What the World Eats

[Cadbury]

I'm not sure if this has been on eGullet before, feel free to remove it, if so.

What the World Eats

It's interesting to see the range of pre-packaged and processed foods available (and the amount of soft/alcoholic drink some consume!!). I guess the families on show would not be considered "typical" when compared to many eGulleteers .

[Domestic Goddess]

Though I enjoyed seeing the differences of food each 'typical' family would consume, I feel so sad to see the sparse spread of the family featured in Chad.

[viva]

There were some lonely looking vegetables on some of those Western spreads.

[nakji]

Wow, that was fascinating. Coke and bananas appear almost universally!

Though I enjoyed seeing the differences of food each 'typical' family would consume, I feel so sad to see the sparse spread of the family featured in Chad. sad.gif

It was their "Favourite recipe: soup with fresh sheep meat." that choked me up. I wonder how often they get that for dinner? It really made me appreciate how lucky I am.

I'd have a hard time guessing what I ate each week, though - I shop on the day I want to cook, and eat out more than I cook. The only things lying around my house are condiments, bags of dried pasta and rice, bottled water and coffee.

It was also interesting to see the relative cost of things - In the UK, about $250, In China and Poland, around $150, almost $200 in Mexico, $350 in North Carolina...

...although a lot could be chalked up to the age and number of family members. I'd like to see their food expenditures as a percentage of all household spending.

Which family looks most like yours?

Mine looks like the family in Kuwait, mostly due to the bag of rice, flats of bottled water, and a small amount of meat.

[LB Howes]

Yes Cadbury, I also noticed how many families had flavored bottled beverages of some sort - I wonder how much of the money each family spent per week went to cover their cost?

[SheenaGreena]

Some things I noticed:

the family from n. carolina and great britain scared me - whats with all of the processed foods? They also eat a lot of meat!!!

They egyptian family had a lot of delicious looking vegetables and fruits (and a HUGE family).

I want the polish family to invite me over for their family recipe.

The family from germany is very neat and orderly. I wonder if their pantry is as organized as their photo is and what is up with spending $500.00/week to feed 4 people? Anyone else spend that much per week?

[prasantrin]

It seemed like the families with teenagers had the most processed foods.

About the German family--did you see how much wine and beer they had? I think that probably accounts for a large part of their $500/week.

Anyone know what those bread/pastry things the woman from Ulaanbaatar was holding up? They looked good!

I love how the Japanese girl is hugging her bag of nori potato chips.

[CKatCook]

I have that book, and it is one of the most interesting books I ever bought. I too was shocked at the consumption of processed food and fast food the US family had over the other families. At the time I bought this book I was doing the low carb diet thing and this book got me to stop and really think about that idea.

facinating book!

[Carrot Top]

Here's a link to a bit more on the book (Hungry Planet) from NPR.

I remember something being on eG about this before, including the NPR link, posted by Pontormo but can not find it.

Excellent essay. One of those wake-up calls.

[BarbaraY]

It seemed like the families with teenagers had the most processed foods.

About the German family--did you see how much wine and beer they had?  I think that probably accounts for a large part of their $500/week. 

Anyone know what those bread/pastry things the woman from Ulaanbaatar was holding up?  They looked good!

I love how the Japanese girl is hugging her bag of nori potato chips.

←

I think the pastry things may be the mutton dumplings.

Just took another look and think I'm weong. They look more like a sweet of some kind.

Edited June 12, 2007 by BarbaraY (log)