What A Week Of Groceries Looks Like Around The World

crevices

Canada is spot-on

LAW_714

on the time.com website, there is another american family:

(from: http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1626519_1373740,00.html)

puts the other one in a bit more perspective.

They really like bananas. There are about a dozen there (and they turn black really fast!)

Anthonydaman

I love all the booze in the Germans picture!

aquarabbit

So cool! Look at all the beer in Germany and bread in Italy! It actually makes me happy to know that I'm naturally drawn to what looks like the healthier foods (I love middle eastern and indian food), I just always eat way too much of it!

freddi11e

bump

Carnivor0us

Anyone stop and think there is a reason Americans tend to choose pre-packaged, processed foods OTHER than they simply do not know any better? Maybe it's the cost of living here. Maybe it's because of the rate of single parent households. Maybe it's the fact that even as a 2 parent household... both parents still maintain 1-2 full time jobs. Canadians have a baby and take the whole year off. Americans have a baby and (speaking from experience) may have to be back at work the very next WEEK! If we were more like other countries in that regard, perhaps we would make the same food choices and be able to prepare more meals from home. Just a thought. It's not always from laziness and over-indulgence.

I don't know what you mean by cost of living. The cost of food is WAY lower in the US than it is in Scandinavia, Germany or France. The cost of living is also a lot lower unless you live in NYC or LA.
I'm from Norway, and our general obesity rate, with the world's most expensive food, is overall 10% against 28,5% in the US. Salaries are higher, but food is still disproportionally expensive.
China has approx the same amount of single households as the US, yet their obesity rate is less than 5%.

I don't think costs or politics are to blame. I'm not sure exactly what causes the obesity i the US, but it's rooted deep into the culture.

If the cause is rooted deep in the culture, I don't know how we got obese in the first place. American obesity rates have been high only since the 1960s.

sunglasses_and_ocean_waves

I dont buy that garbage for my family & get tired of the constant US bashing. Freedom means buying crap for some. It's their choice. I bet those people who pretty much eat nothing but bananas would love to eat pizzas too.

zornig

wow, that is so amazing to see! thanks for posting.

I was a bit horrified to see how little food the average Chadian family eats in a week...

rosemaryhon

I dont buy that garbage for my family & get tired of the constant US bashing.

I don't buy lots of that stuff either ~ like potato chips or soda, I buy that a few times a year when I'm having a party. Fastfood, we eat that maybe a few times a year. Actually I took my 9 y/o granddaughter to McDonald's today because we were out and about and hungry. She said "Nana, I don't know what to order, I'm not used to this place" . Pizza, I ordered some the other night but it'd been 5 months or more since the last time (and I don't think that's junk anyway).

So yea, I too get tired of the constant US bashing.

I bet those people who pretty much eat nothing but bananas would love to eat pizzas too.

Good point, I'd say so too

Kany

nice thread.

hmg90

Anyone stop and think there is a reason Americans tend to choose pre-packaged, processed foods OTHER than they simply do not know any better? Maybe it's the cost of living here. Maybe it's because of the rate of single parent households. Maybe it's the fact that even as a 2 parent household... both parents still maintain 1-2 full time jobs. Canadians have a baby and take the whole year off. Americans have a baby and (speaking from experience) may have to be back at work the very next WEEK! If we were more like other countries in that regard, perhaps we would make the same food choices and be able to prepare more meals from home. Just a thought. It's not always from laziness and over-indulgence.

I don't know what you mean by cost of living. The cost of food is WAY lower in the US than it is in Scandinavia, Germany or France. The cost of living is also a lot lower unless you live in NYC or LA.
I'm from Norway, and our general obesity rate, with the world's most expensive food, is overall 10% against 28,5% in the US. Salaries are higher, but food is still disproportionally expensive.
China has approx the same amount of single households as the US, yet their obesity rate is less than 5%.

I don't think costs or politics are to blame. I'm not sure exactly what causes the obesity i the US, but it's rooted deep into the culture.

If the cause is rooted deep in the culture, I don't know how we got obese in the first place. American obesity rates have been high only since the 1960s.

Well, I don't know what the reason is. Presumably a whole mix of negative aspects about a culture. But blaming finances is too simple, there are many poorer countries with less obesity. I'd love to know exactly what screwed things up, causing millions of people making terrible choices over a long period of time.

CodieBear1

Oh wow that's amazing!

BriHealthy150

wow. I wish we ate like other countries

Irishspitfire

Love love love this thread!!! Very educational..to see the difference in cultures and how we have so much and maybe not so much in other nations...we can learn a lot about how much we need vs. How much we have.

dragoness07

Thank you very much Very interesting thread!

IAteBethDitto

Moral of the story: if you want to be REALLY skinny, go and live in Chad.

Makes me think that - despite the UK's problems with obesity - I'm a very fortunate person to be living here.

It's not like most of us can't buy rice, beans and veg.

JenToms80

Love this thread!

shoneybabes

It is scary how little fruit and vegetables there are in the richer countries and the poverty ones. How nutrient healthy are these people?

It would be interesting to see a photo of a vegan/vegetarian family, although there was one photo that looked predominantly vegetarian.

It also show how little people really need to eat.

Also the rich countries have a distinct addiction to processed foods and drink.

algebravoodoo

Americans have a baby and (speaking from experience) may have to be back at work the very next WEEK!

Whut

With very few exceptions, none of which come to mind at this moment, American women get at most 6 weeks of maternity leave after giving birth. It is really up to the doctor. I've know plenty to give work release after four weeks and teen moms are frequently back in the classroom after two or three. Once the doctor says okay, it is pretty much either return to work or give up your job.

Dauntlessness

I wish people would get off the "fresh food costs too much" soap box. Americans spend less money on food than any other country. http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/01/america-food-spending-less

There are lots of reasons Americans are fat. Expensive produce is not high on that list.

Seriously. I spend a lot on groceries but no more money than when I used to eat a lot processed foods. If anything, I found buying fresh or frozen veggies is a lot less that boxed items or frozen meals. I spend between $150-200 a week for 2 people BUT I cook and bake... I like really cook and bake from scratch at least 5 nights a week. I tend to buy a lot of fresh spices, expensive olive oils, gluten free products, and I have 2 dogs I refuse to give cheap food and treats so they are around $15-20.00 a week just on their own. Just toiletries and kitchen stuff is expensive too. That usually costs my like $30-50.00 a week...stupid trash bags are like $8.00. sigh. So in all actuality I spend like $100-150.00 on food. To me, thats not that much considering I eat breakfast and lunch at home as well as dinner.

I thought Id share this photo too. haha