The Story of Overcoming Hunger One Poem at a Time

by Janice F. Booth 

Jul. 03, 2025

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Hiram Larew, founder of Poetry X Hunger. Photo by Portia Wiggins

“Poetry invites truth telling, and for me [Glaser], poetry sings most profoundly when it points us toward compassion. Narrative poetry can powerfully share the stories of those who live hungry, who suffer from the plague of poverty. Unlike essays and explanations, poetry offers a direct route to our hearts: It is not argumentative. It does not speak to the mind so much as the spirit… by offering us new eyes and ears through which we might gain new understandings.” —Michael Glaser, the 9th Poet Laureate of Maryland, speaking about the Poetry X Hunger organization and the use of poetry to fight hunger.

As recently as 2023*, more than 47 million Americans went to bed most nights worried that there would not be enough food to feed their family the next day. Seven million children in the U.S. in 2023 ate less than they wished to, went an entire day without eating, and/or could not afford a balanced meal. (*The most recent year for which data is available.) 

Those statistics may, or may not, be surprising to you. What we eat, who eats, and who does not eat are issues covered regularly in the press, in blogs, and on social media. I may have a plate of cheese and crackers at my elbow as I watch the news and fret over such suffering. And after a hardy breakfast of eggs and juice, maybe I’ll send a check to one food aid organization or another. What else is there to do? 

Remedies? Many volunteer organizations in our state work to feed the hungry. Maryland-based Poetry X Hunger (PXH) is one of those organizations drawing on what they have to give—poetry—in the monumental task of reducing hunger. This organization of writers employs poetry to awaken us to the plight of hunger and to feed hungry people, in the U.S. and across the globe. 

Since its inception in 2017, Poetry X Hunger has been recognized for its integrity and success “in pointing us toward compassion” and providing concrete resources to reduce hunger. PXH has received project grants from the Maryland State Arts Council, several County Arts Councils, and, even, the United Nations.

Hiram Larew, an award-winning poet, founded Poetry X Hunger after his retirement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), where he was director. Discussing the inception of this unique use of poetry, Larew muses over a visit he made to the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor where he reread the poem at the statue’s base, “New Colossus” written by Emma Lazarus in 1883. The sonnet includes these famous lines, “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” 

Larew observes, “I saw the power of poems to address social problems…It’s all about using the power of poems, turning poetry into food.” Larew established his nonprofit organization to actively address the entrenched social problem of hunger. 

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Food storage purchased with a PXH grant by Roots For Life.

Under the umbrella nonprofit Chesapeake Charities (in Stevensville), Poetry X Hunger devises creative ways to provide small grants to groups working to ease hunger on local levels. PXH partners with organizations on money-making activities to fund these donations and more. Examples include poetry readings (online and in person), poetry contests, and activities engaging children in the challenge of using their poetry to help us understand the scourge that is hunger. Poets donate their honorariums and speaking fees, while others make outright donations.

In 2024 alone, Poetry X Hunger raised $13,000 to help feed the hungry and raise awareness of hunger in our own communities. Among the recipients of those dollars were the Anne Arundel County Food Bank, the Maryland Food Bank, and the D.C. Food Bank. Some of those funds were used by Roots For Life, a D.C.-based community farm, to help purchase a walk-in storage area with refrigerator where locally grown produce could be stored awaiting distribution. 

And the organization’s international profile is rising. In November 2024, Brian Manyati, a contributor to Poetry X Hunger’s poetry page, addressed the International Literary Festival in his native country, Zimbabwe. He spoke about his poetry and its power to reach the ears and hearts of a wide audience. Similarly, but from Tanzania, Joseph Mukami Mwita contributes his poetry to PXH. He observes, “One thing that poetry does is grease humanity’s wheels.”

For a special project Poetry X Hunger joined with two international organizations, Seed Programs Internation and Sustainable Community Initiative for Empowerment. These three organizations raised enough money to fund the creation of school gardens in Kampala, Uganda. When schools reopened in February 2025, school garden clubs were formed. While students till, plant, and harvest, club members study urban farming, watering and weeding practices, urban tools, and more. Student manuals reinforce the hands-on learning. 

Another powerful illustration of Poetry X Hunger’s work is their partnering with Feed the Children. Canadian poet, Josephine LoRe contributed a poem, “Enough,” through PXH. Her poem has been used in a compelling Feed the Children video spot, with 165,000 views and counting. “Would words be enough” read aloud over scenes of people working to feed the hungry, the poem, begins:

Ongoing and future plans for Poetry X Hunger include poets reading at a summer conference of the Alliance to End Hunger. Another exciting project for PXH poets is the possible publication of a collection of Poetry X Hunger poems. Profits from the sale of the anthology will be used to fight hunger. 

You may be wondering about the amount of planning and direction needed to keep all these projects and programs going. The poet-force behind the scene, Hiram Larew never rests; he has authored seven collections of poems, and counting, including his 2025 This Much Very. His poetry has earned prestigious awards, including four Pushcart Prize nominations. In addition to overseeing Poetry X Hunger, Larew received an Individual Artist grant from the Maryland State Arts Council. He founded Voices of Woodlawn, a program of poetry, music, and visual art expressing and recognizing the tragic history of plantation slavery. Larew is a Courtesy Faculty member at five U.S. universities. He assists Baltimore’s WBJC Classical Radio (91.5 FM) to identify poets for interviews on the widely broadcast BookNotes program. And he was a member of the Shakespeare Folger Library’s poetry board. All this in his “retirement.” 

Prior to retirement, Larew was a representative for USDA and USAID; he has advanced degrees in Botany, Horticulture, and Entomology. Directing from the front lines, Larew guided aid programs in countries including Afghanistan, Armenia, Egypt, and Haiti. He supported regional university faculties as they established programs as part of Universities Fighting World Hunger. 

Hiram Larew is adamant about the power of poetry to change hearts and, by degrees, lives. “Poetry brings a heart and an awareness that data and statistics can’t—though we need both,” he says. 

If you want to get involved, visit Poetry X Hunger’s website, poetryxhunger.com. The homepage has a useful “Donations” button and a place to add your name and contact information if you want to volunteer your skills.

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Some of the organizations to which PXH has donated money and offered support are:

Anne Arundel County Food Bank (Maryland)

Maryland Food Bank’s Eastern Shore Branch Office (Maryland)

St. Mary’s Caring (Maryland)

Prince George’s County Food Equity Council (Maryland)

Community Action Council of Howard County (Maryland)

Roots for Life (Washington, D.C.)

Food for Others (Virginia)

Feed the Children (Oklahoma)

Seed Programs International (North Carolina)

Food for Lane County (Oregon)

Fulfill (New Jersey)

The Food Pantries for the Capital District (New York)

Mid-Norfolk Foodbank (United Kingdom)

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Chloe Gibeon, age 12

Click Here to View Feed the Children’s video featuring the poem “Enough”

Poetry X Hunger also worked with the Westside Campaign Against Hunger in New York City. WSCAH held a poetry contest, inviting young poets to raise their voices and their poems to fight hunger. One highlighted poet was Chloe Gibeon, age 12 (above):  

“Hunger”

Its green eyes glint 
as it tears bellies
with sharp claws… 

…Some people gorge 
but they keep it for themselves. 

They don’t know 
hunger’s green eyes 
the pain of the claws.

by Janice F. Booth

Jul. 03, 2025