U.S.A.

: The Revis family of North CarolinaFood expenditure for one week: 242 Favorite foods: spaghetti, french fries, sesame chicken Come see What The World Eats. A few years ago photographer Peter Menzel and his wife Faith D'Aluisio started to photograph what family's around the globe eat and wrote down what their weekly expenditure is. In 2005 they published an award winning book called Hungry Planet: What The World Eats. This project turned out to be so educational that he's currently still giving lectures at universities about this very subject. A current exhibition is held until May 9, 2010 is hosted by the Bell Museum of Natural History at the University of Minnesota. As you look at the photographs and see what they spend per week, you can draw a lot of different conclusions about their dietm their surroundings, their personal/economic circumstance and how globalization has influenced what people eat. A quote from his website about his book: Today we are witnessing the greatest change in global diets since the invention of agriculture. Globalization, mass tourism, and giant agribusiness have filled American supermarket shelves with extraordinary new foods and McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Kraft Cheese Singles are being exported to every corner of the planet. Eugene's interesting "Hot Topic" about child obesity reminded me of all this, inspiring me to do this post.

 Egypt: The Ahmed family of Cairo Food expenditure for one week: 387.85 Egyptian Pounds or $68.53 Family recipe: Okra and mutton

 Italy: The Manzo family of Sicily Food expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.11 Favorite foods: fish, pasta with ragu, hot dogs, frozen fish sticks

 Japan: The Ukita family of Kodaira City Food expenditure for one week: 37,699 Yen or $317.25 Favorite foods: sashimi, fruit, cake, potato chips

 Ecuador: The Ayme family of Tingo Food expenditure for one week: $31.55 Family recipe: Potato soup with cabbage

 Chad: The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23 Favorite foods: soup with fresh sheep meat (This favorite is only prepared to mark a special occasion, like the end of Ramadan.)

 Great Britain: The Bainton family of Cllingbourne Ducis Food expenditure for one week: 155.54 British Pounds or $253.15 Favorite foods: avocado, mayonnaise sandwich, prawn cocktail, chocolate fudge cake with cream

 Mexico: The Casales family of Cuernavaca Food expenditure for one week: 1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09 Favorite foods: pizza, crab, pasta, chicken

 United States: The Caven family of California Food expenditure for one week: $159.18 Favorite foods: beef stew, berry yogurt sundae, clam chowder, ice cream

 Bhutan: The Namgay family of Shingkhey Village Food expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum or $5.03 Family recipe: Mushroom, cheese and pork