Scarlett Johansson has teamed up with Feeding America after USDA shared a report that showed that 44 million people (which works out to 1 in 7) in the United States, including 13 million children lived in food insecure households in 2022 — a sharp rise from data pulled in 2021 to tackle food insecurity and child hunger — a cause close to her heart. “My family relied on public assistance, and the meals I ate at school were part of the free school lunch program — which provides free breakfast and lunch to students from low-income families,” Johansson revealed.
She also included a message of hope not only for the families and children of America, but the whole world. "I’m proud to support Feeding America — because I believe in a world without food insecurity. I believe in a world where kids have food on their plates and full stomachs," she wrote. "Where children thrive and grow and do amazing things — with food to fuel every moment of laughter, discovery, and success." Scarlett, the daughter of an immigrant, born in 1980s Manhattan, was a little girl who dreamed of being an actress and often performed for family at home.
Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, Feeding America CEO, the granddaughter of sharecroppers, born in 1960s rural Louisiana, was a little girl from a big family who dreamed of being a lawyer and loved to travel the world through books. Different as we may be, we share the experience of understanding what it is like for a family to struggle to make ends meet. We both witnessed the power of our parents' tenacity as they fed and protected their children from the often-cold realities of our world.
Claire added: “We are thankful Scarlett Johansson is using her voice and experiences to share the possibilities that come from when people are fed. The movement to end hunger is underway in the United States, and if we all work together to center our neighbors who have experienced food insecurity, we can ensure that no one goes hungry in America.”
Food insecurity is occasionally talked about as a public issue, debated by scholars and political pundits. At its core, however, food insecurity is an intimate family experience, nuanced and painful, and rarely understood by those who have not lived it.
