Feeding San Diego Debuts New Comic Book Featuring Hunger Action Heroes Created by Two Local Students
Exciting new book educates young readers on the importance of food rescue for hunger relief
Feeding San Diego, the county’s leading hunger relief and food rescue organization, announces the release of its new comic book “Hunger Action Heroes Unite!” The book, now available on the non-profit’s website, features Hunger Halter and Demeter, two characters originally developed by local students who won an art contest held by the organization in collaboration with the Comic-Con Museum. It serves as an integral tool to educate youth about the problem of food insecurity and ultimately inspire them to act.
“Hunger Action Heroes Unite!” is an inspirational story written by Dr. Janina Scarlet, clinical psychologist and creator of “Superhero Therapy,” with art by Thom Zahler (“Love & Capes” & “My Little Pony”). Aimed at young readers in elementary and middle school, the book tells the story of journalist Julie Wilson, who channels her feelings of distress into action when she is given the opportunity to transform into Demeter and help fight hunger and food waste across the country. Together with Hunger Halter, the two heroes rescue food and get it to people in need. To support learning in the classroom and at home, the nonprofit created a curriculum guide educators and parents can use alongside the comic book.
“We created the hunger action heroes to leverage the power of popular culture to address a pressing social justice issue and inspire social good. We knew that by inviting the community to get involved and collaborating with the Comic-Con Museum we could uncover heroes who could support our organization and the community at large,” said Dana Williams, director or marketing & communications at Feeding San Diego. “With inflation, the problem of food insecurity is heightened. There is no better time than now to educate the public, especially our youth, about the urgent need to support hunger relief organizations like Feeding San Diego and inspire them to become a part of the solution.”
The hunger action heroes were created as part of the Hunger Action Hero Art Contest held in 2022. The contest was a collaboration between Feeding San Diego and Comic-Con Museum to rally local students around Feeding San Diego’s mission to end hunger through food rescue while reducing the stigma associated with attending food distributions—because even heroes need help sometimes. With nearly 300 submissions from K-12 students across San Diego County, more than 4,000 community members voted on the top ten entries. In the end, the first and second place winners were Aiden Prior and Sirenna Ascencio, who created Hunger Halter and Demeter, respectively. The winning submissions were brought to life by costume designer Allan Lavigne, head of The Bronze Armory Studios, who has worked on legendary comic book films from the “Iron Man” and “Captain America” franchises. The heroes first debuted at Comic-Con 2022 with the characters played by actors Jason Zlatkus and Summer Moore.
The book is now available to purchase for $6.99 on Feeding San Diego’s merch store. Proceeds from sales of the book will support Feeding San Diego’s critical hunger-relief and food rescue programs. The supplemental curriculum guide can be downloaded on the website.
Synopsis:
Journalist Julie Wilson feels distressed and powerless as she continues to report on the expanding food insecurity and environmental crises in the United States. When Julie’s cat shows her a portal to another universe, she meets a team of superheroes dedicated to solving pressing global issues. She agrees to join them to end hunger. Along with her new partner, Hunger Halter, Julie (now Demeter) travels all over the country helping people rescue surplus food and redistribute it to people facing hunger. This inspiring comic teaches readers how they, too, can become hunger action heroes like Hunger Halter and Demeter in real life by learning about food rescue and helping people experiencing food insecurity.
