What People Eat Around the Globe

Discovering the different foods consumed internationally is one of the true joys of traveling.

I love walking through local markets and grocery stores when visiting some far-off land. Restaurants are pretty cool as well. The most rewarding experience by far, however, is being invited into someone’s home and eating a meal with them in the same manner which they’ve been doing so their entire lives.

And so it was with pleasure that I ran across a recent Time Magazine article, How the World Eats, by Bryan Walsh, that details the eating habits of typical families from around the globe and how much they spend on a weekly basis buying food.

What really makes the article, however, is the accompanying photo gallery plucked from the pages of photographer Peter Menzel’s book, Hungry Planet. The gallery features 15 families from Ecuador to Kuwait sitting in their dining rooms surrounded by the food they consume over the course of a typical week.

Each photo from a developed nation is a kaleidoscope of various packaged goods; while photos from Chad, Ecuador and Bhutan, reflect a far more rural palate of natural colors. Naturally, the contrast is meant to be jarring, and perhaps even a little bit sickening when comparing the bounty of some nations to the meager portions of others. On the other hand, the more impoverished countries sure seem to eat a lot healthier! Except for Chad; a couple of small bags of grain is a depressing sight to see.

So, if you’ve just stuffed your face with some local specialty, take a moment to check out what others are eating across the globe and you’ll quickly feel either better or worse about yourself.