SPEAKING OUT TO HALT HUNGER
FOR THIS SINGLE PARENTS STAR, FOOD INSECURITY HITS CLOSE TO HOME.
TODAY, ACTRESS LEIGHTON MEESTER, STAR OF ABC’S SINGLE PARENTS SITCOM, DOESN’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT WHERE HER NEXT
DINNER IS COMING FROM. A child actress and model who rose to fame as Blair Waldorf on The CW’S Gossip Girl, Leighton has also appeared in movies and performed as a singer.
Now she is bringing her talent to the role of ambassador for Feeding America. Leighton takes the mission personally. As she was growing up, she says, her family had to rely on food stamps.
“There were times when we had nothing in the kitchen to eat for dinner, or we had to put things back on the shelf at the store because we couldn’t afford it at checkout,” she says. “There were high and low times. I felt guilty about treats and meals, and would ask if we had enough money to pay for it.”
Leighton says she didn’t realize the full extent of food insecurity until she began working with Feeding America. Families who appear to be doing just fine may be relying on food pantries to put supper on the table.
“I feel I was very privileged, particularly in my education. I was able to go to a private school for some of my childhood, and during that time our family still struggled,” she recalls. The assumption that people who use food banks are not hardworking is a myth, Leighton says; in fact, the opposite is often true.
“It may be affecting someone closer than you think,” she says.
Leighton was also surprised to learn how much food is wasted. “That’s why it’s amazing that Feeding America helps to bring food and produce that would otherwise be thrown away to pantries and shelters.”
Her advice to families who are experiencing food insecurity is to be willing to speak about it openly, in hopes that doing so will help “demystify and destigmatize the face of hunger or food insecurity.” The result, she says, may be finding help and support in surprising ways.