Most of the food holidays we talk about here are trivial and fun. But this one actually has some meaning behind it.

It's World Food Day, the annual day held to promote awareness of hunger and poverty around the globe. The theme this year is "The Right To Food - Make It Happen!" The World Food Day USA site has more information on the day, including the various events being held to mark the day. There will also be a teleconference broadcast today at noon.

More links: The International Alliance Against Hunger, The UN World Food Programme, and World Food Day Canada.

Leptin is the Homer Simpson hormone.

That's the finding of scientists at Cambridge University. Leptin is what makes up feel full after we eat a meal, but these scientists have discovered that it also affects the pleasure zone of our brain. In short, if you don't have enough Leptin, it can cause you to overeat. People who didn't have enough leptin were shown pics of pizza and cake. Their pleasure centers went off. People who had enough leptin only had this happen when they were actually hungry.

This could give a huge boost to doctors and others who are trying to find ways to battle obesity.

[via TV Tattle]

For years, doctors, nutritionists and even parents have told people that the key to getting more satisfaction from your food is to eat more slowly. Not only does this allow you to actually enjoy the flavors in your meal, but it was always said to give the brain time to recognize the fact that it was no longer hungry, which would in turn cause you to stop eating. Up until recently, there was no clinical evidence to support that decision.

Dr. Kathleen Melanson, of the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, changed all that by conducting a study on college age women to see how much different styles of eating affected their calorie intake. All the women were given a bowl of pasta with tomato and vegetable sauce after eating a 400-calorie breakfast and fasting for four hours. One group of women was given a large spoon and told to eat as quickly as possible, not pausing between bites. The other group was given a small spoon and told to pause in between each bite, setting down the spoon and chewing 15-20 times. The fast eaters ate 646 calories in 9 minutes, while the slower eaters ate only 579 calories in 29 minutes. The slower eaters also reported feeling fuller, longer.

Melanson estimates that eating slowly could reduce the number of calories a person eats by about 210 per day.

Cruising through Epicurious the other day, I came across a post in the editor's blog, Epi-log. She pointed to a thread in Epicurious' forum about a woman doing an "experiment" in hunger, to see what it would be like to live at what the American government defines as "poverty level." The woman did a little bit of research and says, "From what I have read in governmental statistics, poverty for a household of two is an annual income of $13,000, or $250 a week." After housing, food is the second highest expense, and based on the statistics, she is going to try to live on $62 a week for food for two people.

It made me think. As a single person, that would mean I would be living on $31 a week for food. I was sort of embarrassed to say that while I could easily spend that on a croissant and coffee for a week, a family of two is living on that for three meals a day, seven days a week. I've blown more than that on one meal of sushi before. In fact, I think I spend $31 each time I go to the grocery store, which is about every other day.

I thought about how I would do with $31 a week. It made me really think about things I take for granted, like wine, cheese, and desserts. Perhaps I'd go back to eating a lot more Korena food, which is heavily based on grains and vegetables, which are not as expensive as fish and meats.

How about you? How much do you spend on groceries a week? Would you be able to make do if you were cut back to $62 for two people?

Where once cans of Spaghetti-os, mixed fruit and green beans were prevalent, many food banks now have a very different selection of goods, including Cookie Crisp cereal, Everlasting Gobstopper jawbreakers, Mini Oreos and Wonka Donutz.

Most of the food donated to food banks comes from grocers, manufacturers and growers. Perishables are the first items to be distributed, and take more handling and faster shipment than non-perishable goods, but with the upswing in the amount of junk foods with long shelf-lives - possibly an indication of larger food trends - some food banks are trying to make changes in their programs. They want to increase the work they do with growers of fresh foods and improve their storage systems.

Two British researchers have published a study suggesting that hunger may relate to how men perceive different female body types, BBC News reports. The researchers surveyed 61 male college students coming and going from a university dining hall, first asking them how hungry they were and then asking them to rate a series of photographs of similarly dressed women of varying weights and body types. The half of the group that said they were hungry rated heavier women as more attractive, according to the abstract of the study, which appears in the British Journal of Psychology. The researchers now plan on reversing the study to see how hunger affects female perception of male body types.

The Irish agriculture minister, Mary Coughlan, recently said that "consumers could be divided into 'fuelers,' who use food purely to satisfy hunger, and 'foodies,' who seek out the richest flavors and textures and most interesting and authentic products." This statement followed news that exotic and expensive foods, like Kobe beef and "organic beef goulash for babies" are rapidly gaining popularity in Ireland.

To be honest, I am a little insulted here. I don't like to think that food is so divisive and so black-and-white. Granted, there are people who care more than others, but you don't have to someone who only wants to eat incredibly expensive food, like the $150 Wagyu/foie gras sandwich at Selfridges, to enjoy eating. I don't know about you, but I can enjoy an ordinary burger any time I want to and still consider myself to be something other than a "fueler."

Perhaps Ms. Coughlan should look more carefully at the nuances of being a foodie and consider that a preference for foie gras is not the defining criterion.