eat

The consumers are struggling to answer that question as food prices rise and the economy slumps. The World Bank says nearly a billion people around the world live on a dollar a day, or even less; in the United States, the daily food-stamp allowance is typically just a few dollars per person, while the average American eats $7 worth of food per day.

EVERY MORNING, NOON AND NIGHT, in gyms across America, you can hear the sound of a low but persistent rumble. Listen carefully and, in between the whir of the treadmill and the clank of weight plates, your ears will pick it up: the clamor of empty stomachs crying out for food.