Feed Projects Aims to End World Hunger, CEO Lauren Bush Lauren Says

ABC(NEW YORK) — Lauren Bush Lauren, co-founder of The Feed Projects, appeared on ABC’S Good Morning America on Friday to share information about “Come Together,” the organization’s new holiday campaign to fight hunger.

The Feed Projects’ sale of bags, T-shirts and accessories directly fund the provision of meals for the world’s hungry. The new campaign has enlisted the support of celebrities including supermodels Karlie Kloss and Chrissy Teigen and actress Anne Hathaway, along with several hunger relief organizations.

Click here to learn more about the campaign.

Lauren, who is also a fashion model and designer, shared her vision for her organization: “The ultimate goal of Feed would be to go out of business because we would have solved world hunger,” she said.

Lauren shared a personal essay with GMA about what girl power means to her. Read it below:
 

What Girl Power Means to Me

Girl Power to me is being empowered to make the world a better place through my individual action. While I’ve seen first hand the incredible impact one person can have on the life of a child through one purchase, I also know that we can do so much more by uniting to make a difference. I personally feel powerful when I use my dollars to support causes that are near to my heart.

Like many of my friends, I am passionate about empowering girls around the world through education. Through my travels with the World Food Programme (WFP), one of our FEED giving partners, I have had the privilege of meeting many inspiring young women who have not only the dream, but the drive and the talent, to change their communities for the better.

We’ve learned that when a girl is given a nutritious meal at school, her parents are incentivized to send her — even in communities where it is common for parents to keep their daughters at home. This one meal is revolutionary in promoting girls’ education in 62 countries around the world, where we support WFP’s school feeding program. I feel strongly that by ensuring that girls in every community have access to education, we will only move toward a more peaceful and prosperous world.

It was actually out of this passion that the first FEED bag was created seven years ago. I had many friends who shared my passion for empowering girls through providing school meals, but didn’t know how to get involved. The FEED 1 bag feeds one child in school for one year. My friends who care about this issue may not be able to vote at the polls to ensure girls education in Kenya, but they can vote with their dollars by buying a FEED bag to ensure girls have the nutrition they need to grow, learn and thrive.

After seeing first hand the reality of hunger in America (1 in 7 Americans are food insecure) through my work with FEED’s domestic giving partners, I care very deeply about creating a strong domestic economy so Americans have more than enough to put food on the table. I love that I have the power to not just vote for policies that support this, but literally put my money where my mouth is and buy from brands, like Faribault Mills and Shinola Detroit, that create jobs for my fellow Americans.

Because so many FEED customers care about this issue as well, I was thrilled to release a made-in-America bag collaboration with the Faribault Mills this fall. Each bag when purchased provides meals for American families in need, while supporting domestic manufacturing. This collaboration is truly a way for people like me who care about combating hunger in America by strengthening the economy to vote with their dollars on behalf of their neighbors.

I am going on Good Morning America today to talk about the power we can have when we not only make our individual purchases count, but join with family and friends to multiply our impact. Yesterday, FEED launched a campaign called “Come Together,” which brings together a group of mindful influencers to show shoppers and gift-givers — women for whom GIRL POWER means voting with their dollars for causes they care about — how their purchases can combat world hunger.

I am so excited about the group of influencers who have joined us to support FEED in ensuring a world that is well-fed and well-nourished. Many of them are the embodiment of “girl power” itself. During the segment, we will reveal beautiful portraits of our tastemaker friends — Anne Hathaway, Karlie Kloss, Jessica Alba, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen to name a few — that represent the power of collective impact. FEED has always existed to empower the individual consumer to make a difference in the life of one child or family by providing meals through a purchase. But we know so much more can be done if we join together to ensure no one is hungry. Each of these portraits portrays families, friends or colleagues uniting to multiply their individual impact — to not just feed one but many, and to really move the needle on hunger.

We are powerful on our own, but together we can do a world of good. That is Girl Power.

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