This PSA About Hunger Brilliantly Flips Viral Recipe Videos Into Something More Important

New legislation and corporate philanthropy contribute a great deal to combating hunger across the globe, but law enforcement and charitable tax write-offs aren’t enough. Everyday Americans like you and I — people who spend most of their days surfing social media during work (not to mention the commutes to and from it) — must get involved. So what better incentive than a viral video, the very kind of thing we spend so much time watching on repeat? After all, one of the most popular (and annoying) kinds of viral video is the recipe.

As Mashable points out, that’s what the American non-profit Feeding America is banking on with its #HungerActionMonth campaign in September. Specifically, the organization is hoping you’ll watch, react to, and spread its “Empty Plates” video — a short 30-second public service announcement that mirrors all those recipe videos on Facebook and Instagram. Except, of course, with one glaring omission. There’s no food.

“An empty plate means an empty stomach,” reads the PSA. “For 1 in 7 Americans, this may be dinner.” Or as the Hunger Action Month campaign website suggests, this means 48 million Americans (including 15 million children) get empty dinner plates more often than not.

Everyone from Feeding America and major food banks, to celebrity chefs and Hollywood entertainers has come together to spread #HungerActionMonth‘s message — both online and in the real world.

https://twitter.com/jamiechung1/status/773302501688958976

(Via Mashable and Feeding America)