Diets and Families around the world.

I ran across this page with pictures of families and their week's worth of groceries.  Beneath the photos are captions that say where the family is located and the amount they spend on the week's worth of food.  The food is neatly arrayed so you can see what they purchase. 

I enjoy the picture of the Ecuadorian family.  Their food is all vegan, unless that bowl has milk in it—regardless, they have no meat at all, and no “protein source”.  They apparently live in very “primitive”, or as I would rather say it, “simplistic” housing.  Still, they spend around $30 US for a weeks worth of food.  I don't have any idea what they do for that money.  In the back you can see what looks like their cooking fire/kitchen.  Their home is very rustic, but they are clothed reasonably, and perhaps they have another dwelling for their living and just cook in this area, I do not know.  But I kept asking myself: do I feel sorry for these people?  do I believe an American or European or United Nations charity group or NGO should be trying to “raise their standard of living”?

The family in Butan also displays an almost protein-less and natural array of groceries.  Their home is stunningly decorated.  Is this family in need of Western “assistance”? 

The Western and Eastern families seemed very similar to me.  Mostly packaged foods, and only nuclear families present.  From China to Germany, more food, more packaging, more meat and dairy, more money, fewer people.

But the Middle Eastern families, Egypt and Kuwait, while they look Western with packaged foods, protein-rich displays, also have extended families present for their pictures. Tweet