USDA Lexicography: Hungry = Very Low Food Security

USDA Lexicography:"Hungry"="Very Low Food Security"

-ramon

Now this posting I like. And it's funny. In a Joseph Heller-ish sort of way.

ToniG, while I've read every novel by Heller (some more than twice) you and I disagree on what we ultimately define as humor. And that's ok.

-ramon

Since most people will not read the article, the part your title refers to at the bottom of the article:

In assembling its report, the Agriculture Department divides Americans into groups with "food security" and those with "food insecurity," who cannot always afford to keep food on the table. Under the old lexicon, that group -- 11 percent of American households last year -- was categorized into "food insecurity without hunger," meaning people who ate, though sometimes not well, and "food insecurity with hunger," for those who sometimes had no food.

That last group now forms the category "very low food security," described as experiencing "multiple indications of disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake." Slightly better-off people who are not always sure where their next meal is coming from are labeled simply "low food security."

These people were talking in the professional context largely unfamiliar to the public. While they use the phrase 'food security' it is intended to be understood on each households ability 'to secure, as in buy or obtain, food.'

Reading definition of ""very low food security," described as experiencing "multiple indications of disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake."" This definition could almost be used for those with eating disorders, who are rail thin and still think they are fat.

Regards,

I was at the taping of "Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me" last night, and they had some fun with this issue (if it doesn't get edited out - they had about 100 minutes of material they'll have to edit down to a little under an hour).

Will air Saturday, 11/18 @ 10 a.m. on WBEZ, 91.5 FM