What the World Eats

Over the weekend N showed me a fascinating series of photos by Peter Menzel. (See part one and part two here.)

For the book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats Menzel and author-journalist Faith D’Alusio traveled the globe and visited families in over 20 countries. They asked the families to purchase a weeks worth of typical groceries and took their portraits surrounded by the food. The authors include information on the families’ favorite foods and the cost of the groceries. I liked the online excepts enough that I think I’m going to buy the book.

I enjoyed the photos and found it riveting to see what families around the world ate. I liked seeing all the packaged foods that the Japanese family had and the vast quantities of beer displayed by the German family. But seeing the sacks of grain and few vegetables that feed the families in Mali and Chad made me feel a bit sick to my stomach about how I waste so much food. I’m pretty bad about letting leftovers go uneaten or buying vegetables but then forgetting about them until it’s too late. My casual wastefulness now seems quite obscene and I’m going to try and do better.