FEED Projects was started in 2007 by Lauren Bush, an honorary spokesperson for the United Nations World Food Program, and Ellen Gustafson, a former United Nations Communications Officer. FEED Projects sells FEED bags and a portion of each bag is donated to the United Nations World Food Programm to feed children around the world.
Lauren Bush came up with the idea of a FEED bag while in college at Princeton University. She met Ellen Gustafson, who was working at the UN World Food Program, and they decided to start a small company to sell FEED bags to feed the children of the world. Intended as a fundraiser for the UN World Food Program, FEED Projects has grown rapidly in its year of existence. FEED bags have been supported by many different celebrities including Marcia Cross, Ali Larter, and Elizabeth Berkley.
Ellen Gustafson and Lauren Bush also co-founded [the FEED Foundation][1], a 501c3 non-profit with the mission of raising awareness and funds to ensure nutritious school meals for all children as a first step toward improving the global food system.
Currently, there are five FEED products available for purchase in the United States. The FEED 1 bag provides one child with a year's worth of meals, the FEED 100 bag provides 100 meals to school children in Rwanda, the FEED 2 bag provides two children with a year's worth of meals, and the FEED bears, coming in FEED 3 and FEED 5, provide Plumpy'nut, an energy dense food paste, to 3 and 5 children respectively in the East Asian region. The FEED 2 bag, the FEED bears, and the FEED 100 are available through their online store. The FEED 1 bag is available exclusively through Amazon. The FEED 100 bag is also available at Whole Foods Market stores. FEED Projects and Whole Foods hope to sell enough bags to fund WFP's entire operation in Rwanda for the year 2008. The FEED 2 Kenya bag is available exclusively at Bergdorf Goodman. Each burlap and masai fabric bag is handmade and beaded in Kenya and provides 2 children with school meals for one year.