Any loose familiarity with current events, whether from last week or on back to 1492, and it's difficult to remain feeling upbeat and not beat up.
There is always terrible news. Things can always get worse of course, but they can't always, automatically, get better -- not using the same downhill-gliding autopilot that Reality tends to use. Rarely is there both good and amazing news. Today, there is some of both -- news that may even turn the world upside down.
Before we reach that particular cool, oasis spring of thirst-quenching information, we have a hot trek through desert sands ahead of us. The subject of travel is food. And, when it comes to food, it's a desert without end for many Americans:
One in six Americans struggles to get enough to eat.
One in seven Americans relies on food banks for their food.
One in five children in America is at risk of hunger.
Fifty million people in America struggle to put food on the table.
More stats: In 2013, 18 million households -- more than 49 million Americans -- lived in food-insecure households. (Food insecurity is not a politically cute term playing footsie with the notion that people don't have enough wonderful food -- it's a USDA term used where there's a lack of access to enough food of any kind at times for all family members.)