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The Autumnal Equinox is that time of the year when we start talking about food-sharing. It makes sense; the Autumnal Equinox marks the last harvest, the time where one would expect that there's plenty of food to go around. But the harvest and the equinox have come and gone along with the Pagan Pride festivals that dot the month of September (many PPD fests include a food drive). Hunger is a sad reality for millions of people all over the world, all year round, so it's important not to forget your local food bank, and to donate when you can throughout the entire year.

Good morning everyone and welcome back! And yes, I hope those of you who have the day off are having a relaxing Labor Day. We're getting ready to get our grill on, with one dish already prepared and a few others in priming stage. We always make too much when we grill, so we make sure what we make, we actually will eat the leftovers.

With that said, it's fitting to remind myself about the people who don't have the luxury of not liking leftovers. My dad would tell us stories of real hunger, like the time he sneaked out into the kitchen to eat a raw potato. I have my own stories too; some of which we had nothing to eat, times where a loaf of bread was dinner, the times where we triple checked the couch cushions so we could roll enough pennies for chicken pot pies, and yes, the times we, as a family with small children, would walk several miles to our uncle's pizza shop to beg him for a free pizza.

And oh my yes, let's not forget the donations we received from the food pantries. Sometimes it was okay, but oftentimes, the stuff we got was awful. There were always canned green beans (which, to this day, I can't stand - not even green bean casserole), canned pumpkin (WTF are we supposed to do with THIS?), a giant brick of government cheese (which I'll attest makes the best grilled cheese sandwiches ever), a huge box of powdered milk (even mixing it with real milk was still awful), that restaurant-sized can of peanut butter and a few other odds and ends. A good trip was when there were things included like the ever-popular favorite: Spaghettios. That was a special treat - something most American kids took for granted we never had on our own - and honestly, we did not savor eating it. Yes, we woofed it down and wanted more, and that was knowing full well that was something we wouldn't count on seeing again anytime soon.

Some people question why poor people are always poor, and I would like to provide a link to a couple articles that puts things into perspective in a way I never could have.

- The 5 Stupidest Habits You Develop Growing Up Poor