keep from doing what I said I would do and that I continue to use my diabetes that way. (refer
back to the definition of responsibility and "being cause in the matter") If I had some complication
of my diabetes or if I were ill, instead of taking care of myself, I would not allow myself to use my
diabetes as an excuse and as an avoidance of responsibility, so I would "be with" (ignore) the
symptoms and continue to do what I had promised. In both examples, instead of being truly
responsible in the real definition of the word, I was being irresponsible toward my children and
irresponsible toward my health. But in terms of the group, I was being what they wanted me to be
for them. In terms of responsibility toward children, I was told "it's not the quantity of time you spend
with your children, it's the quality of time."
Illustrating concepts known to New Age thinking, Holmes addressed volunteers:
"There's a window of time and it's the next twenty years or eighteen years in which people have the
opportunity to be on Earth to go from the Piscean Age to the Aquarian Age . . .it's a unique time in
history. It won't come around again after we get there for another 2000 years and it hasn't been
around for 2000 years. It is now. No kidding."*
45
Following the statement, Holmes congratulated each volunteer for having created that. This
reinforces the philosophy that we create our own reality:
"...it is a special time. Acknowledge it. And then look deep into your Self and see how you want to
participate in it. You created it to here, now how are you going to play in it? ...So, given that you
have designed the world to be alive at this window of time, given that you're conscious and that
you're participating and that you have the tools now, no kidding, to give that gift to everyone, now
is the opportunity to do it. One of the things we want to look at for a minute is the targets that
you've set up."*
46
In looking at the targets, Holmes distinguished between Mind and Self:
"I congratulate you for setting them [targets] as group and looking into the Universe and seeing
what the truth was and putting it down. I'm clear they're way too high for you to have come from
your Mind . . .I'm clear that your Self set the targets . . .so my final word about the targets? MAKE
THEM."*
47
Since volunteers are continuously surrounded with these abstractions, it is common for them to
begin to align their whole lives with the goals of the organization. Often they will subjugate their
relationships, businesses or their marriages to the end of hunger. It was common to hear volunteers
say "my life is about The Hunger Project" or "my life is about the end of hunger." As they accept the
concept "we are One," they identify more closely with both the hungry people in the world and
with The Hunger Project. At conferences, staff often told volunteers, "you ARE The Hunger Project."
These slogans represent the philosophy that produces the zeal, the intense commitment, the
enthusiasm and the sense of urgency exhibited by Hunger Project volunteers and staff. It is also a
reason that whenever someone criticizes the organization (either est/The Forum or The Hunger
Project) the individual feels as though they are personally being criticized. Healthy ego boundaries
have been eliminated.
Joan Holmes spoke personally about having her whole life be The Hunger Project. She encouraged
volunteers to live their life by the abstractions. In speaking of the Self, from which the Source
Document and The Hunger Project is said to be generated, Holmes said:
"There is, in fact, a great inauthenticity of Self generated by any and all acculturation. And that
inauthenticity of Self is exactly the persistence of hunger. And it is that The Hunger Project will call
into question . . .culture, nationalism and sovereignty as we've defined it in this country, Canada or
any other country at this time, does not allow us enough space for us to tell the truth about
ourselves that we are responsible for everyone. The cultural boundaries, the nationalism, the
divisions in the world that have us separate ourSelves here from ourSelves in other countries is the
persistence of hunger and it is what The Hunger Project intends to transform . . .The Hunger Project is
Self. The Hunger Project is transformation -- or the true nature of The Hunger Project is Self and
transformation."*
48
Throughout conferences, there was an emphasis on the relationship of love between staff, Joan
Holmes and volunteers. Joan Holmes praised volunteers by "acknowledging their magnificence,"
with her voice cracking and eyes filled with tears. Her last communications to volunteers consist of "I
love you." The emotional attachments within the volunteers are built gradually on several levels.
First, most of the volunteers have taken Werner Erhard's programs and have a sense of gratitude
and love toward him and/or the organization for the transformation they believe they have
achieved. Second, volunteers are praised by the leaders of The Hunger Project for being
transformed individuals who are actually ending hunger in the world by working on themselves and
keeping their word to produce the results The Hunger Project expects. Third, through viewing
movies and videos of hungry, often starving, people and being reinforced in the idea that we are
all one, the individual is bonded to the starving people of the world and accepts a great amount
of responsibility for them and guilt should the results they promised not be produced. The web of
love, commitment, responsibility and a lack of healthy ego boundaries tightens and tightens.
In relating to the abstraction that "we are the hungry people," and in stating the statistics of how
many of us die each minute of hunger, there is a sense of urgency instilled in the volunteers. Using
quotes from experts in the field of hunger, volunteers are told that our work is THE most important
work being done on the planet. When addressing volunteers concerning the miracles The Hunger
Project has produced, Joan Holmes used the opportunity to warn of the dangers that the Mind
would try to get us to stop doing the work. In this instance, she took emotional manipulation a step
further when speaking of the Mind trying to stop us while we were on a win:
"Or do you want on your tombstones, 'I was about ending hunger and when I reduced the deaths
to a million, I stopped. It was good enough for me. I didn't think I should go all the way -- 2 million --
only 24 babies [dying] per minute. That was tolerable to me. See, I got it down from 28 people
[dying per minute] to 24 -- 21 children [dying per minute] to 18 -- and that was good enough. And
my Mind said I should take a rest and I went into agreement with it.'"*
49
On the other hand, when volunteers recommitted themselves to the work, they were termed
"courageous, bold, daring, warriors, on the cutting edge," and it was stressed that when we reach
the end of hunger, we probably will never be given the credit, but WE know we are the ones who
did it, we authored the end of hunger. We are the pioneers, the modern day Paul Reveres.
Stressing the importance of our work, Nathan Gray addressed volunteers, speaking of his
experience with a group of 75 nurses in India who reduced the IMR in their area. He compared the
targets of those women who were actually keeping babies alive to the targets of The Hunger
Project volunteers:
"But I want to tell you, our targets are as important as their targets -- what's more accurate, your
targets are interchangeable with theirs. Don't bullshit yourself. Don't let anybody -- expert or
so-called expert or anybody tell you differently."*
50
Toward the end of my affiliation with The Hunger Project and est, I had a disagreement with the
New York State Volunteer Manager concerning whether my husband and I would deliver 14 cards
(filled out by participants in an Ending Hunger Briefing that we had led that day) to the airport in
the middle of the night to fly them to California so they could be counted in the campaign target
the next day. I was told, "don't you know that every person you brief is one less person dying of
hunger?" By this time, we had received five phone calls from Hunger Project staff members in San
Francisco and other Briefing Leaders who were attending a Briefing Leaders' Training there. We
were told that Joan Holmes would not "be with" the briefing leaders until they had made their
targets. Only those cards "in house" counted. One staff member told me (after midnight) that
briefing leaders' lives depended on their having those 14 cards by the next day. It was in hearing
statements like these that my gnawing concerns grew to an intolerable level. When we took our
criticisms to The Hunger Project Staff (we had an agreement to "clear" all complaints with staff),
they promptly apologized only for the inappropriate timing and number of calls. But, staff was not
willing to be responsible for the thinking and the pressures that caused the incident.
The Four "Sourced" Programs Of The Hunger Project:
1. Enrollment. (no longer in existence)
Enrollment was the primary target of The Hunger Project. Enrollment consisted of getting someone
to fill out and sign a card committing themselves to the end of hunger. To volunteers, it was the
heart and soul of The Hunger Project. Lynne Twist spoke about enrollment:
"Enrollment is a code word for Self . . .[it] is a code word for being with a person in a way that they
experience who they are, even for a moment. They will never forget it. Even if they don't remember
it. ...Enrollment is truly a code word for the clearing that each of us wants around us in our lives."*
51
According to The Hunger Project, a critical mass of people enrolled will result in the actuality of
hunger's end. The original Source Document illustrated the critical mass:
"Off the coast of Japan are a number of tiny islands where resident populations of macaques have
been under continuous observation for more than 20 years. The scientists provide supplementary
food, but the monkeys also feed themselves by digging up sweet potatoes and eating them, dirt
and all. This uncomfortable practice continued unchanged for many years until one day a young
male monkey broke with tradition and carried his potato down to the sea where he washed it
before eating it. He taught the trick to his mother, who showed it to her current mate and so the
culture spread through the colony until most of them, let us say 99 monkeys were doing it. Then one
Tuesday morning at eleven, the hundredth individual acquired the habit, and within an hour, it
appeared on two other islands in two physically uncommented populations of moneys who until
that moment had shown no inclination to wash their food.
I believe that ideas in human societies spread in the same kind of way and that when enough of us
hold something to be true, then it becomes true for everyone."*
52
After leaving The Hunger Project, I discovered refutation of "The 100th Monkey Theory" as written by
Watson. Watson, himself admitted that he took certain "scientific license" in his theory. There were
not even 100 monkeys in the behavior observation.*
53
The observation of note was that a young
monkey taught his parent a new behavior. Other monkeys on other islands learned the behavior,
but a potato washer, "Jugo," swam from one island to another.
In speaking about enrollment targets, Twist said: "the targets are all a game. So, one needs to play
a game like there's nothing more important than what you're doing."*
54
"Enrollment" followed Cialdini's criteria for modern persuasion: commitment and consistency.*
55
Cialdini, a Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University, states that once we have taken a
stand, we will encounter personal and interpersonal pressures to behave consistently with the
commitment. Those pressures will cause us to respond in ways that justify our earlier decision. This
drive to be consistent constitutes a highly potent weapon of social influence, often causing us to
act in ways that are clearly contrary to our own best interests. Once we have committed to
something, we really don't have to think hard about the issue any more. Often, there are disturbing
things we simply would rather not realize in relation to this commitment and an automatic
consistency can supply a safe hiding place from those troubling realizations. As this automatic
consistency functions as a shield against critical thought, it can be exploited by those who would
prefer that we not think too much in response to their requests.
What is the key to get a person into this automatic consistency mode? Commitment. Once one
goes on record as "committed", (or "enrolled") there is a natural tendency to behave in ways that
are stubbornly consistent with the stand. Once a person's self image is altered to have them
believe that they are the type of person who is committed, [to the end of hunger] all sorts of subtle
advantages become available to someone who wants to exploit that new image. The effect of
the change in self-image [you are bold, courageous, audacious, committed, magnificent, etc.] is
lasting, according to Cialdini. The volunteer is likely to continue his behavior for as long as his new
self-image holds.
2. Income and Financial Family
The Financial Family is a program in which one makes a pledge to contribute a certain amount of
money each month to The Hunger Project. Other income programs include(d) Contribution
Meetings, Major Leadership Program (where people agree to contribute $10,000 or more). Lynne
Twist tells volunteers that "we take your $25 and empower the transformation of the planet."*
56
Since the inception of The Hunger Project, it has taken in over $85 million (as of 1992). Of that figure,
$2.5 million has been expended in grants. That is 2.97%. Not all grants are allocated to organizations
that directly feed the hungry or are development organizations. For example, in 1992, a grant was
given to The Hunger Project India in the amount of $99,523. Another was given to The Hunger
Project Bangladesh for $19,300 and another to CONAPOR/Senegal Council, sent in care of Le
Hunger Project, Senegal in the amount of $114,000.
The Hunger Project has never professed to be a relief or development agency. If a person asks
directly, they will be told that fact. If a person does not ask, they will not be made aware of that
fact until and unless they read Hunger Project materials. The Hunger Project states that it does the
work of education and raising the commitment to end hunger with its money. It cannot be proven
that money flows directly from The Hunger Project into Werner Erhard or his entities except for the
repayment of the monies and equipment loaned to The Hunger Project in the early days of its
development. But as I have demonstrated previously, there is much more to The Hunger Project's
agenda than education.
3. The Ending Hunger Briefing Program (no longer in existence)
The Briefing was a two-to-four hour lecture that The Hunger Project promoted to the public as an
educational experience. These briefings were led by Briefing Leaders, who were specially selected
and trained volunteers. In fact, volunteers paid to be trained to become Briefing Leaders. Briefing
Leaders targeted the number of Briefings they would lead, the number of persons to be briefed, the
number of enrollments, contributions and new volunteers they would produce out of the Briefing for
each campaign.
Briefing Leaders were told that the Briefing is "a transformational experience in which people are
moved to that place in themselves that we call the Self."*
57
The information given in the briefing
was "displayed in a way that allows the Mind to be by-passed because your Mind is fed by
information. The Briefing delivers it [transformation] camouflaged in a legitimate package called
education or information."*
58
A special campaign for the Ending Hunger Briefing Program targeted schools for briefings. Joan
Holmes said:
"You will brief young people in a way so that the commitment to end hunger is located in them.
And you know how irritating they can be. So, if they want something, they're going to get it, aren't
they? I mean, they're ruthless people, and I consider it the kind of secret weapon of The Hunger
Project to unleash them on the world."*
59
In 1990, The Hunger Project initiated a program called Youth Ending Hunger (YEAH). It seems that
the organization listened to Joan Holmes' comments about the energy and ruthlessness of youth
and how to use those qualities for the organization's benefit.
Deception, Dependency & Dread
In describing the process of mind control, Michael Langone, Ph.D., Director of Research and
Education for the American Family Foundation refers to mind control or thought reform as a process
in which a group or individual systematically uses unethically manipulative methods to persuade
others to conform to the wishes of the manipulator(s), often to the detriment of the person(s) being
manipulated. He describes the stages of mind control as deception, dependency and dread. First,
the group/leader must persuade prospects that the group is beneficial in some way that appeals
to the targeted individuals. As a result of this deception and the systematic use of highly
manipulative techniques of influence, recruits come to commit themselves to the group's
prescribed ways of thinking, feeling, and acting; in other words, they become members. By
gradually isolating members from outside influences [often by discrediting other sources of
information], establishing unrealistically high, guilt-inducing expectations, punishing any expressions
of "negativity," and denigrating independent critical thinking, the group causes members to
become extremely dependent on its compliance-oriented expressions of love and support. Once a
state of dependency is firmly established, the group's control over members' thoughts, feelings, and
behavior is strengthened by the members' growing dread of losing the group's psychological
support (overt threats also occur in some groups), however much that support may aim at ensuring
their compliance with leadership's often debilitating demands.*
60
Conclusion
In my opinion, the issue that remains at the forefront concerning The Hunger Project is the
discrepancy between what The Hunger Project presents to the public and its hidden agenda, as
well as the methods used on volunteers to produce its results. Many well-intentioned and
well-known people, not having this information, have joined forces with The Hunger Project to end
world hunger. The Hunger Project uses its growing number of individual enrollments and
endorsements by influential people to gain more political power, acceptance and credibility. Does
Werner Erhard stand to benefit from this credibility and political power?
The philosophy remains the same, masked under their "principles and abstractions." As the "fund
balance" (the money not used each year) of The Hunger Project grows, people still die of hunger.
Will an idea feed them? Will "opportunity?" Will an idea help them feed themselves and become
self-sufficient? Or will that idea transform the world? Transformation according to whom? When we
have no more "national boundaries and acculturation that keeps hunger in place," won't we need
a world leader? Who might that be? Werner Erhard?
End Notes:
1. The Hunger Project. May 1978. "It's Our Planet -- It's Our Hunger
Project" San Francisco, CA: The Hunger Project [pamphlet]
2. Ibid.
3. Holmes, Joan. August 1977. "Managing The Hunger Project: ...the joy
of it, the celebration" The Graduate Review.
4. Fuller, R. W. & Wallace, Z. December 1975. "A Look at est in
Education" [Pamphlet published by est]
5. Holmes, Joan. loc. cit. P. 11
6. Alman, Bob. September 1977. "An Idea Whose Time Has Come," The
Graduate Review
7. Ibid.
8. Holmes, Joan. November 1980 Memo
9. Alman, loc.cit., p.3
10. Erhard, Werner. "All I Can Do Is Lie" September 1974, East/West
Journal, p.2.
11. Ibid. p. 3
12. Brewer, Mark. "We're Gonna Tear You Down and Put You Back Together"
Psychology Today, August 1975
13. Ibid. p. 3
14. Finkelstein, Peter, Wenegrat, B. & Yalcom, I. 1982. "Large Group
Awareness Training" Annual Review of Psychology p. 524
15. Glass, Leonard, MD; Kirsch, M., MD and Parris, F., MD "Psychiatric
Disturbances Associated with Erhard Seminars Training: I. A Report of
Cases" American Journal of Psychiatry, March 1977 and "Psychiatric
Disturbances Associated with Erhard Seminars Traing: II A Report of
Cases" American Journal of Psychiatry, November 1977
16. Bartley, W. W., III. Werner Erhard: The Transformation of a Man,
Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., New York, 1978
17. Ibid. p. 64-162
18. Ibid. p. 156
19. Ibid. p. 166-168
20. Gordon, Suzanne. "Let Them Eat est" Mother Jones, December 1978
21. Cox, Don. "Statement by Don Cox, President of est, an Educational
Corporation," November 4, 1978
22. Garvey, Kevin. "Hunger Project: Erhard's est laboratory" Our Town,
April 13 through April 19, 1980
23. Knowles, Louis L. A Guide to World Hunger Organizations, 1984.
Seeds/Alternatives
24. Tanner, John. "Hungry for Converts" New Internationalist, June,
1985
25. Ibid.
26. Clark, Jack and Chapin, Jim. "It Doesn't Add Up" Seeds, December,
1984
27. Behar, Richard and King, Ralph Jr. "The Winds of Werner" and
"Fuzzy, but Fervent" Forbes, November 18, 1985
28. Bell, Daniel and Weston, Brendan. "Hunger Project Feeds Itself" The
McGill Daily, February 13, 1985. McGill University, Montreal, Canada
29. Moore, Toby. "Exposed: the charity that 'fights' hunger but won't
feed the hungry" The (London) Sunday Times, 15 June 1985
30. Leaf, Marty. "Celebrate Each Day" Quantum Leap, The Hunger Project
Newsletter -- Northeast Region. October 1978
31. States, Katherine. "Good Morning, You're Terrific: Life at an est
Firm" The American Lawyer, August, 1981
32. The Hunger Project. "Generating Workability" North American
Volunteer Conference, February, 1983
33. Erhard, Werner "Definition of Responsibility," 1979
34. The Hunger Project. "Briefing Leader Guidelines and Agreements" The
Ending Hunger Briefing Program, March 1985
35. . Holmes, Joan. "What Is The Hunger Project?" The Hunger Project
Source Material, February 1985 from an edited transcript of January 23,
1985 Global Meeting, San Francisco
36. Bartley, W. W., III. Werner Erhard
37. The Hunger Project. "Conversation with Joan Holmes, Lynne Twist,
Cheryl Newbrough on 'Love and Relationship'" San Francisco, CA, May 22,
1980 (audio tape)
38. Ibid.
39. Ibid.
40. Bartley, W.W., III. "A Place To Tell The Truth" The Graduate
Review, est. May, 1978. P.2
41. Joan Holmes. "Joan Holmes at Volunteer Conference with Nathan Gray"
The Hunger Project, San Francisco, CA, May 29, 1982 (audio tape)
42. Ibid.
43. Ibid.
44. Ibid.
45. Ibid.
46. Ibid.
47. Ibid.
48. Holmes, Joan. "Ending Hunger Briefing Conference" the Hunger
Project, San Francisco, CA, January 1983 (audio tape)
49. Holmes, Joan. "...volunteer Conference with Nathan Gray"
50. Ibid.
51. Twist, Lynne and Parrish, Catherine. "The Four Sourced Programs of
The Hunger Project." The Hunger Project, March, 1985 (audio tape)
52. "A Transformation" An Idea Whose Time Has Come. The Hunger Project,
1977. Written by Werner Erhard. Quotation from: Lyall Watson, forward
to Rhythms of Vision by Lawrence Clair
53. Amundson, Ron. "The Hundredth Monkey Phenomenon" The Skeptical
Inquirer, Summer, 1985
54. Twist, Lynne and Parrish, Catherine. Four Sourced Programs...
55. Cialdini, Robert B. Influence Scott, Foresman & co., 1985
56. Twist, Lynn and Parrish, Catherine. Four Sourced Programs...
57. Ibid.
58. Ibid.
59. Holmes, Joan. "Joan Holmes: Ending Hunger Briefing Conference", The
Hunger Project, San Francisco, CA, January 1983 (audio tape)
60. Langone, Michael. Recovery from Cults. W.W. Norton, 1994, p.7