I’m not sure how old it is, but this was the first time I’d stumbled upon this series of photos from Peter Menzel’s Hungry Planet.
I think what’s most striking - other than the heartbreaking absence and the itty bitty bags in the photo from Breidjing Camp - are the rows upon rows of labeled plastic boxes shown with many of the first-world families. I wonder if I could go a whole week without eating anything that wasn’t a registered trademark?
And a quick quiz - can you match the country of origin to the families’ favorite meals?
(your choices are Bhutan, Chad, China, Egypt, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Mexico, Mongolia, Peru, Poland, and the United States)
- Potato soup with cabbage
- Beef stew, berry yogurt sundae, clam chowder, ice cream
- Mutton dumplings
- Avocado, mayonnaise sandwich, prawn cocktail, chocolate fudge cake with cream
- Mushroom, cheese and pork
- Fried potatoes with onions, bacon and herring, fried noodles with eggs and cheese, pizza, vanilla pudding
- Spaghetti, potatoes, sesame chicken
- Pizza, crab, pasta, chicken
- Fried shredded pork with sweet and sour sauce
- Pig’s knuckles with carrots, celery and parsnips
- Okra and mutton
- Sashimi, fruit, cake, potato chips
- Fish, pasta with ragu, hot dogs, frozen fish sticks
- Soup with fresh sheep meat
- Chicken biryani with basmati rice
