Pass the Dutchie

December 4, 2006 1:47 PM

How We Eat A photo gallery of families around the world, and what they eat over the course of one week. Text in French.
posted by Miko (30 comments total)

Interesting photos. Wish I could see the smaller ones better.
posted by Red58 at 2:02 PM on December 4, 2006

Surely they could've found an American family that doesn't eat just brand named processed crap. But no. Is there a green leafy vegetable visible anywhere? Not even lettuce? The white Californian family has one night's worth of broccoli, the black North Carolinians have two tomatoes. I'm so glad I live in a place that values great produce markets and healthy yummy food.
posted by tula at 2:12 PM on December 4, 2006

This is of course just excerpts from the original Hungry Planet: What the World Eats (2005), which I can't recommend more highly.
posted by stbalbach at 2:18 PM on December 4, 2006

Fascinating. I"m reading "the omnivore's dilemma" by michael pollan and "the way we eat" by peter singer and jim mason right now---they go together like peanut butter, jelly and bread.
posted by DenOfSizer at 2:21 PM on December 4, 2006

Comparing Chad to the US makes me feel incredibly wasteful. The portrayal of a typical US family's diet seemed spot-on to me.
posted by muddgirl at 2:34 PM on December 4, 2006

By the time I got to page 3 I had a feeling the French writers would put the US dietary buffoonery on the last page as the coup de grace. Well, no complaint here -- we deserve every bit of it.
posted by zek at 2:37 PM on December 4, 2006

Second stbalbach. _Hungry Planet_ is fascinating. Pictures, commentary, recipes...I could barely put down my library's copy to go eat dinner.
posted by QIbHom at 2:58 PM on December 4, 2006

I am really surprised at the difference in produce consumption from the USA to everywhere else. No wonder we're so fat.
posted by mckenney at 2:59 PM on December 4, 2006

The western countries kitchens are certainly so much more, but it all looks so inedible compared to that family from Ecuador for example. They look way healthier than that white American family as well. And the British, god they just look miserable, smile for fucks sake.
posted by twistedonion at 3:42 PM on December 4, 2006

Nice -- would have been interesting to see more Asian countries.

twistedonion, I didn't see the British -- did I miss anything?
posted by NewBornHippy at 3:51 PM on December 4, 2006

Hungry Planet has a chart at the end comparing stats by country - one of the most interesting are the average yearly income and average yearly caloric intake. Across the globe there is a 1:1 match-up, as the average income goes up, the average caloric intake goes up, the average obesity rate goes up. The US has one of the highest average incomes, and thus one of the highest average caloric intake. But there are countries worse. Kuwait for example is much fatter on average than the US, and also wealthier on average. Fat is not an "American" problem, it is affluence problem - a disease of abundance. Seems like common sense.
posted by stbalbach at 3:58 PM on December 4, 2006

Fat is not an "American" problem, it is affluence problem - a disease of abundance.

It's more complex than that, because more affluent Americans are less fat than average Americans. And access to an abundance of healthy foods may allow people to become overweight, but the ubiquity of highly marketed highly processed food practically makes it damn hard to be slim and healthy.

NewBornHippy, it's Allemagne. Look for the sullen teenager.
posted by tula at 4:24 PM on December 4, 2006

Allemagne = Germany.

Angleterre = England.
posted by nonmerci at 4:27 PM on December 4, 2006

Pretty expected results I would think but very interesting to actually see it in print.
Aside from that, what sweet, charming portraits of those families.
posted by beccaj at 4:29 PM on December 4, 2006

I´m traveling in the rural interior of Northeast Brazil, and the majority have many questions of about America. I´m often asked "What do you eat?" And I can´t come up with an answer. Here, there is a continuity - everyday, beans and rice. The states seems to have a variety of foods; everyday something different. I imagine this contributes to the waste...
posted by iamck at 4:35 PM on December 4, 2006

Fat is not an "American" problem, it is affluence problem - a disease of abundance.

Not necessarily. Some of the cheapest foods in the US (McDonald's, for instance) are probably the leading cause of obesity.
posted by DakotaPaul at 5:03 PM on December 4, 2006

Never mind. I missed the point you were making.
posted by DakotaPaul at 5:10 PM on December 4, 2006

NewBornHippy, it's Allemagne. Look for the sullen teenager.

Hmm -- Germany. If there really was a picture of sad British folks, I was going to say: well, of course, have you seen their food. But that would be an old cliche -- some place in Britain have better restaurants than some other places, like say, France (mostly because skilled chefs get paid better working in the UK.)

We live busy lives and we forgot how to cook. We buy crap instead. Sad. And it's a worldwide phenomenon. In China, a country of infinite culimary richness, young urban Chinese don't cook anymore. Heck, I'm teaching Chinese friends how to cook basic food because I'm affraid their kids will not grow up eating healthy.
posted by NewBornHippy at 5:50 PM on December 4, 2006

Heh. "Famille blanche et familie noir." Leave it to those french to tell it like it is.
posted by oxford blue at 7:32 PM on December 4, 2006

So the French family (first page) eats cats?

Fantastic photos. Made me think about what my week's worth of food would look like. And THAT makes me want to eat more vegetables...
posted by switchsonic at 8:22 PM on December 4, 2006

Heh. "Famille blanche et familie noir." Leave it to those french to tell it like it is.

I cringed too -- France is still a country where bringing a black news anchor on the most popular TV chanel was seen as a sensational move (WTF?) They need to evolve a bit.

So the French family (first page) eats cats?

They still do where I'm from -- tastes like rabbit (so I was told.)
posted by NewBornHippy at 11:31 PM on December 4, 2006

I only see one, maybe two or three bottles of wine in the first shot. In a week for four French people and their cat? Impossible!

The American white family and black family eat basically the same shit, news at 11.

I've seen similar shots with all the contents of the families' homes. When were these taken, judging by the American fashions, I'd say 1988?
posted by Pollomacho at 12:25 AM on December 5, 2006

Well, no complaint here -- we deserve every bit of it.

To be fair, have a look at the photo with the Germans! it's also the most expensive budget.

Famille blanche et familie noir

You know, I hate the French as much as anyone, but I'm not sure the use of those adjectives in French, and the choice to picture both families for the US, is as backwards and cringe-worthy as it may sound.
posted by pleeker at 3:14 AM on December 5, 2006

Allemagne = Germany.

oops, that explains the lack of smiles then ;-)
posted by twistedonion at 3:48 AM on December 5, 2006

I remember seeing this in El Pais last year. It was impressive to see all the pre-packaged goods eaten by Americans compared to meals cooked entirely from scratch in other countries. Fish sticks do not compare with fresh fish!
posted by JJ86 at 6:02 AM on December 5, 2006

Allemagne = Germany

D'oh! I blame my high fructose corn syrup addled brain.
posted by tula at 12:09 PM on December 5, 2006

Hmm.... France eats cats, Greenland eats TV's, and apparently in Egypt they eat babies.
posted by tehloki at 11:03 PM on December 5, 2006

Must be commnists.
posted by oxford blue at 2:16 PM on December 6, 2006

Fantastic photos. Made me think about what my week's worth of food would look like. And THAT makes me want to eat more vegetables...

My reaction, too. And fruit. Something with colour, that doesn't come from a package that crinkles when opened.

Reminds me of the British TV show "You Are What You Eat". (I'm a sucker for stern British people telling other people to shape up, like the dirty house show, the killing your kids show...) When you put a week's worth of food consumption laid out on a table and face it, the results for many of us in the western world, are shocking and disgraceful.

To see what the Tchad (Chad?) family eats... Sobering.
posted by Savannah at 10:34 AM on December 9, 2006

Could this be an English or British family?
posted by Savannah at 10:38 AM on December 9, 2006