And How Her Own Childhood Hunger Shaped Her Activism.
Scarlett Johansson, one of Hollywood’s highest-paid stars, has used her massive platform not for luxury endorsements but to relentlessly fight for food security in America. Her activism stems directly from her own childhood reality: she grew up in Manhattan with five siblings in a family that often struggled financially.
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Tough Childhood: Reliance on Public Aid
Johansson openly shares that her family relies on public assistance programs, including food stamps, just to put meals on the table. She has a “tremendous amount of gratitude” for the aid she received because it directly impacted her path to success.
The Free Lunch Fueling a Future
Crucially, she and her twin brother, Hunter Johansson, relied heavily on the public school lunch program for their daily nutrition and energy. She has established that those free meals were essential, not just for basic sustenance, but because they gave her the strength and energy needed to fully participate in learning, playing, and—most importantly—pursuing her passion for theater and the arts as a child. Being “fed and healthy” was the true fuel for her love of acting.
Becoming a Fierce Advocate
With this powerful personal experience guiding her, Scarlett Johansson has become an active advocate for anti-hunger organizations, most notably Feeding America—the hunger relief organization in the United States. She has filmed public service announcements (PSAs) and joined open letters to Congress, urgently calling for the protection of crucial nutrition assistance programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid for vulnerable Americans.She emphasizes that no parent should have to worry about where their children’s next meal is coming from.
The core of her activism is clear: the memory of having to rely on free school lunches as a child is the profound motivation for Scarlett Johansson to use her fame to fight for food security and ensure that no other child has to worry about the source of their next meal.
