What The World Eats

As Bisogni et al states, in most western societies compared to past eras, more food is prepared and/or eaten away from home, and the frequency of family meals has declined. With multiple food options available and the decline of strong traditional norms for eating, individuals can more easily construct their own ways of eating. What The World Eats by D’Aluisio & Menzel focuses on what ingredients a typical family in various countries buys in a given week and how much they spend on said ingredients. In France, for example, when Delphine Le Moine hosts a weekend dinner party for friends, she serves traditional French gratins and subtle meat dishes, meals complete with cheese and salad courses, rich desserts, and bottles of French wine. However, when her family sits down to eat for an average weeknight dinner, the fare of ingredients is more global in nature and more convenience oriented. Because competing with big chains is difficult, neighborhood grocery shops are closing and families have to opt for the lower prices and convenience of shopping at French supermarkets like Auchan. There are still the classic French shops, the patisseries, boulangeries, butcher shops, green grocers, and cheese shops where you can buy higher quality food than in supermarkets, but at higher prices. Caught up in increasingly frenzied lives, younger generations spend less and less time eating, yet have failed to truly appreciate mealtimes. As Delphine states, “it’s very pleasant to taste food from other countries. However, I think too many young people eat American food, and I am a bit afraid that French food will disappear in a few years.” But when pressed for time, she too will duck into the nearest McDonald’s. Eve Le Moine, Delphine’s mother, grew up in the countryside in a home without a refrigerator; her mother made food purchases daily and had a garden overflowing with fresh vegetables, but now both her refrigerator and schedule is full, and the fine French meal she grew up with has to wait.

India, on the other hand, is quite different from France. A typical Indian breakfast might consist of mustard seed in a frying pan with potatoes, onions and chopped chili peppers, as well as rice flakes along with a little sugar, salt and turmeric. This is served alongside chopped cilantro, shredded dried coconut and crisp chickpea flour noodles and rice. Dietary restrictions notwithstanding, India loves to snack on street vendors rather than sit down for a meal. Typical vendor food consists of Chhole bhature (spicy chickpea curry with flat bread), steamed rice cakes, pav bhaji (spiced mashed vegetables in a bread roll), uttapam (thick and crispy flat bread made with coconut milk) with spicy vegetables, dosa (a crisp savory pancake) with chutney or other spicy relishes, bhel poori (savory puffed rice with chutney), curries of all types, lassi yogurt drinks, fruit juices and chai tea. While each region of India has its own unique foods, to some extent the lines dividing the regions have become blurred due to India’s increasingly mobile society.

Japan, while similar to France and the US in some respects, certainly has its own take on cuisine and mealtimes. Sayo Ukita usually wakes up early to prepare scrambled eggs and breakfast salads with tomato, cucumber and lettuce for her daughters before school, while her husband opts for coffee and a cigarette in front of the television before commuting to work. For lunch, Maya, who’s still in high school, will eat a packed lunch from their mother, consisting of grilled fish and lightly steamed green beans with rice, and strawberries, cherries and apple slices. Mio, on the other hand, while slightly older but still in high school, will eat lunch with her friends at one of the many fast food restaurants near her school—McDonald’s, Mos Burger, Lotteria, KFC, DomDom, Wendy’s or Yoshinoya. Sayo will then bike to the nearest train station to shop for the freshest available foods she can find. Sayo will spend over an hour preparing dinner for her family. According to Carl Safina of the Blue Ocean Alliance, 1/3^rd of humankind lives within 50 miles of a coast, and hundreds of millions more have their homes near lakes and rivers. Being and island nation, Japan relies heavily on fish and other fruits of the sea as a mainstay in their diet.

In the Philippines, suki is a term used for both buyers and sellers and refers to people who do repeat business with one another. Over time, the relationship can yield significant discounts for the buyer and ensures the seller a steady customer. To Lita, a mother, wife and entrepreneur, the discount can mean the difference between buying a snack sized meal, or a meal sized portion of an item. When food shopping, Lita often surveys the market for the freshest fruits and vegetables available within her budget, and will even buy green tomatoes because “it takes longer for the green ones to spoil.” Lita, like most other Filipino mothers, does the food shopping for the entire family. Being from a poor neighborhood, Lita’s budget often doesn’t stretch far enough to afford meat. She goes on to state, “I try to serve nutritious food that is not too expensie, like vegetables and fish, but there are times when I can only serve dried fish or sardines. Every now and then we have extra money, and I get to buy roast chicken from a restaurant.” While McDonald’s, KFC and other global food purveyors have made their way into Manila, street food (like in India) is a mainstay of the culture and an essential part to the Filipino economy. Vendor foods consist of isaw (pig and chicken small intestine barbecue), dugo (curdled and congealed pigs blood, cut into chunks, skewered and grilled), and adidas (barbecued chicken feet). Ian, Lita’s youngest son, typically gets lunch on the street and spends no more than $2USD per week. Charles, Lita’s older son, prefers to eat at McDonald’s or Jollibee. However, everyone returns home to eat dinner as a family. Sinigang is a staple in the Philippines, consisting of a sour, tamarind-flavored broth with fish, shellfish, pork or beef. As societies grow more affluent though, their members eat more sugar, more refined carbohydrates and more dietary fat. Nutritionists disagree on the effects of each one, but most believe that the collective impact of this transition is disastrous—producing a global epidemic of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.