Third in the Material World series, as far as I'm concerned, only this time it's about how people eat and interact with food and how all of that is changing. The profiles of the two families in China -- one in rural, one in Beijing -- are startlingly telling, and so were the profiles of the English and American families. I never get sick of looking at what people are eating or how they cook it, and what it says about people to see how they consume.

A photographic collection exploring what the world eats featuring portraits of thirty families from twenty-four countries surrounded by a week's worth of food. What an amazing compilation: poeple in refugee camps, wealthy Americans, Aussies and Germans, Greenlanders butchering seals, many many pounds of rice. A fascinating, illuminating portrait of hunger and abundance as well as the effects of McDonald's and Coca Cola.

Wonderful pictures, inspired more curiosity and in-depth picture of family life around the globe than previous books of this genre. Photos led me into the text at times, which was of lesser quality than the photos, but often answered the questions that the photos inspired. I especially enjoyed the photos of the family in the refuge camp in eastern Chad, remembering my time there with Médècins sans Fronières in 2009.

This gorgeously photographed book shows a week's food consumption for families from different places around the world, and discusses the differences and similarities among the world's people as embodied in food. Every household, from every part of the world, is presented with respect and sensitivity, and you learn a lot about the represented cultures from looking at their food. The essays do delve into some of the sociopolitical issues around food and eating, but it's not a self-flagellation by Westerners about their behaviors. The guest essays are interesting, but not as striking or intriguing as the photos and text accompanying them directly.

We open this book again and again. The book offers a comparison of one week's worth of food in various parts of the world. The photographs are stunning and effective. It is a wonderful reminder that our immediate perspective is not how most people live. I enjoy looking at fresh produce versus packaged goods in various countries...as well as how much money is spent on one week's worth of groceries.

This book is fascinating to me because I love food and cooking, but I also love to learn about other cultures and people. I am passionately concerned about our country's economic situation, rising obesity and disease rates, outrageous health care costs, and poor eating habits--all of which are directly affected by food and how much and what kinds of it we eat. This book addresses all these subjects in a comprehensive, and can't-put-it-down style. I love pictures, and these ones are great. The text supports the many pictures rather than detracting. I required my kids to look through this book the week of Thanksgiving to give them a little perspective in the vast abundance we enjoy, and suffer from, in this country.

I tracked down this book when an e-mail was going around with some excerpts. I am so much more aware of how much I spend on food and what I buy. The photos of the American’s food were so repulsive compared to other families who had lots of fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains, etc... And the families who had next to nothing really made me appreciate the abundance we have in this country. I generally despise leftovers but I have been making a point to be sure I either do not cook more food than we can eat in 2 meals or eat the extra food before it goes bad even if I would rather have something else for dinner.

I also have been paying much more attention to the costs of foods. We are still learning how to cook with whole foods instead of buying processed foods. At some point I want to figure out exactly what we eat in a week, what it looks like and how much it costs.

This is a compelling book following up previous works by Menzel, who travels the world creating photo essays. In this collection, Menzel and D'Aluisio look at the food consumption habits of people from around the world. Progressing from least calories to most calories, they show each person or family with their daily allotment of food, ranging from a few handfuls of grains and beans to extravagant table settings. Not only does this book portray the variety of foods from around the world, it also shows the immense scale difference between those who have little and those who have much.

I kind of have a food obsession. As a kid I liked to look at the Sears ads to see what was in the refrigerators. I also like cultural studies. This book is like looking into the Kenmore of people all over the world. You'll be surprised (or maybe not?) about how Americans shop and eat differently from the other populations.

This is a beautiful picture book about how different people, in different areas, eat. Families all over the world are show-cased, posed in front of a week's worth of food. While the premise is a bit implausible - I hope no one ever buys a week worth of food (no less, no more) at any given time - the pictures are gorgeous and there is much to be learned here. A riveting, beautiful book.

This is a glimpse into the eating habits of people in different parts of the world. I was surprised at the high cost of food in many, many 2nd world countries. The US has incredibly cheap food comparatively, but the 2 families shown in this book had drastically different food bills.

I was also surprised at how many fresh fruits and vegetables were consumed in different countries.

It was interesting seeing the amount of food and number of packaged food boxes in the various countries. I was also surprised at how many brands I recognized.

I have to admit, I didn't read this book from cover to cover, because of the coffee table book format. But I did read some of the stories and captions, and thought the pictures were amazing! It was very cool to see and compare how families eat around the world, how much, how they prepare it, even the number of family members their week's worth of food feeds! I consider myself an adventurous eater, but I give the authors props for eating the things they did for this project, like seahorse and guinea pig! What a great idea for a book though!