I take it back.

Today, in the heat of a moment filled with the stress of the demands of my graduate school program, I turned to my dogs and said in a hungry, pathetic voice:

"I am SO sick of bean burritos and Velveeta Shells and Cheese. I just want something good to eat!!"

Then I read this.

I have never been this hungry.

What the AP fails to mention is that the person in this story is not alone. It is estimated that there are more than 38 million Americans who are "food insecure."

In fact, according to this national survey, requests for emergency food assistance increased an average of 12 percent in 2005. That same year, 18 percent of all requests for emergency food assistance went unmet. In more than half of the cities participating in the survey, food assistance facilities were not able to provide an adequate quantity of food. 68% of cities report either decreasing the quantity of emergency food assistance distributed or putting limits on the numbers of bags distributed or decreasing further the number of times families and/or individuals can come to get food.

Forty-three percent of the cities report that emergency food assistance facilities may have to turn away those in need because of lack of resources.

In 87 percent of the cities, families and individuals relied on emergency food assistance facilities
both in emergencies and as a steady source of food over long periods of time.

That's some report card for the land of plenty we call the greatest nation in the world.

My mom used to encourage me to eat brussel sprouts with gratitude because, "there are starving children in China." She forgot to mention that there are starving children in America.

I have never been this hungry.

I take it back.