What is eaten in one week

blog ^ | Nov 27th, 2007

[Coleus]

Italy: The Manzo family of Sicily
Food expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.11



Germany: The Melander family of Bargteheide
Food expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $500.07




United States: The Revis family of North Carolina (I really hope most American
families eat more fresh fruits and vegetables and less junk food than this family.)

Food expenditure for one week $341.98




Mexico: The Casales family of Cuernavaca
Food expenditure for one week: 1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09



Poland: The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna
Food expenditure for one week: 582.48 Zlotys or $151.27



Egypt: The Ahmed family of Cairo
Food expenditure for one week: 387.85 Egyptian Pounds or $68.53



Ecuador: The Ayme family of Tingo
Food expenditure for one week: $31.55



Bhutan: The Namgay family of Shingkhey Village
Food expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum or $5.03

-------------------------------------------- -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chad: The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp
Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23

 

 

[Joya]

Fascinating. Thanks.

[mtbopfuyn]

Except for the Equador family, the kids who have the junk foods are smiling as opposed to those sullen faces without goodies.

[linn37]

The Revis family is doing some pretty poor shopping. I could stretch that amount into two weeks of food.

[ShandaLear]

I love how “unPC” their programming is. Crack me up.

[SunkenCiv]

Just a hunch, the disparities may be related to the number of successful lawsuits against food producers in the various places shown. Thanks Coleus.

[matt1234]

That family from Bhutan must be eating rice with every meal. Good thing it tastes like whatever is added to it :)

[Larry Lucido]

Larry Lucido, in college. $4.00.

[Clemenza]

I regularly make Ful Medamas, which is to Egyptian breakfast what eggs and bacon are the an American breakfast. The key is to use fresh Fava beans and Greek (or Egyptian, if you can find it) olive oil.

[Clemenza]

There is a good Egyptian place (Tanoreen) in Brooklyn. Worth a stop if you are ever in NYC.

[SE Mom]

Fascinating- thanks for the thread.

I’m amazed by the American family- I saw grapes- but not vegetables or other fruits. Lots of junk. That’s a lot of money in a week for junk.

I like the food on the Italian table- looks balanced.

[Clemenza]

1. Junk food is expensive.

2. Notice all the bread on the Italian table. I have traveled in Spain, France, and Italy, all of whom love their breads. Contrary to Doctor Atkins, few in said countries are morbidly obese.

[Clemenza]

Pizza and Ramen noodles did it for me in college.

[Balding_Eagle]

LOL!

[RosieCotton]

I had to look it up - it sounds very tasty!

Though...I have to admit that I’ve never had fava beans...

[Salvation]

I look around church and I see three to six children. But I know what you are getting at.

[Salvation]

BTTT!

[Squantos]

LOL........I was bad....ate at the grocery stores and walked away from the basket when I was in college. Steal this Book by Abbey Hoffman was my bible back then for getting thru a few years of college.

No 15 brass washers were 20 cents a gross and a roll of scotch tape was 15 cents. that 35 cents made “somebody” 14.40 in fake dimes that worked in vending machines. The paper lunch bag stuffed up in a coin changers in car washes , Laundromats, dorms, break rooms etc held the money from the changer that folks thought was in-op. One could make 20 dollars while washing laundry with that trick....as ya left you pulled down the bag and filled it with the coins backed up in the chute......

Night Job as Pizza Delivery got me a few free pies that were shared with other poor students daily .......

Then I got drafted and Uncle Sugar put me on the straight and narrow short leash ......all those tricks including the one where ya used a paper clip on a pay phone to short out the system for free calls was moot........:o)

A life of crime past......LOL !

[neverdem]

thanks, bfl

[SE Mom]

Junk food IS expensive- you’re right. I don’t even like it- except every few months I like a really good philly cheesesteak:)

Somehow the breads on those tables look wholesome and nutritious.

[B-Chan]

No wonder you paid out the ass in France. You had a hamburger and a soda! Only tourists eat that crap! Now, if you had gone around the corner to the local Mom & Pop restaurant, you could have had a real meal for a quarter of the price. As an example, my wife and I once shared a dinner at a family restaurant à rive droit Paris consisting of pork roast braised until fork-tender in wine with lentils, and served with pan gravy, peas, and pearl onions. Two heaping platefuls (plus seconds of the veg) with a couple loaves of fresh bread set us back about twelve bucks... and that's WITH wine.

Or if you want to go even cheaper, you could eat picnic style, the way I did when I hitchhiked through France as a kid. There's a Uniprix grocery store right on the Rue de Rivoli near St. Paul Métro that sells everything you need. In the morning I'd have a croissant dunked in hot tea with milk for breakfast, for lunch a sandwich consisting of a half baguette with sliced cheese, apples, and paper-thin sliced sausage plus a bottle of mineral water; an early afternoon snack of olives and cheese; an evening snack of half a Milka chocolate bar, the butt end of the baguette, and a can of Coke; and a fresh pear with a half-bottle of wine (shared with this chick I met at the Beaubourg) for supper at about 10:00 p.m. All that plus a few cups of coffee came to about four bucks in those days... probably about eight today. Besides, in France the basic foods are all so good that you'll probably find yourself wanting to skip the fancy restaurant food altogether. Hell, some days in France I just ate bread and cheese!

My point: no matter where you go, if you eat what the locals eat you eat cheaply and well. Besides, foreign hamburgers are nasty. Eating a burger in Europe is like eating Mexican food north of the Red River: just don't.