Hungry Planet What The World Eats By Peter Menzel

Someone posted this article What A Week Of Groceries Looks Like Around The World on Facebook, and my first reaction was "We haven't bought a week of groceries in a long time". Our family is one of those that belong in the 'Eat-Out Culture' where at least 95% of our meals are taken outside the home.

Things we buy when (and if) we go grocery shopping :  Milk, fruits, shampoo, soap, detergent, toothbrush, yakult

Award winning photographer Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluision visited 24 countries and photographed 30 families, showing their weekly food supplies. This photo collection explores the different eating habits around the world, showing us their diet and lifestyle.


Close to home, in Madhya Pradesh, India, the Patkar family spend $39.27 a week.
I can see they are planning to use lots of red onions (which I am not very sure of how to use in cooking).


In Yomitan Village, Japan, the Matsuda family spend $214.26 a week. I'm feeling pleased that they use the Japanese curry in a box too (bottom right of table). I also love how this picture depicts that Japanese people live for a long time.


Dong family in Beijing, China spend $155.06 for one week. Think they are going to have a nice steaming hotpot as I can see the cooker.


In Kuwait, The Al Haggan family (and their two Nepali servants) spend $221.45 a week. Can't recognise most of the food they use. Ooh can you spot Pita bread ?


Here is the Batsuuri family in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia spending $40.02 a week. I think they can't buy too much meat because it has to fit inside that small fridge in the back.



The Manzo family of Palermo spend 214.36 Euros $260.11 a week in Sicily, Italy. Wonder if all those loaves of bread were on discount. Also it's Italy, so I see bags of pasta and canned tomatoes. 6 bottle of sweet drinks and 2 bottles of water?


Cuernavaca, Mexico where the Casales family spend $189.09 a week. Look at how much Coke they drink. But they also balance it out with a whole table of fruits.


In Guatemala, The Mendozas spend $75.70 a week. I love their matching outfits. By looking at the amount of carrots and potatos, I think they must be making stews.


Lets take a look at the other end of the spectrum.


The Ayme family in Tingo, Ecuador spend $31.55 a week and look at how many mouths they feed. The key to making bananas last is that you buy them in varying degrees of ripeness. The green ones will turn yellow as the week progresses so no bananas spoil and you have fresh, ripe bananas everyday.


The Natomos in Mali spend $26.39 a week. Milk for the babies and lots of rice and beans for the rest.


I shall end off with Bhutan, the happiest country in the world. The Namgay family in Shingkhey Village spend $5.03 each week. They have much more mouths to feed. Perhaps they have some more food which is homegrown not shown in the picture?

Hungry Planet What The World Eats

Doing research for this post has opened my eyes to see that I am really fortunate to live in Singapore. There is plenty of meat and vegetables and pretty much anything to eat here. I also see that planning goes into creating meals and thus grocery lists. I usually pop by to NTUC or ShengSiong to buy the ingredients whenever I want to cook something. That would be quite time consuming method if I were to be cooking everyday for a family of 5 or 6. So many different choices and lifestyles we have around the world.

What do you buy when grocery shopping and how much do you spend ??
I would love to hear from you.
Drop a comment below !