Young Lions
SPECULATIVE DESIGN
Manifesto
This 2-page spread aims to reveal a tension point to viewers on the status of food and engage with Hungerthon to make it a right. When 86% of jobs in the U.S. food system pay at or below the poverty level, food is not a right. When 783 million face chronic hunger around the world, food is not a right. When 828 million people go hungry every night, despite $630 billion per year being spent to fix it, food is clearly not a right. If not a right, then food can only be one thing. A luxury. And participating in WhyHunger’s Hungerthon is an impactful first step towards changing it. In the United States, we are bombarded with advertisements of starving children, skeletal adults, and countless other extremes which desensitize viewers to the issues of food uncertainty.
To combat this desensitization, we placed food where it currently belongs in our society—the world of wealth and luxury. Using the paradoxical visuals of high fashion and humble ingredients highlights the simple truth at the heart of this issue. This allows us to use a call-to-action which inspires viewers not just to come to terms with food’s status in the world, but to reshape it with us at the 40th annual Hungerthon. The overall message challenges viewers, particularly value-aligned young professionals who are passionate about social justice. Solving the issue first requires us to rethink food’s place in the world and the part we play reshaping it. As tracking the work’s engagement is key to measuring success, we direct viewers to a hiddenpage: ‘www.Hungerthon/luxury.’
One only accessible through the action of typing in the link themselves. The ethnicity, gender, and food items showcased in the print piece were specifically chosen to shine a light on the systemic injustices found in food insecurity. Poverty hits people of color, and women, disproportionally. The fact that simple food staples you can find at the bougiest of farm-to-table markets or the poorest grocery outlets are out of reach for so many further cements this message. Fortunately, through the hard work of WhyHunger’s Hungerthon, viewers of the print piece have an immediate way to combat this harsh reality and help turn a luxury into a human right.
Credits
Copywriter: EJ Niemczyk
