Compare a week of U.S. groceries to Mexico, Mongolia, and other countries

 

By Sarah Laskow, Grist

Have you seen these photos by Peter Menzel and Faith D’Alusio? They show what a family eats for a week in countries around the world. They’re a quick and fascinating window in the differences in the quantity and the quality of food people eat.

Just look for a second at all the colors in this Mexican family’s food:

mexico
Menzel Photo

 

And then check out the American family’s groceries. Still colorful, yeah, but the colors come from the bright packaging of processed food:

USA
Menzel Photo

 

In Mongolia, a more arid environment, the food’s more monochrome:

mongolia
Menzel Photo

 

And in the countries where families have fewer resources, like Ecuador, their food has less variation: They buy groceries in sacks.

ecuador
Menzel Photo

There’s a book of these photos, too. Get it!