What the World Eats (opens in new tab)

(time.com)

63 pointsjamongkad15y ago29 comments

29 comments

I prefer this version, since it lists each item in the pictures, as well as breaking down the expenditures by category:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5005952

Some interesting bits:

The German family spends more on vitamins than any other category. The family from Chad gets $24.37 worth of free rations from relief organizations. Almost half of the Americans' expenditures are on Fast Food and Beverages.

eru15y ago

Those crazy Germans with their vitamin pills. They should just drive over to the Netherlands once a year, and buy their drugs there. It's way cheaper than in Germany.

Also all the bottled water is just crazy. German tap water is excellent in quality in all areas, and I like the taste in most areas I sampled. And never ever drink the Flensburger malt beer (unless you find a version that uses actual sugar and not sweetener).

The frozen pizza from Dr Oedtker is quite good. But for most other stuff, they could as well have bought it at Aldi for cheaper, instead of going for the higher priced branded items.

I guess I should stop ranting.

starkfist15y ago

It looks like the bottled water is soda water. I am also a sucker for fizzy water.

sedachv15y ago

They also consume a ridiculous amount of bread (+pasta), dairy and sugary beverages. And probably then wonder why they get fat.

3 more replies

hristov15y ago

Kudos to those Germans for putting their beer front and center.

petercooper15y ago

With a couple of exceptions, they've picked some rather wealthy, atypical families. I start putting my rant hat on if we go over $90 in a week and that's double what I know some people spend each week. We're in the UK, 3 strong, have a reasonable diet with good meals each day and several treats. We'd all weigh 500lbs if we spent $500 a week on food (or be permanently glued to the toilet after eating non-stop fruit)..!

autarch15y ago

It would've been very interesting to see some examples of people who've chosen to eat diets that are not the standard diet for their country. In particular, I'd like to see what vegans, raw foodists, Atkins dieters, and so on are eating.

I think the contrast between an American vegan and "Standard" American diet would be pretty interesting.

byrneseyeview15y ago

My girlfriend and I did it. We are fairly close to the paleo diet, although in this case there's some Matzo for passover.

http://eruv.livejournal.com/190127.html

sofuture15y ago

I'd like to see the contrast between American vegan and Atkins/Paleo.

chipsy15y ago

This is the second time I'm looking at these photos. They're very memorable.

ciudilo15y ago

People drink Coke everywhere...

gcheong15y ago

A breakdown of per-capital consumption of Coca-cola products worldwide:

http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/ourcompany/ar/pdf/2009-pe...

ubernostrum15y ago

Do I want to know what a "mayonnaise sandwich" is?

viggity15y ago

would you rather have a mayonnaise sandwich or "Pig's knuckles with carrots, celery and parsnips".

I think I may go for the mayonnaise sandwich.

joubert15y ago

Instead of cereal, some of these families should eat real food for breakfast.