Hunger
June 7th, 2024
ChatGPT, Midjourney, Adobe Photoshop & Firefly
This is perhaps one of the most difficult topics for me to write about due to my own personal experiences regarding food insecurity, especially the first three years after I moved to the US. My sister and I heavily relied on the free lunch program and the kindness of our neighbors as we lived at the mercy of strangers, people who called themselves Christians but lived with lines in their fridges of what we were and were not allowed to touch. Summers were especially tough, as there were no programs instilled in the area we lived in to ensure we would be fed at least once a day. There were many scary days.
I made this piece because I know what it’s like to be hungry. I know what it’s like to be denied food as a punishment, day after day. I know what it’s like to eat expired donations from neighbors, what it’s like to take food from a donation pantry, what it’s like to ask for change from classmates to split a piece of pizza or a pretzel with my best friend at after-school events and what it’s like to eat the extra food off my friends’ tray at lunchtime because of that one semester I didn’t qualify for free lunch.
I also know that these injustices, though stigmatic and traumatic, are nothing compared to the catastrophic levels of hunger people are experiencing around the world, such as the people of Gaza and Sudan/South Sudan. The economics of war, colonization fall-out and climate change have made it so that even though there is no global food shortage, the lack of access is threatening the lives of millions of people. This needs to change.
Fifty percent of the proceeds from minting this NFT will go to the World Food Program USA, in an effort to end famine around the world. The other 50% will go to Feeding America, to increase accessibility to safe and healthy food for Americans. Every subsequent sale will be split 50-50 between the seller and the nonprofits. You must be 18 years or older (or whichever is the legal age in your area) and possess a valid credit card tied to your name, or if purchasing with crypto you automatically attest that you are of legal majority age within your jurisdiction to be making such a transaction.
