I think that’s a sophisticated re-rendering, and that most ordinary folks do associate the word “hunger” with famine, with starving, with terrible deprivation.
I don’t think the definition is that narrow.
There’s definitions like this:
a compelling need or desire for food.
the painful sensation or state of weakness caused by the need of food: to collapse from hunger.
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/hunger
a craving or urgent need for food or a specific nutrient
an uneasy sensation occasioned by the lack of food
weakened condition brought about by prolonged lack of food
It’s indeed often used to describe more dire situations around a lack of food, but it’s not exclusively used for those situations. Hunger is also the corresponding noun to “feeling hungry”. Hungriness isn’t used that often.
I don’t think the definition is that narrow. There’s definitions like this:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hunger
It’s indeed often used to describe more dire situations around a lack of food, but it’s not exclusively used for those situations. Hunger is also the corresponding noun to “feeling hungry”. Hungriness isn’t used that often.