Module 7: What the World Eats

Book Summary: The book explains what families eat depending on the country where they live.  In the process of showing actual families in photographs, showing a week's worth of food in the place where they are most likely to cook food, readers get a semblance of the similarities and differences in food around the world. Each country is listed alphabetically and lists the cost of one week's worth of food in U.S. dollars. The grocery list is also shown with facts about the country. Descriptive text supports each family and includes pictures of the family grocery shopping and cooking. Some family recipes are included and throughout the text, there are field notes from the writer and photographer. There are also supplementary sections about other related topics such as showing kitchens around the world, a look at fast food, and street food. Additionally, topics such as literacy rate, fertility rate, life expectancy, and obesity in each country is assessed. Further reading ideas, sources of information, and a detailed index are included at the end of the book.

APA Reference of Book:
Menzel, P. (2008). What the world eats. Berkeley, CA: Tricycle Press.

Impressions: As I read through the introduction and read the information pertaining to each country, I found that the book describes much more than just what people in certain countries eat. In the process, I discovered the simplicity of food: to not have food is to not eat food, to not eat food is to go hungry. While the author and photographer do not express this outwardly, it is a theme that goes through the book. It is generally understood that western industrialized countries eat more food and more processed food than other countries. The less industrialized countries showcase families with sacks of ingredients such as grains and beans. Meat and fresh fruit and vegetables are tough to find for these families. 

I had seen this book before, but it wasn't until this class that I had the opportunity to read the book in-depth and reflect upon the variety of topics it tackles such as globalization, the differences between affluence and poverty, and sustainable agricultural practices. After seeing what each family eats, it was easy for me to reflect upon my own eating habits.

Note: This book is a corresponding children's book to the adult book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats by the same author and photographer.

Professional Review: 

“Seeing, at a glance, a whole week’s supply of food artfully arranged in a kitchen is an eye-opening foray into cultural differences in family diets. The sheer variety and quantity of foods is most evident in countries like the U.S., France, and Japan, and in stark contrast to a family of six in a refugee camp in Chad; the Aboubakars from the Darfur province of Sudan sit cross-legged on a rug in front of their tent with only three bags of grain and legumes, one bottle of vegetable oil, and several tiny bags of items such as salt, chili peppers, and garlic.

Readers will see a fascinating snapshot of other marked differences in food consumption. For example, the photos reveal that non-Western families such as those in China, Ecuador, Guatemala, and India dine on much larger proportions of fruits and vegetables than those in Great Britain and Greenland. It’s interesting to note the amount of packaged and processed foodstuffs consumed in industrialized and emerging countries versus the colorful piles of fresh greens, citrus fruits, tomatoes, and bulging sacks of potatoes and rice in developing nations” (Bolleber, 2008, https://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/what-the-world-eats/).

Bolleber, L. (2008, June 16). [Review of the book What the world eats, by P. Menzel] Retrieved from https://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/what-the-world-eats/

Library Uses: I feel that this book would be better appreciated by older elementary students and older. Food is becoming an important topic in terms of healthy eating choices, the availability of food, and learning about more sustainable practices. This book takes a glimpse at the different food options and preferences for a variety of countries. I would recommend this book for teachers helping students learn about sustainable agricultural practices.  I would also recommend this to families wanting to discuss the importance of food and introduce the idea of how people can easily go hungry around the world.