Slog - Comments on The Eating Planet http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet The subject of Peter Menzel's photographs is the amount and types of food consumed by people in different parts of the world and class situations: 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 United States: The Revis family of North Carolina Food expenditure for one week: $341.98 Favorite foods: spaghetti, potatoes, sesame chicken Bon appetit!... Copyright 2008 Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:16:11 -0800 Sat, 09 Aug 2008 04:01:29 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Andy Niable I'll bookmark this to email to anyone who continues to ask "Why do 'they' hate us?"

]]> Andy Niable http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095831 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095831 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:41:59 -0800 Comment by Mr. Poe Where's your tedious point?

]]> Mr. Poe http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095834 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095834 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:43:54 -0800 Comment by inkweary Salutary post Charles. It is good to remeber that what some of us spend on food in a month is quite often more than the entire yealry income for many families around the world.

]]> inkweary http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095838 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095838 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:46:46 -0800 Comment by Mahtli69 United States: The Revis family of North Carolina
Food expenditure for one week: $341.98
Favorite foods: spaghetti, potatoes, sesame chicken
What we actually eat (per the picture): as much junk food as possible

]]> Mahtli69 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095844 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095844 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:51:34 -0800 Comment by snooze you lose The book was even more interesting when it came out, in 2005. Did Time just cover it now?

]]> snooze you lose http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095846 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095846 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:52:20 -0800 Comment by K Not to defend American gluttony, but I'd be curious to also see what the life expectancy of each group is. Consuming minuscule amounts of food isn't necessarily the ideal way to eat.

]]> K http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095847 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095847 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:52:39 -0800 Comment by ideal way to eat durrr i wonder if malaria and terminal diarrhea and lack of vaccines or sanitation or any sort of affordable medical care affects life expectancy?

nah it's probably just the sheep soup.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/08/13/life.expectancy.ap/index.html

]]> ideal way to eat http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095852 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095852 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:57:07 -0800 Comment by charles mudede @5, i had no idea it came out so long ago. the web is a vast place.

]]> charles mudede http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095855 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095855 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:00:42 -0800 Comment by keshmeshi @6,

Maybe you should ask any number of fat haters about that.

]]> keshmeshi http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095862 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095862 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:04:28 -0800 Comment by Ursula @6: You're probably wrong there. The most long-lived cultures (Okinawan, some Mediterranean) tend to have diets very different from ours, diets that center around small portions of meat and dairy and slightly less small portions of green vegetables and starches. A number of clinical studies have been done on the effects of 'undereating' on life expectancy, and there seems to be a positive correlation between the two. (NB we're not talking anorexia here; we're talking eating small but healthy amounts.)

And 'Hungry Planet' is a great book; everyone should read/own it.

]]> Ursula http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095865 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095865 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:07:00 -0800 Comment by raindrop America does not the copyright on obesity and gluttony. Britian, Australia, Germany, France, .... need I go on?

]]> raindrop http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095871 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095871 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:10:21 -0800 Comment by michael strangeways I'd like some from Column A AND Column B...

]]> michael strangeways http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095875 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095875 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:12:22 -0800 Comment by Jerod Eight "family-size" packages of meat for a family of four for one week! Now I'm not one of those annoying vegetarians that constantly hates on my carnivorous friends and family, but holy shit! Also @9: I guess that's why nobody in the US has heart disease or diabetes, huh?

]]> Jerod http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095881 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095881 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:18:13 -0800 Comment by dr_awesome I'm curious how much time it takes a given family in Chad and in the US to obtain, prepare, and cook a week's worth of meals. My suspicion is that in poorer countries a typical family spends a higher percentage of time doing so than does a typical North American family.

]]> dr_awesome http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095884 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095884 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:18:29 -0800 Comment by Gloria Mmm, mutton dumplings!

Mayonnaise sandwiches, on the other hand, sound revolting.

]]> Gloria http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095891 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095891 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:25:51 -0800 Comment by Jerod @14: Well yeah. Most of what we consume in the US is pre-prepared to some degree. Even when we cook something "from scratch" we still use pre-milled flour from fields we didn't work, pre-butchered meat from animals we never saw in one piece, fruit and vegetables from fields half-way across the... ah nevermind.

]]> Jerod http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095892 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095892 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:26:00 -0800 Comment by nicole I live in nyc, where food is WAY more expensive than it is in NC and I feed two people on $75 a week. And that is 3 meals a day. Of course it involves this archaic process called "cooking"...

]]> nicole http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095914 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095914 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:47:52 -0800 Comment by Josie this is so old. take it down. do a little research next time.

]]> Josie http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095933 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1095933 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:58:09 -0800 Comment by Leigh Sheeee, I was just relieved to see that the Revis family wasn't white. That's a first for Charles.

]]> Leigh http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1096043 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1096043 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:15:52 -0800 Comment by Fnarf Chad is the worst place on earth, and these people are among the worst-off people in Chad. They're probably Darfur refugees. It is hardly a surprise that their diet is thin. If this picture is shocking then you need to read more about what goes in in the Chad refugee camps, where 90% of the males over 5 have been murdered and women routinely refuse to nurse their babies because they know they cannot support them.

From an African's perspective the most amazing thing is probably the dark skin of the over-consumptive Americans.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1096048 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1096048 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:16:16 -0800 Comment by freshnycman I can't wait to be invited for dinner at the Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna.

Me: "Mmm-mmm! These pig knuckles are delicious! Can I have more?"

Mrs Sobczynscy: "I'm sorry, Sobczynscy junio just finished them off. They're his favorite!"

]]> freshnycman http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1096121 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1096121 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:29:10 -0800 Comment by HOLY JESUS! $341 a week for food, for four people? MOTHER OF GOD!

]]> HOLY JESUS! http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1096226 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1096226 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:50:32 -0800 Comment by Jeff a little misleading. Granted the Chad family has a lot less food, but I don't think you could buy what they do have for only $1.23 in the U.S.

]]> Jeff http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1096274 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1096274 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:02:02 -0800 Comment by Jay Regardless of how the first family is doing, the second one is eating way too much shit, both with respect to volume and content. That is not an ideal diet for a long, healthy life.

]]> Jay http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1096307 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1096307 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:10:34 -0800 Comment by Fnarf Why don't you go knock on their door and tell them that? I'm sure they'll be eager to hear it.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1096337 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1096337 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:16:03 -0800 Comment by LMSW Maybe the book provides the actual calorie counts? Or adjusts for cost of living? How about BMI's?

]]> LMSW http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1096351 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1096351 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:18:57 -0800 Comment by jomama you can't buy the amount of food the Chad family has for a buck twenty three

]]> jomama http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1096367 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1096367 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:21:42 -0800 Comment by Vince That American family should hear this; You're killing your kids! That is a huge pile of garbage!

]]> Vince http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1096394 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1096394 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:26:25 -0800 Comment by Irena What I find most disturbing in this comparison is the amount of packaging in the second photograph. The food aside, that IS a huge pile of garbage.

]]> Irena http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1096444 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1096444 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:39:52 -0800 Comment by Fnarf You're right, Irena, but consider this: do you know how much food spoils in places like Chad before anyone can eat it? Most of it.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1096650 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1096650 Chow Fri, 08 Aug 2008 16:07:33 -0800 Comment by raisedbywolves That American family spends nearly my 4 roommates' and my food budget for a month in A WEEK.

Aren't there home economics classes in schools anymore?

]]> raisedbywolves http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1096985 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/08/the_eating_planet#c1096985 Chow Sat, 09 Aug 2008 04:01:29 -0800