Ever wondered how you rank with the rest of the world in the amount of money you spend on food in a week? I got this email and it has some great pictures along with the amount of cash each family spends in feeding themselves for a week all around the world.
Guess how much money refugees from Darfur spend in a week at Briedjing Camp for food? Scroll down to find out.
From the book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats by Peter Menzel and Faith D’Aluisio www.menzelphoto.com.
Živio! Halo! Hallo! Bonjour! Ciao! – To everyone from around the world visiting this post.
New Kindle DX
1. Germany – $500 a week for food
2. North Carolina, USA – $341.98 a week for food
3. Japan – $317.25 a week for food
4. Italy – $260 a week for food
5. Great Britain – $253 a week for food – I wonder if the dog on the table is part of the diet?!?
6. Kuwait – $221.45 a week for food
7. Mexico – $189.09 a week for food
8. California, USA – $160 a week for food – Apparently it’s cheaper to eat on the West Coast of the U.S.A than the East Coast. See North Carolina above.
9. Beijing, China – $155.06 a week for food
10. Poland – $151 a week for food
11. Egypt – $68.53 a week for food
12. Mongolia – $40 a week for food
13. Ecuador – $31.55 a week for food
14. Bhutan – $5 a week for food
15. Breidjing Camp – $1.23 a week for food!!! {Sudanese refugees in Chad}
You can also view the photoset here on Flickr.
*Disclaimer: I am not the owner of these photographs, I simply got them in a forwarded email. No names or origin of photos was attached to the email. Peter Menzel has contacted me and I have attributed him above as instructed by him.
About the author
Hyder has been blogging for the past two years on this blog. He started Weborithm, his web company, in 2007 and along with designing blogs and websites also releases various web related products.
Jamaipanese on October 12th, 2007
1
excellent post, I’ll be blogging about and link to this ^_^
how much do I spend in my household?? $75
James Wilcox on October 12th, 2007
2
wow, that’s amazing. It’s also interesting to note the size of the tables of food/amount of food for the amount each family is paying…in Sudan for example it looks like a bag of barley, rice and peas, a gallon of water and a few limes and nuts…not exactly Round Table or Red Barron Pizza like in some of the other pics.
Take out a lot of that junk food you see and the prices drop fast. I wonder if they thought about that after seeing these photos.
Sami on October 13th, 2007
3
Hello Hyder,
Excellent Post!!!
Perfect for Charity Week for Orphans that my team are promoting.
on JustGiving Dot Com / CharityWeek
Do you mind if I use those pictures?
Nikchick on October 13th, 2007
4
Those photos are from the book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats credited to photographer Peter Menzel and author-journalist Faith D’Alusio. It’s an excellent book if you’re interested in this subject. I gave several copies of it as Christmas presents last year.
Hyder on October 13th, 2007
5
Thanks Nikchick for the info. I’ll edit the post later on to credit the photographer.
thewild1 on October 13th, 2007
6
wow that is crazy
Axion on October 13th, 2007
7
damn how people keep taking pictures from this book, and posting them out of context.
Mandi on October 14th, 2007
8
Wow, this is really amazing. If I was to have a picture like that, there would be about 75 bags from Wendy’s. That’s really gross.
REM on October 14th, 2007
9
The difference in cost between #2 (North Carolina) and #8 (California) is probably largely due to the ages of the children. Two teenage boys can eat significantly more than two young children!
Windy on October 14th, 2007
10
I’m a single mom in the US-I spend exactly $71.00 a week on food for three and it buys right around enough for one. Thanks for the reality check-I was feeling sorry for myself till I hit halfway down.
LL on October 14th, 2007
11
You know what I take from this? More packaged foor = more money. It’s really no secret that if you buy more produce it’ll be cheaper than if you buy Texas Toast and chips. If you hunt or raise your meat it’s cheaper than buying it. I think it would be cool to know what proportion of the food people grew/hunted for each photo.
EKG on October 15th, 2007
12
The teenage boys in NC probably do account for some of the cost difference between the two American families, but also the fact that the CA family didn’t have any fast food on the menu means that they will spend significantly less. The NC family had meals from KFC, McDonalds, Taco Bell, and Burger King in front of them, as well as two large delivery or take-out pizzas. That’s probably well over $50 right there, if not more. The homes that spent less featured more fresh, real food: more vegetables and fruit than meat, and what meat they had they intended to cook themselves instead of buying prepared meals. I spend about $100 on food each week for just myself, and while that includes a fair bit of dining out, I enjoy cooking at home as well.
Matt on October 15th, 2007
13
Those sudanes people have it pretty good. They get to eat for cheap!
James on October 15th, 2007
14
How come those ******* dont have any hotwings or watermelon?
Edit by author: Please do not use derogatory terms.
Matt on October 15th, 2007
15
I don’t understand how the family from China had 4 people.
Last I checked you are limited to one child there. Did they get a special voucher for extra children? Does that voucher include hotwings or watermelon?
DC on October 15th, 2007
16
I believe the way it works in China is if a family has one child, school, daycare, and health care are provided for him/her. If the family has another child it is taken away. This is how a Chinese woman explained it to me.
Josh on October 15th, 2007
17
Wow, that Kuwaiti family has a huge kitchen!
Matthias on October 16th, 2007
18
The German family is not a true picture of reality, most of the Germans have only 1000$ to live, how can they spend 2000$ only for food?! But may be he is an entrepreneur…so then you can show entrepreneurs from africa, they have the same level of living.
RioRico on October 16th, 2007
19
As LL said, more packaging == more cost, same as with more takeouts. Avoid processed and prepared foods, and good eating is possible almost anywhere for very little expense. As wandering Californians, we find some Canadian foods absurdly expensive (maple syrup cheaper than milk!?!) and some Central American foods absurdly inexpensive (eggs cheaper than rice!?!). We hope to get to India soon, where it’s reportedly easy to live on US$3 per day. For thrifty munchers, that’s hard to beat.
chris cotner on October 16th, 2007
20
‘******’ is such a ugly word. i hate it when people refer to the coloreds as *******.
what i find really interesting is that there are no dirty **** up there – they really know how to stretch a buck.
Erica on October 16th, 2007
21
Fresh produce also depends on where you’re located and what season it is as far as pricing goes. I’ve spent as much as $30 on fresh produce just to make vegetable soup (I live in Missouri and it was the middle of winter), as opposed to less than five on frozen vegetables which makes the same amount of soup. Yeah, I had just moved away from my parents and learned a lot about grocery shopping that day . . .
Just some perspective on the American diet. Yes it is cheaper to buy meals and make them yourself, but I think fresh produce can be more expensive here. That’s why most Americans buy frozen or canned fruits and vegetables.
Also most Americans buy from supermarkets where fresh produce has to be shipped where they have to keep it fresh (which also probably contributes to the cost especially if it’s out of season) as opposed to, say, the people in Egypt or Ecuador where they were more likely to buy from a farmer or grow it themselves.
Most of the cost for American food is convenience.
I personally spend about $50 a week on groceries for two (sometimes more) people. I also like to buy in bulk and cook extra for leftovers the next day so I don’t have to spend as much on meals. Most of my money goes on frozen goods, especially vegetables. And we probably eat fast food once or twice a week.
Jerri Ann on October 16th, 2007
22
I own a daycare in the southeast. I can feed my family and 30 some odd kids under 5 plus 10 other adults (my employees) for less than $300 a week. So, it behooves me to think that a family of 4 needs that much money for food. Take into consideration that I am buying about 13 gallons of milk a week and at $4.00 a gallon, that seriously cuts into that $350. So, again, how does it take that much for 4 people when obviously they don’t need 13 gallons of milk a week? Just something to think about.
Catherine Block on October 17th, 2007
23
Well, it’s a toss up as to the worst dietary habits between UK and California. I think UK takes the cake with those bags of chocs and not much fresh fruit and veg…
It is assumed the researchers of this book have based this study on comparitive wealth per family unit, and of course what dollar value are we using? US I guess. Whilst it is fun to see what others are eating, I’m feeling this comparison is not completely realistic due to variations in dollar value. However I have not read the book, so perhaps I’m being cynical for no reason… I note the Australian family has not been included in this study, and I will add a rural family of 5 including 3 teenagers, will spend AUD $400 per week and there is no takeaway included because it is not available here.
Jackie on October 17th, 2007
24
Isn’t it strange how the poorer families further down hve larger smiles on their faces and the more affluent don’t smile at all. It seems the more one has, the more discontent they are. . .
Thank goodness for the cheap groceries in Dearborn, MI. I can easily buy for two each week between $30 and $40. We’ve gotten it down to $18.
nica on October 17th, 2007
25
Something I gotta wonder is in pictures like the Egypt one and the Bhutan one, are they really feeding *all* those people with that amount of food? It seems like there’s more than one family shown in those pictures.
And I’m amazed at the people who commented about the Sudanese family saying that they must have it good spending so little on food. Seriously, look at how much food is there… they aren’t living it good spending so little on food, they’re feeding 5 people and a baby off of that small amount for an entire week.
Bea on October 17th, 2007
26
More than interesting, this is eye-opening.
Chef Tom on October 17th, 2007
27
Very interesting and eye opening. It’s crazy how different things are across the globe. I’ll keep my eyes open for that book.
Daron on October 17th, 2007
28
Only the Han Chinese are limited to one child. Other ethnic groups in China can have more.
Barbara on October 18th, 2007
29
Instead of just posting credit for the photographer, how about actually asking permission to publish his images. They ARE copyrighted, and publishing them without permission is infringment.
Fun on October 19th, 2007
30
That German family is going 30 beers and 4 wines a week? Nice
Hyder on October 19th, 2007
31
Barbara,
If you had read the text in the article about the images you would probably not have asked this question.
Also, what makes you think that me and the photographer haven’t already had an exchange about giving credit where credit is due for the photographs.
Lisa on October 19th, 2007
32
I am from Italy but I have never seen anyone eating that much bread in a week! Anyhow, very interesting.
Lisa on October 19th, 2007
33
I believe you can only have one girl. The other girls are usually taken away. I don’t know of any restrictions about boys.
Lisa on October 19th, 2007
34
Who said they get paid 1000$ in Germany? There are managers, secretaries, waiters, cops, teachers, doctors, lawyers, professors… like in all the rest of the world. I agree 500$ per week is a lot, but some workers can afford it. Of course that amount is due to all the alcohol they got.
lee on October 19th, 2007
35
it is terrible to see the difference between the first world countries and 3 world countries. it brings home the reality of how fortunate we are
Neece on October 20th, 2007
36
This is amazing to see. The different amounts of money and the different qualities of food are rather astounding. Thank you for sharing.
Jac on October 20th, 2007
37
I hope you are joking about the Sudanese family. If not then maybe you should read a newspaper or watch the news sometime!
peiper on October 20th, 2007
38
well, they have great britain wrong for certain.
i live here …. 221 dollars? Sorry charlie.
that $221 converts at the current rate of exchange to $400, not 200. actually it would be 441 in usa dollars.
also not mentioned ….we haven’t a clue how much state aid in food some of these places get to augment food supply shown here.
i am not saying it’s all bogus but certainly open to questions. for example …Bhutan – $5 a week for food. none of those pictured look to be starving, rates of exchange need to be taken into the picture and i find it hard to believe that the food shown is all there is in that family. i could go on but will end it here simply saying, take another closer look and question.
peiper on October 21st, 2007
39
woops …. had my conversion wrong. thinking in pounds and dollars sometimes gets twisted.
but stand by other comments.
pnithya on October 21st, 2007
40
Very Interesting. I wanted to know about this for a long time. Good post.
samantha on October 21st, 2007
41
I find it funny that so many of you are focused on stereotypes. It’s pretty pathetic actually. You’re looking at pictures from across the world and all you can see is their skin color and the country they come from. Some of your comments are disgusting.
Ashley on October 23rd, 2007
42
Like “coloreds” is any better… You both need to get your heads out of your butts and read a newspaper… or maybe go make an african american friend and then tell me what you’d call them.
Jeff on October 25th, 2007
43
Great post. It shows that no one on earth should go hungry if we all cared a little, and helped out.
nick on October 26th, 2007
44
the one child policy ended in ‘99 due to pressure from human rights activists and economic threats from both the USA and France
CelticLady on October 27th, 2007
45
Just FYI, frozen veggies usually are more nutritious and have just as much flavor, if not more, than fresh, so they’re better for you anyway. They’re frozen at the peak of freshness, right when they’re picked, whereas fresh produce is picked and transported, sometimes all the way across the country, or from another country. It might take a week or more for it to get to your grocery store, by which time it’s not really fresh anymore and some of the nutrients and flavor have degraded.
freethought on October 27th, 2007
46
Very interesting and amazing photographs.
Microwaveb on October 28th, 2007
47
The Mexicans go 12 share size cokes a week? No wonder their kids are so fat.
Hashim on October 28th, 2007
48
Heart touching post! So this tells that of people from Germany, japan, china, itly, USA .. so on. if donate a little bit from their weekly budget of food it can do a lot of good for Breidjing Camp. So what is UNICEF doing ?
Microwaveb on October 28th, 2007
49
Cheer up Mongoloid Dad!
Mike on October 29th, 2007
50
MOST people in Germany make MORE than the average person in the US…
GOOGLE it.
microwaveb on October 30th, 2007
51
i apologize for my comments
that dad is not a mongoloid
and mexican kids are not fat
busca lucerito pedo
yooooon-a-licious on October 30th, 2007
52
if i see those families
i think
I NEED TO BUY MORE VEGETABLES
Sid Khullar on October 31st, 2007
53
Great post! Linked you from my site. Perhaps I could send you one such photo from India.
Found you thru StumbleUpon btw.
Sid
Hyder on October 31st, 2007
54
Sure, be my guest
Joel on October 31st, 2007
55
Amazing! :0 When you see it all laid out that way… it’s quite humbling.
Gina on November 7th, 2007
56
I live in Germany and, honestly, if I filled my cart with everything in that picture I wouldn’t pay much more than 150 Euro (That’s around $219 with today’s rate of exchange). It’s possible that they drink a very expensive wine, but unlikely, as wine here is cheap when compared with U.S. prices. The beer isn’t a factor in expense as beer is about as cheap as water or soda (cheaper, in some cases.) Even if everything they bought is 100% organic I couldn’t imagine it costing more than double my original estimate.
Andy on November 12th, 2007
57
Lots of stereotypes and actually wrong observations.
The prices for the German family are far too high, also there are much less beer on the table than cited earlier on. And alcohol is indeed very inexpensive there as well.
The $ figure on food is totally irrelevant anyway as you have to compare food prices in relation to income and the average prices of staple food. If there is hardly any cabbage available, but you want fresh cabbage than you would spend a higher percentage of income on cabbage. Also: if you live in NZ you pay around $3-4 for one fresh capsicum. In Oz you will get away with $2/kilo. Income average in NZ is significantly lower than in OZ!
Comparing the nutritious aspect of food and the environmental impact of what one buys would be a far more interesting subject.
Food is NOT about spending little money on it (or even as little as you possibly can) but about quality and environmental consequences!
Mukunda on November 15th, 2007
58
Excellent post… interesting research work done!
Kayl on November 18th, 2007
59
Nice Pics, but that’s rubbish. Check our the exact amount the people would have to eat or drink – Germans would drink 6 bottles of wine and app. 12 bottles of beer per week.
Food in Italy is far more expensive than in Germany, just as an example
MrsT on November 25th, 2007
60
I wish the family size was consistent for better comparison. As others mentioned, two small children in CA don’t eat as much as one adult whereas ONE teenage boy can eat 1.5 the amount as a mother (and the NC family has TWO of them).
I’m in CA, and $150 a week feeds our household (husband, wife, 3 cats, and 1 large dog) without any packaged or take out food. This includes both lunch and dinner at home plus any typical household comsumable items such as laundry supplies, paper goods, shampoo, etc., and we hardly eat out. It is tight at $150, but if we cook everything from scratch, it’s very doable. Without pets, $150/week would be pretty comfortable for two even in S. CA.
Christin on November 27th, 2007
61
I’m from Germany. My family spends 300€ A MONTH for food
Peko.Peko on December 2nd, 2007
62
Those photos and numbers are AMAZING!
Ashley on December 3rd, 2007
63
wow this is serious stuff. also take in account the number of people to the amount of food available. I mean for instance in Bhutan and Egypt there’s 12-13 people with that little amount of food whereas in Germany 4 people have $500 dollars worth of food. Thats insane and thats the reality of this world..
kylee on December 4th, 2007
64
THATS SO COOL TO SEE HOW MUCH FOOD YOU CAN GET IN A WEEK FOR THAT AMOUNT OF MONEY. ITS ALSO COOL TO SEE ALL THE TYPES OF FOOD IN ALL THE DIFFRENT PLACES. I REALLY LIKE SEEING ALL THE TYPES OF FOOD AND ALL THE DIFFRENT PLACES I WISH I COULD GO VIST ALL OF THOSE PLACES.I JUST WANT TO SAY ITS REALLY AMAZING TO SEE ALL THAT.
Adam on December 12th, 2007
65
This is very interesting and I like it a lot, but where ever you got it from could have been more accurate. All the families have kids of different ages and the number of people in each family differ. But still great
Bryan on December 25th, 2007
66
Heh, Interesting stuff, most people would balk at what another culture eats, and vice versa :p
John Aitek on December 26th, 2007
67
I think food is important, which is why I regularly donate money to the UN to provide food aid.
Janice DeBard on January 4th, 2008
68
Great pictures and good information. Thanks.
http://www.reversefunnelmentoring.com
herr rockn on January 14th, 2008
69
this is amazing!!! i’m from germany and i don’t spend 500$ a week for food
greetz jo
Bruce Cat on January 18th, 2008
70
I’m from England and I spent only $100 a week for food
american on January 22nd, 2008
71
though i was at first saddened to see such blatant disrespect for the people who worked hard to put that book together, i honestly can’t buy such a book (my dollars have to stretch), and it was fascinating to see how different all these families are in this regard.
the thing that strikes me most is that in the american families, each has one or two vegetables. a week. it’s not enough, guys!
SoupNumber5 on January 22nd, 2008
72
That amazes me how much everyone eats in a given week. A lot of food circulates all round the world. If there is one one thing I enjoy and love it’s food. I love my wife too.
Greghousesgf on January 23rd, 2008
73
Speaking of stereotypes, why is it only families? I guess a lot of people think it’s not important what you eat if you don’t breed….
Mark Schaufler on January 31st, 2008
74
Thanks, we are putting together a kids mission awareness kit and those pictures tell a lot more than any words could. Could we use them in our kit? If not we will direct people to this site. Thanks
Jared on February 12th, 2008
75
I beleive that some of the fotos show what peple actually spend on food in some parts of the world. Some of the views may be a bit skewed, seeing as how not most Mexicans can afford to spend close to $200.00 on groceries a week. They however live in Cuernavaca, so maybe it is their vacation home as most people that live near the Capital, in which case it is beleivable. My Asian friend however says B.S, B.S, B.S, she says the Bei Jing one is overly exagerated! Oh well, I loved the photos though, Good Job!
shama on February 13th, 2008
76
I love to know more about what people and kids around the world eat and i think this book will be of great help (what do you say?)
I always like to know about the day to day food habits of people of various countries do you think this book will be of help.
Jeff on February 17th, 2008
77
To the Celtic lady vis.
quote
CelticLady
October 27th, 2007 at 8:02 am
Just FYI, frozen veggies usually are more nutritious and have just as much flavor, if not more, than fresh, so they’re better for you anyway. They’re frozen at the peak of freshness, right when they’re picked,
end quote
Parroting television advertising shows how television has influenced consumers.
I agree with many people that the total number of family members will change, the cost per person is a better indicator.
Overall the pictures show the American lean to fast food and prepackaged plus softdrinks.
The English love their sugar, notice the sugar based cereal at the rear right.
As for the Chinese picture the snapshot is false.
quote
In rural areas, where nearly 80 percent of China’s people live, the food and nutrition problems are primarily related to inadequacies rooted in poverty. According to the 1989 household budget survey, 42 percent of rural households had yearly per caput incomes below 500 yuan (US$95) and 5 percent of the household incomes were below 200 yuan (US$38) (Xian, 1989)
end quote
details here
http://www.fao.org/docrep/U5900t/u5900t0a.htm
The photo montage is interesting but inaccurate.
spider on February 19th, 2008
78
hey I got these pictures in an email too! except the email I got had less pictures, so this was really interesting.
Jeff: I think that Celtic lady was perhaps using marketing speak, but it is true that frozen vegetables can have the same or even better nutrient content.
http://www.choice.com.au/viewArticle.aspx?id=105360&catId=100286&tid=100008&p=1&title=Fresh+fruit+and+veg
Kaila on February 20th, 2008
79
Wow man, that’s a BIG diff between to diff countries, i dont even wanna live in Germany they eat so much it’s disgusting!!! I feel so bad for people in Breidjing Camp
cafecita on February 20th, 2008
80
I am from the USA and I spend $120 pr. week on Groceries there are many people here wow live on much less with much less junk food. I would like to see a comparison of people from all economic classes. Interesting to note the differences never the less. Where is this from?
Rug Doctor on March 7th, 2008
81
Wow. Imagine on $12 a week!
abby on March 12th, 2008
82
some people dont even hardly have a home thats sad
the first people have a LOT OF FOOD 
sweet 
t on March 14th, 2008
83
STERIOTYPES
TK Kenyon on March 22nd, 2008
84
Fascinating look at what a family eats.
TK Kenyon
Seth J. Frantzman on March 30th, 2008
85
The most interesting thing one can learn from these pictures is that it puts the lie to the whole argument that terrorism in the Islamic world is because of poverty. The Muslim countries here, (except for the Sudanese, who are themselves being persecuted by Arab Islamist Janjaweed genocidaires) are mostly in the middle and Kuwait is the only country here where the family have servants. It turns out that having Servants, like Bin Laden did as a child, is what truly breeds terrorism. People that work for a living and don’t live on the backs of others also don’t like to murder civilians.
Seth J. Frantzman on March 30th, 2008
86
It is interesting that the Europeans are so unhappy. Also the picture of the Italians is statistically incorrect, Italy is a shrinking country demographically and therefore having three kids is an outlier. They should have only 1.5 children in the picture. Also because Europe is now approaching 25% foreign born or descendants of immigrants it seems stereotypical to choose ‘white’ Europeans for the pictures in Germany and Italy and G.B, it would have been more honest had the German picture been a Turkish family or the GB picture been Pakistanis or the italian one been Roma or Albanians.
Hyder on March 30th, 2008
87
Wow Seth, so if people have a maid helping out with home duties, and if they are Muslim, they are all terrorists!
What happens if they are Christian, or atheist? Are they still terrorists? Who says the Kuwaiti family is not working for a living, in fact I do not know of any single human being that doesn’t work for a living? Corporations are the ones that live off the “back of the people”, especially those well taken care of CEO’s {who always get their million dollar bonuses and stock options}.
People like you are what’s truly wrong with the world, not people with maids/servants.
The world is shrinking, get used to it. Or get on the first space ship to Mars.
Carla Banks-Williams on April 27th, 2008
88
Rebecca on June 9th, 2008
89
Erm, yes very interesting-however, i live in the U.K, and can i just mention that as far as i am aware our national dish is NOT canine stew and kitten dumplings, dog broth, pooch pudding or any other sick dish-i resent u making that comment-it’s supposed to be an objective study of average families-THAT COMMENT IS NOT OBJECTIVE! YOU ARE SICK SICK SICK SICK SICK!
Lidia on June 10th, 2008
90
I’ve seen these pics before, and BTW this is not the complete series….I don’t agree with many of the comments under the photos. BTW is that water on the pic from the refugee camp??? I hope thats oil or smth and they get water on a regular basis. I agree with those who argue about the german family, 500$ is a lot! Unless you eat expensive seafood or imported delicacies from Italy or France or consume only BIO (organic) products you could live on half of that sum. I live in the Cezch Republic and prices here are maybe 20% less than in Germany, we are only a household of two+a dog and we rarely, if not never, spend more than 100$ a week for food. And that makes quiet a balanced diet wtih lots of fruits and vegs and dairies and meat and fish etc. I really cant imagine how a family of 4 could spend 500$ a week, even with all the pictured alcohol, which is really not expensive in Germany. You can buy a decent wine for 5euros. And not to forget, you really do have a choice in Europe. There are expensive and cheap supermarkets to choose from and produce markets. Here in Prague there is a regular market where everything is fresh and local, and costs a fraction of the supermarket price. Its really about how lazy you are! Laziness also makes people buy fast food, frozen pizzas etc. And when kids grow up eating that, they end up feeding their kids the same crap. Unfortunately in many countries people even forget how to cook. I have a british friend who hasn’t touched raw meat or fish until the age of 23! Not because she was disgusted by it, but because there was never any in the fridge.
Lidia on June 10th, 2008
91
I always wondered why people from the US often buy soft drinks in small bottles for their home fridges? Isn’t that a waste of money and plastic? Its alright to buy a small bottle of water if you’re out somewhere. But at home?? It’s the same with drinks in cans. They are far more expensive than big bottles.
JJ the Jetplane on June 20th, 2008
92
Jerri Ann said under $300, then said $350. That’s a discrepancy. Jerri Ann also did not use “behooves” correctly. What a tard. If you bothered to read this far, you probably have too much time on your hands. You should be using StumbleUpon to find other fun and interesting websites.
ashley marie on June 24th, 2008
93
I’m not surprised about NC. I live in NC and grocery is soooo expensive! I also used to work at a grocery store so most people would spend around $100-$400 per visit. I saw it’s only $160 in Cali but it’s a double whammy cause gas is even higher there than here. Here it’s around $3.89 or something and there it’s like $4.60.
check out my blog at
http://www.obamafoyomama.blogspot.com
Ben on June 26th, 2008
94
Geez, look at how much food you can get for 5$ in Bhutan! They look pretty healthy too. I guess you can stretch a buck better in somme places than others. Great blog. Stumbled.
Kat on June 27th, 2008
95
What makes you feel really bad is when you get to the bottom and yoyu just shoved a fish stick in your mouth so you could get to Mc D’s in time to get an iced coffee before work.
Todd on July 11th, 2008
96
Menzel’s never contacted you? We got the proverbial cease and desist when we tried to post all the photos. We cranked it back to three and claimed fair use.
Hyder on July 11th, 2008
97
@Todd – He did, all he asked for was attribution in the post. Which I obliged, as you can see right on top.
Mimi on July 22nd, 2008
98
The facts about Germany are absolutely untrue. We are two adults, two teenagers. We get about 3200$ per month. My father is worker, so an average family gets app. 4000-4500$ per month.
2000$ per month only for food is ridiculous. My mother gets 80$ per week, my father does the bigger shopping, so we spend barely 200$ per week. This including other things than food.
Alcohol? Never 30 bottles of beer. My father (and he isn’t so aversed to it) drinks maximum 10 bottles a week. Plus 2-3 bottles of wine. I don’t know any family which spends and drinks so much as the shown.
La on August 7th, 2008
99
No, food in California is not cheeper than the East coast. The fact is that it is more expensive but Californians tend to more fresh (cheeper) produce in the bulk of their diet. Eating healther is apparently cheeper too.
ExMidwestener currently living in California.
Bunny got Blog on August 14th, 2008
100
emm, my husband when he was single and only spent $70.00 or 50 euro a week on food when he was in Germany.
Brian on August 17th, 2008
101
Respect to Peter Menzel for accepting a simple attribution as payment for republishing his article. That’s the sign of a journalist whose motivation is reporting the news, not getting paid.
nqnct on August 25th, 2008
102
Amazin
Blahh Blahh. :] on September 5th, 2008
103
Ewwiee! That’s gross how much junk food those people from the U.S have.. They’re gonna die soon and they’re gonna be fat and have bad acne
Grill accessories on September 9th, 2008
104
Great posting. In Kansas city they just had a free showing of what people eat around the world and what they pay. It is neat to see other pictures.
Gaynor on October 16th, 2008
105
Let’s not start throwing racial slurs around and stick to the issues here…we all eat too much in the first world. We no longer have any idea about portion control. We do not (for the most part) cook every meal from scratch. Most people do not know how to bake bread. I don’t know anyone who can make their own butter/cheese (yes, I know there are people out there but I don’t personally know them). We are reliant on the supermarkets. We eat what we can afford…some of us can afford more than others. Change the circumstances of the poorest and they will adjust their desires accordingly: chocolate, pizza, Chinese takeout, beer/wine, sugary cereal….
Second thing I would like to point out is that although I live in the USA I was born in the UK. We rarely ate dessert, had only 1/4 lb sweets a week (between five kids) and got soda once a month (1 large bottle between 7.)Back in the late 80’s when I moved here I couldn’t eat the food at first…everything was so damn sweet and things you wouldn’t expect: bread, baked beans, “adult” cereals etc, etc. When my relatives vist they always comment on 1) the size of the portions 2) how sweet everything is.
P.S. I caught a BBC special about how fat the kids in the UK are becoming. It made me very sad. Seems the UK has embraced McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut etc, etc. But as suggested by the visiting relatives they still have less “hidden” sugar in the food over there.
Louis on October 17th, 2008
106
Thank’s for the posting,i appreciate the effort and information you brought to us; i believe that the displays #13 and #14 from Ecuador and Bhutan are the best foods to keep any human beeings happy and healthy…rice,beans,fruits and vegetables…and a little bit of meat and lots of spices,mainly to enhance the tastes;those are the best products for the human body,his alertness and longevity.Most of the other “food products” we see are mainly “indulge” items and consciously the money used to buy them sh