What I don't eat

Some will consider me a food snob for posting this, but I think it's worth the risk.  Over on Time magazine's website they've got an interesting photo essay called 'What the World Eats'.  Each photo shows a family and what they eat over a week.  The main difference is that more processed and packaged food appears in the photos of families from developed countries.  My favourites are some of the families who seem to have a huge amount of delicious looking fresh veg, like those from Mexico and Ecuador.  Some of these families look rightly proud of their food.

Now have a look at what the British family eats.

There's nothing wrong with a bowl of Weetabix or a good old British chocolate bar, but the Baines family seem to eat so little fresh produce I'm surprised they don't have scurvy.  Do they know what a meal made using fresh produce tastes like?  What this picture really illustrates is the thrall in which the large food companies still hold us.

I shall be writing to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and asking him to pay the Baines a visit . . .

Comments

[Pille]

That was really fascinating. The cost differences were amazing too. I found only about 3 of the food displays discouraging - the others featured plenty of fruit & veg (at least if you take their natural environment into account).
Thanks for the link!

[Fi KirkP]

see? now that I have planted the scurvy seed in your brain...

[Su-Lin]

I have that book! (Hungry Planet) I highly recommend it - love the photos of how every single little thing is wrapped in plastic in Japan.

[T Palmer]

Hmmm. In addition the Bains worryingly only seem to drink 1 bottle of wine per week and no beer. They don't look very English to me on that showing.

[Ben Bush]

Still: mayonnaise sandwich... Full marks for creativity.

[Alastair]

If ever single image could indicate the state of a nation, this is it.

Mind you, is there any evidence this is a recent photo? The decor and clothing suggests early 90's...Love the carpet.

Also, do they eat the entire contents of their salt pig every week?

a.

[Nina K]

First, I love your blog. I recently moved to London from New York, where a lot of people consider themselves 'foodies', and could not find any type of blog to stimulate my appetite. That problem's now solved, cheers!

I looked through the Time photo essay, and thought I'd comment on the US. The North Carolina family is junk food central, and the California family is fat! They live in California, surrounded by some of the best fresh produce in the world, and they eat as much of it as, coincidentally, the british. Someone should pay them a visit!