Most of us are very much interested in what we'll have to eat. And mothers have long had to be aware of how many members of their families will show up at the next meal.
In our country, most of us have plenty to eat, and some have too much. But elsewhere in the world, many people go hungry. And sometimes there is outright famine because of crop failure, wars and other circumstances.
Many of us may remember from our school days reading about the Rev. Thomas Robert Malthus, a British scholar who lived from 1766 to 1834. To him is attributed the theory that population eventually would outgrow our ability to produce enough food for everybody.
Fortunately - because of better seeds, fertilizers, machinery and farming methods - Malthus' theory has not come true, although for various reasons there are food shortages from time to time in parts of our world.
Still, as population increases, there will surely be some real challenges in the effort to keep people fed.
The United Nations estimates that there currently are 6.9 billion people on Earth. But by 2050, less than four decades from now, there are expected to be 9.3 billion people. Presumably, they will be eager to eat every day. And by 2100, there are expected to be 10.1 billion people!
We hope Malthus' theory won't prove true, and that advances in agriculture will continue to yield abundant food.
Many of us won't be here to find out. But in the meantime, we should appreciate our food, even as a lot of us eat too much and struggle with obesity rather than famine.