Great photo essay by Time. "What People Eat"

[tjwash]

Link here.

A great photo essay on what people all over the world eat. There is just so much information that one can glean just from each of the the pictures.

What really got me, is how the prepackaged crap that Americans eat just does not look good compared to just having food on the table like other countries, and that Coca-Cola is freaking everywhere.

Case in point:

American family food here:




Egyptian family food here



Definitely something to keep in mind next time I go to the store. By the way, I thought that the Americans ate the most junk, until I saw the British family.

Enjoy...

[sandrakae]

1. That's a coke in the back right hand corner in the Egyption photo.

[tjwash]

3. The Devil in the little brown bottle is everywhere except in the African picture.

nt

[intheflow]

84. Makes me suspect product placement.

Maybe to help fund the photographer's travel? :shrug: Call me paranoid... :tinfoilhat:

[philosophie_en_rose]

101. No. Coke and pepsi are practically everywhere.

Even in rural parts of Asia, I've always been able to get coke. :shrug: In many places, it's better than the water. It's also made with real sugar.

I wouldn't doubt that companies would pay for product placement, but it's probably not necessary for coke.

[tabasco]

2. Looks like the kids make the buying decisions in the American home pictured.

Pizza, potato chips, tacos, Burger King.

[momzno1]

5. when did groceries become so expensive?

300 dollars a week or more??

[MissB]

15. When we started buying more packaged crap rather than

whole foods.

[Roland99]

96. Only thing I can think is they go thru like 2 12-packs of Coke a day

No way 4 people eat $300+/week in groceries!

[uberllama42]

70. Or maybe the adults think like children -

an affliction I find quite common among Americans.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

4. I just noticed the Kuwaiti Dinar is worth more than US$ 3.

US$ 3.45 exactly, according to http://coinmill.com/KWD_calculator.html - looks like the highest value denomination in the world. I thought it was the UK Pound.

[Double T]

6. How can I get an invitation to the Egyptian families dinner table.............

that sure does look GOOD!!

[diamidue]

23. Don't think this is typical. This is a wealthy family.

The book says that 44% of Egyptians live on less than $2.00 a day. I wonder what THEIR food stash looks like.
But, yeah, the food shown does look good!

[Double T]

69. unfortunately much of the world does not eat like this Egyptian family........

it is the greatest atrocity of this 'civilized' planet.

[OnionPatch]

83. I sat at quite a few tables like that

during a year I spent in Egypt. They are the most generous and hospitable people. One family invited us to eat and slaughtered a goat for us! (Goat meat is very tasty! :9 ) All you have to do is go to Egypt and talk to the them. The food always follows immediately.

[slowry]

7. mayonnaise sandwich?

No thanks, I just had a big dinner. Two nights ago. What? Oh, there's that damn BAT SIGNAL; gotta go fight crime! *flees*

[thethinker]

8. Interesting

The British family was spending over 200 per week to feed 4 people. They had hardly any meat or fresh produce in their stack. It looked like they just ate out of boxes. Sad. There was a lot of packaged products in the Mexican family's stack, also.

[tjwash]

11. Lots of sugary crappy looking drinks, and boxes of sugar laden cereal as well.

I think I get spoiled because the wife and I grow a lot of our own fruits and vegetables.

[Cha]

49. That's a good way to get

spoiled. Our most important product is our health and that's one of the keys..straight from the garden-fruits and veggies.

San Diego has a beautiful climate to grow year round..Lucky You Guys!

[AmyDeLune]

111. I spoiled my Mom by baking fresh (whole wheat) bread...

now she gives me "Sad Mommy Eyes" if we run out and I don't bake some more right away.:)

[diane in sf]

78. Looks like the Brits are on the Mars Bars diet.

They are on the rotten tooth diet as opposed to the African-American family on the high blood pressure diet.

[Greeby]

9. Aye, we have no right to sneer at obese Americans anymore

That front table makes me wanna puke. :puke:

[Gidney N Cloyd]

17. They eat _dogs_ in the UK? Yuck.

[Oeditpus Rex]

34. According to Monty Python, yes

Mrs. Eggers: "Oh, I'm so worried about him, doctor."

Doctor (eating): "Yes... I know what you mean. I'm afraid he's suffering from what we doctors call 'whooping cough.' That's the failure of the autonomic nervous section of the brain to deal with the nerve pulses that enable you or I to retain some facts and eliminate others."

Mrs. Eggers: "Another dog?"

Doctor: "Ah... not for me, thank you."

Mrs. Eggers: "I’ll have one last one."

(Dog barks in background.)

Doctor: "The human brain is like an enormous fish — it's flat and slimy and has gills through which it can see."

(Gunshot.)

Mrs. Eggers: "There we are."

(A skillet sizzles.)

Doctor: "Should one of these gills fail to open, the messages transmitted by the lungs don’t reach the brain. It's as simple as that."

Mrs. Eggers: "Well, I'm a simple soul. I don’t understand all that. All I know is he's not the same man as I married."

Doctor: "Am I the man you married, Mrs. Eggers?"

(They begin to wrestle.)

Mrs. Eggers: Oh! Get away! You’ll get struck off!"

Doctor: "Oh, come on, come on!"

Mrs. Eggers: "I can’t! I'm eating dog!"

Doctor: "Come on, just a quick examination."

Mrs. Eggers: "No! Get off! I’m married!"

Mr. Eggers (OOV): "But Doctor Quat was a man of quite remarkable insight, skill and determination, and within a few minutes he had completely removed my wife’s knickers."


:D

[senseandsensibility]

40. I don't recognize the brands or types of food on

the front table. What are they? Something especially repulsive? By the way, the Americans don't look any better. Yet I wonder how representative either the American or British family really is.

[FunkyLeprechaun]

106. They are chocolates

They are actually quite good. The Mars Bar is much less processed than its American counterpart. Cadbury is not far from where I live and the chocolate is quite fresh tasting.

Also, the kids here walk and walk and walk. No wonder they're so skinny over here. I am just starting a routine of walking and it's surprisingly easy to walk to the next town to get a paper.

But there's so many American restaurants here (McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut) so we might start getting as fat as the Americans soon.

[senseandsensibility]

113. Chocolates? And they're good quality chocolates?

And someone is complaining? Blasphemy....:rofl:

[Cha]

50. I missed that pic..these

British are metabalizing this stuff pretty good, so far. Look at the little pooch!

We just got Weetabix in our co-op by popular demand.

[grasswire]

10. that was FASCINATING

Thanks. Germans spent the most money, and they didn't look very happy. The family from Bhutan spent only $5 for a week's worth of food for 13 people. Very interesting.

[mudesi]

18. The Germans looked like they drank more than they ate (nm)

[likesmountains 52]

37. I just was thinking the same thing...

[diamidue]

12. I have this book. Fascinating.

Lots of statistics in addition to the photos.
For example, it is no surprise that the USA has the highest percentage of obese people. Guess which country is #2: Kuwait. 76% of the women are overweight & a whopping 49% of Kuwati women are obese. They also lead the surveyed countries for diabetes. Why? The book suggests it is because with their wealth, they have been able to buy many "western" junk foods & sodas. Absolutely no country comes close to the USA for per capita sugar & meat consumption, tho.

[MADem]

14. Well, if you're running around in a black tent, what's the incentive, really?

It's hot as hell in that damned thing--have an ice-cold coke AND an ice cream, why doncha???

[Cha]

52. Time missed this whole sub-culture

in the USA that eats only fresh organic vegetables and fruits, whole grains, legumes, maybe some fresh fish that they catch, organic dairy products(no hormones) and don't eat anything prepacked and definetly nothing they have trouble pronouncing.

Still a scintillating secret only known to those who work it. ;)

[devilgrrl]

13. My diet these days closely resembles what the Egyptian family is eating...

minus the soft drinks.

[Cha]

53. Me too..actually when I

said Egypt was the closest to me..I missed seeing Ecuador whose family doesn't seem to have one bit of prefab in their food photo..all from the Earth.

[Enrique]

109. I like their hats too

everyone in the family is wearing the same hat. :-)

[mudesi]

16. CHAD

[uppityperson]

25. I got to this one and have stopped to look more. Incredible

[uberllama42]

32. There's no justice

Six people in this pic, and probably 1/3 of the calories in the American picture (of only 4 people) from the OP.

[entanglement]

48. Truly, a picture is worth a thousand words...

One dollar and twenty-three cents a week for a family of six is just wrong :(

[Cha]

54. I was awestruck by this

photo..I'm guessing they're healthy bunch. :)

[uppityperson]

76. They are in a refugee camp.

[girl gone mad]

82. They actually do look healthy.

Thin, but proportional. The mother is clearly taking excellent care of her children under such hard circumstances.

It's a shame that anyone on this planet ever goes hungry. We have misplaced priorities.

[MADem]

19. The California-American family didn't have as much produce as I'd have guessed they would have

I'm amazed at the amount of packaged shit that the developed world uses--all these boxes and brands, and in way too many of the pictures, damned few vegetables, either fresh, frozen or tinned, to say nothing of fruits. And the EXPENSE of food, too! Those grocery bills, from Italy to China, are pretty hefty.

I guess if you don't eat a shitload of meat, it lowers the weekly cost. If you're not buying a shitload of carbonated drinks, pre-made desserts, and that kind of junk, that pares it down too. Of course, New England doesn't totally screw people blue at the grocery store the way they do in, say, DC....

[MissB]

20. I looked through this with my kids.

They had fun pointing out all of the coca cola bottles in many of the photos.

They drew parallels between packaged food and costs. Even my 9 yo noticed the lack of significant fruits/vegetables in the California family's picture. That broccoli is looking pretty lonely.

[grace0418]

24. Our picture would look nothing like the two American families' picture.

We eat so much more produce and much less packaged crap. I bet those pictures are, sadly, pretty typical though. And people wonder why they are on 20 different prescription meds by the time they're 50.

[mainegreen]

60. My family too.

Our picture would be drowning in kale, chard, lettuce, spinach, pasta, tomatoes, rice, cheese etc.
Maybe one box of cereal and ice cream, but no soda!

[grace0418]

77. Kale definitely. We buy tons of that stuff. It's my favorite dark leafy green.

Mixed greens, spinach, blueberries, yogurt, oats, cheese, chicken. We have no fewer than 3 big bowls of fruit and tomatoes on our counter at any given time. I think the packages you would see in our pile would either be from the Asian market (coconut milk, bamboo shoots, sriracha sauce) or Trader Joe's (salsa, beans, trail mix, nuts, granola, broth, soy milk).

[Le Taz Hot]

91. Mine is a California family

and ours looks NOTHING like theirs. They should be ashamed with all the fresh fruits and veggies out here.

[devilgrrl]

21. I can't get over how much pre-packaged shit people eat world-wide...

it's alarming. And all those soft drinks!!!!

Add some fresh fruit and produce to that African family's diet and I bet they'd be the healthiest people on earth.

[bamacrat]

22. I would much rather eat the Egyptian families food.

It looks good, but then again I dont eat many precooked things, I would rather make my own food, and I love me some veggies. Oh and all types of meat, but packaged food is ok if youre in a hurry but fresh is always better.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

39. I agree

The Egyptian looked best to me. I could live out of the grocery produce section with small venteures into the meat, fish, bread and dairy areas.

[diane in sf]

79. I agree with you--I mostly would prefer to eat like the Egyptians

I fall down when my time gets tight.

[Retired AF Dem]

112. Would you be capable of running

a knife through a lambs throat during Ramadan? :)

[Phentex]

26. I'll take Italy and Germany, please...

We don't eat like that, but I'd love it. Did you see that bread on Italy's? Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

[NashVegas]

45. The Bread!

That was my first thought when looking at the Italian table.

And isn't it amazing that no matter where you go, we can't get away from Corn Flakes?

[uberllama42]

71. I know.

Those fucking Corn Flakes are everywhere.

[Left Is Write]

56. Yes, I noticed all that wonderful looking bread!

[Le Taz Hot]

93. Bread machines are

WONDERFUL things. I've been making my own bread, or rather the machine has, for about 3 years now. No matter how fancy the bread, I can make most loaves for under 50 cents. Our day-to-day French bread is probably less than 10 cents a loaf. (I buy my baking products, including yeast, in bulk).

Anyway, it's not difficult, it's cheap, it's fresh and you can control the ingredients. B-)

[progressoid]

27. 8 out of 16 had some type of American product (mostly soft drinks)

[uppityperson]

28. Hungry Planet paperback is due out in Sept.

Hardcover is out now. I just checked Amazon.com

[AzDar]

29. Absolutely fascinating! Thanks for posting....

[uberllama42]

30. Who except Americans and Brits has the resources to put out a week's worth of food

at one time? I've seen some of the pics from that article/study/whatever before. I was under the impression that people most other countries didn't do the supermarket thing, buying for a week at a time. That's one of the reasons they're healthier than we are- they don't rely on heavily processed crap to feed themselves.

This sort of thing always reminds me how lucky I am to live in a land of abundance and how unfair it is that the majority of my fellow human beings live from hand to mouth.

[grasswire]

42. remember, though, how many hungry Americans there are

the abundance doesn't exist for all of our people.

[uberllama42]

85. Good point

Actually, I think that's a greater injustice- the huge disparity in wealth even here in the richest country in the world. The right-wingers use 'socialist' as an insult. Well, I use 'Christian' as an insult, so I guess we're even.

[Blue_Tires]

31. eye-opening k and r

[Hamlette]

33. fascinating pictures!!! Ioved the whole thing

there was a book years ago called Material World which did the same kind of portraits with families and all of their possessions. Much like this, very interesting:

http://www.amazon.com/Material-World-Global-Family-Portrait/dp/0871564300/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-1629078-8045634?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181424379&sr=8-1

The one for food, which is probably where there pictures came from is:

http://www.amazon.com/Material-World-Global-Family-Portrait/dp/0871564300/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-1629078-8045634?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181424379&sr=8-1

[emmadoggy]

35. REALLY interesting. I found the differences in food interesting but also

the differences in their homes. Chad and Equador really jump out at you - on both counts (food and home). The other thing I noticed was how happy some of them looked (China) and how glum others looked (Germany). That probably doesn't really have any real correlation to anything, just something I noticed. (As a matter of fact, the Equador family, though there was not a lot of food there for 9 people and their living conditions looked quite primitive, looked quite happy.)

I'm afraid I have to admit, I would be embarrassed to show our pantry contents as we fall into the category of eating way too much processed and junk food and not enough of the good stuff. My only excuse is I am lazy and hate to cook. Bad me, I know. :blush: :-(

[Kerrytravelers]

36. This says it all for me:

Thank you for the link. We looked at every picture. For people with kids, this would make for a very interesting discussion.

[uppityperson]

41. dried rice, peas, beans (?), water, condiments.

Most of us have a tendency to have this is reverse (rice/beans/peas are the condiments)

[HamdenRice]

62. You do realize that these people are not a "typical" African family

They are refugees. The food has been provided by a refugee agency, so the picture tells us absolutely nothing about what Africans actually eat.

See post 44.

[Kerrytravelers]

64. I understand that. However, it shows how much they've lost and how little they have.

And they show why it's important to care about the refugees not only in Africa, but all over the world.

[uppityperson]

75. Indeed it does. Of course this is not "typical" except for refugees.

[Karenina]

86. Frankly, HR, I find the entire pictorial

BOGUS!

[SeattleGirl]

38. Very interesting photo essay.

Thanks!

k&r

[lpbk2713]

43. Product placement in the American family pic?

A can of Bush beans placed above almost everything else. (Next to Dad)

[HamdenRice]

44. I think the photo essay is stupid and racist

Notice that each of the families, except the African family, is a settled family, and arguably "typical" for that society. For the African family, they chose one of the poorest and most underpopulated countries (and therefore not very typical), Chad. Notice also that the family is living in a tent, not a traditional dwelling, suggesting that they are, in fact, refugees. There is a refugee problem in the war torn parts of Africa but refugees are hardly typical Africans. If they are going to photograph an African refugee family, why not show the food budget of a homeless American family living under the Brookly-Queens Expressway?

They went out looking for the poorest of the poor to represent Africa and they found them.

A more typical African family might have been a farm family from Nigeria or Ghana. (About one in four Africans is from the densely populated country of Nigeria, so that country's people are much more "typical" Africans than Chadians.)

The weekly food budget of a poor but settled Nigerian farm family might have looked like this: a large basket of rice; a very large bunch of palm oil nuts (or several bottles of orange palm oil); a bunch of coconuts (or a bottle of coconut oil); a stack of cassava; a bundle of cassava leaf; a small basket of white potatoes; a basket of tropical sweet potatoes, ie African yams; a bowl of ocra; a package of pounded yam (foofoo); a bowl of plantains; a large pile of very hot peppers; a few chickens; perhaps a shank of goat meat; and a few bottles of really good local beer.

Their favorite dish would be something like pounded yam with chicken stew, or cassava leaf stew with chicken (a lot like American collard greens and hamhocks) with rice and cassava.

[uppityperson]

47. Egypt is in Africa, and more info on Breidjing Camp, another article link

"Chad: The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp"

http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/40ade2dd9.html

On Wednesday, UNHCR opened a new camp – the seventh so far – to relocate Sudanese refugees who have fled into the border area of eastern Chad. In all, nearly 75,000 refugees have found safety, assistance and shelter at the seven camps set up to date further inside Chad. The majority have come to the camps on convoys we have been organizing from the various makeshift border sites, but some 10,000 have made their own way to the camps after hearing that help was available away from the border.

The new camp is located in Breidjing, near the previously established camp at Farchana, 55 km from the border town of Adre. So far, 187 refugees have been transported by truck from the border. Upon arrival at the camp, refugees received kitchen sets, mats and jerry cans. They also received food rations provided by WFP. In total, UNHCR has pre-positioned 40 tons of food in the nearby Farchana camp to be distributed to the refugees in Farchana and Breidjing.

In all, Farchana now shelters 13,360 refugees, Touloum camp has 17,787, Iridimi has 14,819, Kounoungo has 8,271, Mille has 2,073, Goz Amer 18,143 and Breidjing 187, bringing to a total of 74,640 refugees relocated to date....(more)

Would you rather have the world ignore refugees in camps? The book is out in hardback, paperback will be out soon, in case you want to see the whole set.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5005952
NPR article on the book and this family and others, with a breakdown of food costs.

[HamdenRice]

61. No I would not have the world ignore refugee camps, but

the point of the essay is basically to compare how typical families in various places live. Why not show how "typical" Africans live?

Whenever Africa appears in the mainstream media, the one thing we never are allowed to see is in fact typical Africans. 85% of Africans are working farmers. For some reason, we are not allowed to see this reality and see instead an endless stream of messages designed to reinforce the idea that Africa is hopeless and unproductive. Showing refugees is, as I mentioned, about as typical as showing homeless Americans living under a highway underpass. The point of the essay was not to highlight the problem of refugees but to make a comparison about how people live and eat in different regions of the world.

If they wanted to make a useful comparison, they should have compared apples and apples, not apples to oranges -- ie compare typical families to typical families, not typical families to homeless refugee families.

As for your comment about Egypt, people who study and work in Africa routinely talk of North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa as distinctly different places. The "horror" imagery in the western media focuses on sub-Saharan or "Black Africa," not on places like Egypt, which are considered part of the Middle East or Arab world.

[uppityperson]

65. It will be interesting to see what all they put in the book.

As N.America or Europe are big continents, so is Africa, with many big differences depending on where you are. (Africa: Mediterranean, Saharan, Sahel/sub saharan, west africa, east africa, south africa lots of very different places indeed.)

I am going to get the book when it comes out in paperback since I can't afford hardback books. I am interested in seeing what all, who all, where all, they put in it. This refugee family in Chad shows quite a difference from other families. I noticed a lack of S. American families also. They did limit who they showed, will be interested in seeing the book.

[SmokingJacket]

68. The book is more even; the excerpt focussed on extremes.

It's a fascinating book, and "Material World" is too.

[Enrique]

110. it looks like the Polish family has a bag of dog food

over to the left. It looks like Pedigree brand. Talk about stereotyping.

[Cha]

46. Thanks for linking this and these

pics..yummy! I'm more in tune with the Egyptian Family's food than any Time has profiled. I can't eat American junk food anymore.

That Chad family is the sweetest thing..look how simple their fare is!~

Not quite sure what all those little delicacies are, though.

[Odin2005]

51. 300-500 dollars a WEEK in developed countries? WTF?

The German family spends $500 a WEEK on groceries? :wow: My working class parents spend around $80 to $100 a week on groceries, and around $120 before I moved out to go to college in 2004. I don't get how a middle class family in a developed or mostly developed country could spend over $250 a week on food unless it's a big family or have lots of cash to burn on luxury foods.

[Left Is Write]

57. Or maybe things just cost more in Germany than they do here.

[Left Is Write]

55. That was VERY intersting. Some of those families go through an awful lot of pop.

[Matsubara]

58. Yes, our food is too processed/prepackaged/NOT FRESH

But I wish that they had made the families show exactly what they bought in a week. The items seem a bit "for show".

The Japanese family's food includes items like mirin, oils, cooking sake things that are not bought on a weekly basis as they last quite a while. Also the Japanese father is quite a bit older, so the foods reflect that. A typical Japanese nuclear family today would have more convenience foods like curry rice mix, some frozen meals, a bit more beef and a bit less fish. And most people I know don't spend that much on a week's groceries.

I'm actually shocked that a lot of the people in western/developed countries are spending over $300/week on groceries. We are a family of 4 and get by on about $200, and that's including a weekly excursion to a cheap restaurant and the occasional fast food meal. $350 per week is $1400/month - about a whole month's pay for a low-wage worker. How do these people get by?

Oh, and I liked how the california family included "Whiskas" in their food. And that family in Cuernavaca REALLY need to cut down on the Coca-Cola!

[diamidue]

63. "The items seem a bit "for show".

The authors of the book paid for the weeks' worth of food for each family. Who's to know if they really eat (or can afford) all the items shown on a regular basis - or in the amounts shown.

[JNelson6563]

59. Zowie!! $341.98 a week?

That's for the American family. I don't spend anywhere near that for my family of four and we eat much healthier than all that packaged stuff.

The more "processed" food is, the more it costs.

Julie

[glowing]

72. I don't spend that much either. I wouldn't have a home to live in.

[MedleyMisty]

66. Just a comment about the pre-packaged stuff

It has to do with the weight thing too.

Back in the day being heavier was more attractive because that meant you had the money for lots of food.

Now being thin is more attractive because that means you have the money and free time for exercise and eating healthy.

Like I want to eat less processed stuff and eat organic and that sort of thing, but my husband will only let me occasionally get stuff like that because it's so much more expensive than the processed packaged stuff. Also our kitchen is rather small and not conducive to cooking, and we don't have all that much time for cooking anyway.

So I guess what I mean is - don't judge people without knowing why they buy the food they buy.

[glowing]

73. A great way to save on fruits and veggies is local farmer's markets.

If you have those in your area.

[WiseButAngrySara]

67. How many of these Egyptian women work outside of the home?

I'm sure the men don't cook.

[PeaceNikki]

74. Very interesting.

[Faux pas]

80. Looks like the ones who ate the most produce spent the least

money. It ain't cheap where I live, what's wrong with this picture? (no pun intended)

[wakeme2008]

81. Forget Poland

:rofl:



Family recipe: Pig's knuckles with carrots, celery and parsnips

[Dukkha]

87. There's a similar book to this called Material World

http://www.amazon.com/Material-World-Global-Family-Portrait/dp/0871564300/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-4384813-5426362?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181485373&sr=1-1


I saw the photo exhibit in SF. Instead of food it showcases everyone's lifestyles and posessions. The top photo is the American family from Texas.

[ThatsMyBarack]

88. Kicker Upper!

:kick:

[Le Taz Hot]

89. I have an American family

and mine looks NOTHING like the American picture. Yuck! Who eats that shit? Potato chips? Sodas? Gaaack!!!

This morning I picked from my garden: 2 bell peppers, a handful of yellow pear tomatoes, 2 Early Girls, one zucchini squash and one crook-necked squash. What I can't get in my garden I get at our local organic farmers market. I've been making fresh veggie trays every day and we've only been having meat maybe 3 days a week. I'm feeding a family of 3 for about $40.00 a week. Eat healthy, it's good for you AND it's enormously economical.

[tridim]

90. First thing I noticed was the American food is NEON

and looks very unappetizing relative to the "Earthy" colored foods in the other images. Damn marketing.

[philosophie_en_rose]

98. The other American Family is less bright.

A lot is still processed, but it seems a little better than the Pizza Hut family.

[mia]

92. The family in Tingo spoke to me the most. I felt like I was there.

I want to go to Tingo and eat their fresh food and drink from a clear mountain stream. I'll sleep wrapped in a cloud forest and when I wake up, I'll shower under a waterfall and ride a grey horse through the mountainside wherever she takes me.








http://www.virtualperu.info/selva.html

Thank you for the post and the enchanting daydream.

[ComerPerro]

94. god I am hungry now

[Dukkha]

95. pre-processed food is a necessity now

unless you're willing to quit your job so you can stay at home and prepare food all day. The families like in Egypt do not have working wives and it reflects in their food choices. Show an American family from the 50's & 60's and the food would be dramatically different in the pre-microwave oven decades.

[tjwash]

97. Not necessarily.

The wife and I both work full time, and we both manage to keep a couple of gardens going, fruit trees producing,and we jam and can all the excess so that we can eat it later (and it is missing the salt that they always put in it).

I think the problem is, that we have been convinced by constant advertising that this prepackaged, processed, high starch, sugar, and salty crap is a necessity, and that it is just a waste of time to prepare your own meals, when it does not take all that much time out of your day to chop a few veggies, dice your own meat, and add a sprinkling of some spices on your own.

We have just gotten into this instant gratification mode, to where if we can't have it in ten seconds, we don't want at all...

[shimmergal]

100. Time and health constraints do make a

difference.

Not every part of the country is conducive to vegetable gardening. I have a complete brown thumb--when I lived in the Midwest I could still grow tomatoes, green peppers and strawberries despite that. Start them, and they almost grow themselves in most of the soils. Now I live in the Southwest and even dedicated desert gardeners have a hard time producing good yields here. Further, my health--and I _don't_ have diabetes, or salt-related high blood pressure-- prevents the bending over, extended standing etc.that are necessary for gardening. Farmers' markets aren't very plentiful here, either.

That's just once aspect of why we don't always eat what we "should". I try to get in at least a couple of fruits and vegetables a day, and see that my grandchildren get these too when I feed them, but it's hard. I could go on, but-- I feel I'm a minority voice in this discussion here.
Good for all of you who DO eat healthy, but not all of us can do it. I do worry about the heavy consumption of soft drinks & other sweetened beverages. In this climate we need a lot of liquids to keep hydrated. Mostly I drink iced tea, but in the absence of a good method for making tasty iced tea myself, have turned to the canned stuff. Which I'd rather not.

[tridim]

105. In absense of iced tea, drink water!

It doesn't get much easier. :)

[roody]

99. Try a crock pot and a rice cooker.

[Dukkha]

102. that's exactly what I'm using right now

herb rice dinner cooking for 4 hours

[tridim]

103. I just made homemade chicken fajitas for lunch.. Took about 20 minutes

That's faster than cooking a frozen pizza and about 50 times better.

[Left Is Write]

114. The 50s and 60s were a heyday for processed foods.

That was the dawn of mixes, boxes, frozen dinners, and "freedom" for the American housewives. Instant potatoes, canned spaghetti sauce, whipped-cream-in-a-can, Rice-A-Roni, soup mix, Cheez Whiz, Kraft singles, frozen pie crust, Pop Tarts, Cool Whip, and other items came to us in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. Convenience foods were touted a a boon for busy women. Commercially canned vegetables were considered just as nutritious as fresh.

Consider a diet of sugary cereal, Wonder bread, Kraft singles, wilted lettuce salads, aspic, and instant mashed potatoes.

(I'm not knocking these items introduced mid-century; just pointing out that diets full of processed and packaged foods are certainly not new.)

[arikara]

115. That's for sure

Can anyone who lived in that era ever forget the "7 Can Casserole"?

[JitterbugPerfume]

104. I would be sick as a dog

if I ate that crap in the American family photo

[Auggie]

107. Your post title makes this sound like a Time concept. Credit goes to photographer Peter Menzel.

[prayin4rain]

108. Wow that's cool!! n/t

[fortyfeetunder]

116. Hmmm.. I eat more like that Egyptian family

I do not like packaged food.....

[Karenina]

117. These pictures are not representative

of ANYTHING but a M$M $toryline.