I understand what you're saying, thank you for your response.

My feeling is that the shock value of such images is best kept for instances when we're actually discussing malnourishment, and what can be done to prevent or alleviate it.

My concern is that using them "in passing," to punctuate articles about other topics, will only dull their effect and make them less powerful when there is a need to make the problem disturbingly real enough that readers feel moved to donate to, or volunteer with, NGO's who are actively doing something about it.

Hi Laurel. I really enjoyed the post and as someone who is obsessed with food and that obsession fuels most of my travels (as a connector, as a learning experience, as an understanding of food safety and how relevant it is to all of us, etc), I really dislike the term foodie. I remember going to a conference and there was a food track where people said things like "foraging for food is SO trendy in ___ city right now. Foodies there love foraging" And I had just come back from Southeast Asia and it was a shock to the system to see this frothing at the mouth for the 'trend' without seeing the macro picture (or the irony).

While I understand why you chose the photo, I think the visceral reaction to it is that it's linkbait of a different sort, which does you a big injustice because it was a well-written and enjoyable post.