While I Buy Expensive Organic Food...

5.7% of American households have adults that are hungry, but don't eat because there isn't enough money. Out of this percentage, there are over a half million households that have children that go hungry. In most cases, these are families with a single mother.

This is all according to a USDA report on hunger in America. The biggest reason for this was unemployment rates, which obviously have skyrocketed in the past year.

Hunger and homelessness are issues that we must face, perhaps before we can fully realize a sustainable future. The question is, is it our society's lack of concern over sustainability that is the cause? Do we need big screen TV's while people don't have food? Do we need to shop at organic food stores, when people are eating McDonald's? No one's perfect, and that means me too. How do we figure out what is most important in the world and put our effort towards that? Is it personal happiness, it is the earth, or is it equal rights to basic human needs? I'll say the obvious (it's everything), but that's very difficult to handle on a daily, operational basis.

In reading "Beyond Civilization" by Daniel Quinn, I cannot help but think about programs. Programs to end hunger, or homelessness. Put on by the government or NPO's. They're merely sticks in a river headed the wrong direction. Maybe those sticks are logs that are big enough to divert the river. I suspect, however, that we need to change that river's direction and think about our relationship with the world in a different way.

And I guess that's the real answer. We need an overhaul of the way we relate to the world. At least that's my opinion, I'm trying to change the way I relate to the world. It's not so much about the stuff we have as it is about our relationships with other humans and living beings on earth. It's a tough journey, and I'm not exactly sure where it's going to take me, but I'm ready to go.