On December 9, 1992, U.S. Marines began landing in Somalia to help provide food relief to a population in the throes of famine. While the Somalia mission—
Operation Restore Hope—was criticized for a variety of reasons, few could object to its stated goal: to feed starving people. Indeed, in an era of advanced technology and communications, the fact that thousands of human beings faced death from lack of a need as basic as food seemed incredible and unconscionable to many. Over 300,000 people died in the famine, although the U.S. intervention is credited with preventing thousands of additional deaths.

The word hunger often evokes images of emaciated people, such as the victims of the Somalia famine. However, as Los Angeles Times writer Robin Wright notes, there are three degrees of hunger: acute, chronic, and hidden. Acute hunger (which applies to victims of famine) is a condition...