410018 Sun Jun 10 13:59:15 -0700 2007 2 33 Food Media and News 0 2646994 There is a very interesting photo-essay taken from the book "Hungry Planet" by Peter Menzel over on the Time site illustrating what quantity and type of groceries families in various parts of the world consume during the course of one week: http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1626519,00.html . It runs the gamut from the $1.23 cost to the Aboubakr family in Chad to the $500.97 cost to the Melander family in Germany, and of course as the cost expands so does the variety and quantity expand, but not necessarilly the quality, given the large amounts of processed foods that prevail in the industrialized nations. Just from glancing at the photos, without any detailed analysis, it looks like a Kuwaiti family may be eating healthier than a typical American family, but the Kuwaiti family does manage to include a box of Kellog's Corn Flakes and a box of Ritz crackers in their diet. http://bfdblog.net Sun Jun 10 13:59:15 -0700 2007 10059 ChinoWayne 1 2647141 Here is an earlier thread on the photo-essay. http://www.chowhound.com/topics/407590 Sun Jun 10 15:21:56 -0700 2007 2646994 49541 debbiel 1 2648637 That whole book is compelling...absoutely fascinating stuff. I was amazed by the variety of foodstuffs consumed around the world, and absolutely dismayed by the overwhelming number of industrially processed foods in the N.American & Western European diets. Mon Jun 11 08:28:18 -0700 2007 2646994 12023 Hungry Celeste