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Written by Suzanne Johnson

Photography by Jeff Etheridge

Art Direction by Shannon Bryant-Hankes

I'm hungry. It's 8:30 p.m., and I've spent nine hours at work, grabbed lunch at my desk and attended a two-hour workshop. Dinnertime came and went.

Hunger's a primal need--straight from Abraham Maslow's hierarchy, right next to water and breathing. I wonder how the famed psychologist would feel about the food options on my route home: two supermarkets, six fast-food spots and a half-dozen restaurants, most serving that ubiquitous Southern delicacy, the chicken finger. I suspect Maslow's mind would boggle; in his day, chickens didn't have fingers waiting to be battered, fried and dipped in ranch dressing.

A few years ago, after reading Michael Pollan's groundbreaking The Omnivore's Dilemma, I vowed to buy only organic food. Smug and virtuous, I lasted two weeks before my monthly food budget disappeared and I realized my organic grapes had barely survived their plane trip from Ecuador. It's hard to feel virtuous when you're out of money and creating a carbon footprint only King Kong could fill. To find out more please visit Click Here