the link is to photos of families standing around a kitchen table of the food they buy in a week. I have no idea whether any of these is accurate or even close to being representative, but I think it is worth a look. The US family photo may be on target for the country as a whole, although it certainly is not for parts of the Bay Area. I am betting that these photos were staged, based on stats regarding the country's diet in general, and then purchasing a weekly supply of it so that models could stand next to the table.

http://ambersbug.gaia.com/blog/2007/11/what_is_eaten_in_one_week

According to Time magazine, the photos come from the book Hungry Planet
What the World Eats by Peter Menzel, Faith D'Aluisio.

Here you can see 16 pictures taken from the book, some of which are posted in the link you provided. There's another photo from a family in California with slightly better diet than the family from North Carolina.

Also noted are the favorite foods of each family. The Sicilian family seems to have a predilection for frozen fish sticks. Something must have been lost in the translation because I don't think that fish sticks are sold in Sicily. They also like hot dogs which I've seen in the alimentari but fish sticks!

edit: took a closer look and the other American family's diet is as bad as the one from NC.

quote:

Originally posted by María I.:
Something must have been lost in the translation because I don't think that fish sticks are sold in Sicily.

I can't comment about Sicily, but here in Umbria all the grocery stores have LOTS of fish sticks, breaded chicken patties and plenty of hot dogs. The refrigerated case even has a 2 pack of hamburgers with buns. We're seeing more and more prepackaged food....purtroppo!

I think it's sad that so many of the photos look much the same - all those processed foods! Did you read what their favorite foods were? Not just fish sticks in Sicily but Pizza in Mexico! I bet 50 years ago you would have seen so much more variation.

It's also interesting to think what my weekly food would look like spread out on a table and I wonder how much I actually spend - groceries and eating out included. It would be an interesting thing to tally up.

-Krista

thanks for the Time link. Pretty amzaing that China and Japan show so few green vegies. But UK does not disappoint. Cal2 must be from SoCal.

Fish sticks are the only way for italian families to feed fish to theeir kids.
I grew up on fish stiks.
In Sicily there are a ton of them and kids there are no different than in any other part of Italy.

Unless you believe that in Sicily kids walk barefoot waiting for the father to bring home the only food they'll have that day, the fish that himself catch!.

No, Sicily is modern in every way, including the kids hating fish and the fish sticks that are fish but look like...a stick.

WHy shouldn't they have them in Sicily?

I remember this being featured in a UK magazine a while ago. I had to to look up the UK and felt depressed at the amount of chocolate and sweets this family had at the front of the table - then fell about laughing at the Jubilee mug to the left, with the picture of the Queen!

A photostylist with a sense of humour, I think.

I thought the Ecuadorian one was interesting - no packaging at all (unless you count sacks)

Alessandra,

I have family living in Palermo and I'm there every two years staying with my cousins and their family so I'm aware of the Sicilian reality, at least in my family's little corner in Palermo. I should have stated in my comment that I've never seen the children of my cousins eating fish sticks and that on my trips to the grocery store I've never seen fish sticks being sold. I guess I wasn't paying attention. Now hot dogs or wurstel yes, I've seen plenty on the children's plate with lots of ketchup and on the pizza.

Next time I talk to one of my cousins I'll have to ask her if their children eat fish sticks. I'd be very concerned if their children are different from the rest of the Italian kids.

Much also dipends on the family habits and childrens' tastes. personally I have never particolarly liked fish sticks as a child, and only ate them the couple of times I went holidaying with my school at a seaside "colonia" in Tuscany, and maybe a couple of times at home. Yet, I was a fan of frozen sole and "palombo" steaks. I still love "palombo", when I find it, or similar "smeriglio", which I dip in beaten egg, cover with breadcrumbs and finally cook in very hot oil: essentially a fish stick-like food, just round and barely more homemade!

I guess fish sticks are everywhere. It doesn't say where in Sicily the family resides, but one would hope that families that live near the ocean don't just rely on frozen processed fish. Although I can see that parents who want to get their children to eat fish might resort to these sorts of things.

I suppose I was lucky, because growing up in San Diego, my father was a fisherman and we ate a lot of fresh seafood. So, yes, I ran around barefoot and waited for my father to bring home freshly caught fish! or abalone or lobster, etc.

-Krista

Lucky you, Krista!

I grew up in a Caribbean island and we never ate frozen fish even though fish sticks were available. Our fish came from the grocery store but it was sold fresh and whole. It was cooked with head and all. We ate barefoot because when you live in a tropical climate there's nothing better than to feel the cold tile under your feet.

That slide show is fascinating! I'm a little shocked though to see how much people spend in a week on food. Granted we're a couple without children but it seems like some of them spend a *lot* more than we do.

Fish Sticks are called Fish Fingers here - it's a great teasing opportunity for older siblings to try and persuade the younger ones that they come off big fish hands!

This was very interesting. The amount of prepackaged foods really is scary though. I am now innundated with that stuff at the grocery store.

The one thing that has me wondering is why the Sicilian family uses 2 boxes of baking soda per week? Did they just use it as a filler of is there some reason? I use a lot of baking soda (good for brushing teeth, bottom of the cat litter box, washing veggies, etc.) but cannot for the life of me imagine using 2 boxes even in a month.

Oh and sodas. What is with the amount of sodas? I love my diet coke but one 1.5 liter bottle will last me more than a whole week. Kids hate fizzy drinks. Hubby too. Of course, I make up for the liquid intake with wine

And did you see on the back shelf, right beside the Sicilian husband's head, the carton of Diana cigarettes?

I saw the whole show at Copia when it came out.
FAcinating.
don-t know how they chose the families.
Google CAptiano Findus for Italian fish sticks.
The try Sofficini!

I was so intrigued by the photo essay that I just ordered the book from Amazon.

quote:

From: From Publishers Weekly

For their enormously successful Material World, photojournalist Menzel and writer D'Aluisio traveled the world photographing average people's worldly possessions. In 2000, they began research for this book on the world's eating habits, visiting some 30 families in 24 countries. Each family was asked to purchase—at the authors' expense—a typical week's groceries, which were artfully arrayed—whether sacks of grain and potatoes and overripe bananas, or rows of packaged cereals, sodas and take-out pizzas—for a full-page family portrait. This is followed by a detailed listing of the goods, broken down by food groups and expenditures, then a more general discussion of how the food is raised and used, illustrated with a variety of photos and a family recipe. A sidebar of facts relevant to each country's eating habits (e.g., the cost of Big Macs, average cigarette use, obesity rates) invites armchair theorizing. While the photos are extraordinary—fine enough for a stand-alone volume—it's the questions these photos ask that make this volume so gripping.

quote:

Originally posted by Diva:
The try Sofficini!

The best part of Sofficini is their commercials.

Panda,

I too was struck by the Ecuadorian photo, but because (dental issues not-withstanding) everyone in that picture looked gloriously healthy. Those HUGE smiles are so natural. You can just tell that they are a jolly family.

Makes me want to be the Ayme family's house guest. I but they would be so much fun to get to know!

Out of curiosity, I snapped a photo of today's grocery shopping haul and listed the purchases. Not everything fit in the photo, and if you're curious about the details, they're in my blog. What I find really annoying is the high price of produce in the Boston area, especially in the Winter. Eating healthy is expensive, sadly.

Amy,

Your haul looks very familiar.

One thing--Why are your buying/eating watermelon in April?

Around here we are inundated with it all summer long.

jan

I do not have a pic, but I could easly list what I bought over the weekend, to last us for the next week and some of the items are actually to be stocked for the following weeks.

1 bunch of asparagus (20% discount)
3 medium fennel, to be cooked
3 bell peppers
250 grams of strawberries
5 very nice artichockes
a small buch of spring onions
3 whole "orate" fishes (30% discount, they have been cleanded and separately frozen for future use)
250 grams (approx) of sliced chicken breast (frozen for future use)
1 rabbit in pieces (cooked for the sunday meal with my granny's sisters)
1 veal tail (frozen for future use, likely it will be used for stock and then eaten)
500 grams of small pasta to be had with soups
500 grams of corxetti pasta (traditional from Liguria)
1 small jar of original "Prà" pesto (to be used with corxetti)
1 can of organic peeled tomatoes
2 bottles of Mutti tomato sauce
1 1000 grams pack of frozen vegetables for minestrone
500 grams of 100% arabica ground coffee (to last us for a few months)
1 liter of fresh, partially skimmed milk
200 grams goat gorgonzola cheese (ripened in dried berries)
200 grams of another goat cheese
20 grams of dried porcini mushrooms (will last us a long time)