What The World Eats, And What It Costs To Feed It
By James T. Moore (12/05/07)
If the old saying is true that "You are what you eat", then the progressive nations may not be so progressive after all. On top of that, it costs them more to not be so progressive.
When a pictorial e-mail report on the world’s eating habits cyber-sailed onto my website, the credibility buzzer went off inside my head because I immediately had difficulty believing what the research was show-and-telling me.
Some investigative research team had taken pictures of smiling adults with their children standing behind tables loaded with the kinds of food the family eats. And not just one family was pictured, but 14 families from various parts of the world. Under the pictures of families and their food displays were the costs, in U.S. dollars, of their typical weekly food bill.
When I read the copy and scrolled down the 14 pictures, two things,--there in plain sight-- did more than impress me, they shocked me.
First, I was stunned by the disparity in the amount of money spent for food each week by families of four living in different countries around the globe. Here’s the weekly amounts I saw:
Japan $317.25 – Italy $260 – Kuwait $221.45 – United States (No. Carolina) $341.98 - Mexico $189.09 – China (Beijing) $155.06 – Poland $151 – Egypt $68.53 – Ecuador $31.55 – Mongolia $40 – Great Britain $253 – Chad $ 1.23 - Butan $5.
It must be conceded, of course, that many factors enter into the equation: maturation time of crops, weather, harvesting, packaging, transporting, marketing; each operation adding to the cost, thereby raising the price of the product. Certainly, though, food prices in poorer countries will be lower than in the developed nations because many of these poorer people plant, harvest, and eat what they grow. Others buy food in the open marketplaces.
Still the disparity of food prices between nations is an eye-opener: for example, compare food prices in the U.S. and Japan to those in Ecuador and Mongolia. And let’s not even think about how a family of four in Butan eats all week for $5.00
The second thing that stunned me was that the families who displayed less food on the table, therefore paying less for food per week than other families, appeared to have the healthiest diets of all. Italy, Mexico, and Poland tables had lots of greens, fruits, vegetables, and bread. China, Egypt and Kuwait had assortments of greens, vegetables, and exotic fruits. Ecuador and Mongolia tables were laden with vegetables, fruits, bits of meat, bread. Chad’s weekly supply of food wasn’t on a table, rather, it was on the ground, in sacks of grains, seeds, flour, fruits and nuts.
From this point the cost of food per week went up, in proportion it seemed, as the fresh food displays went down. In Japan, Great Britain, and the United States, tables were piled high with packaged products: luncheon meats, salty snacks, pies, cakes, boxed cereals, canned goods, and only modest assortments of fruits and vegetables.
The conclusion was obvious. In poor countries, families pay less for food each week, but enjoy more of the earth’s natural bounty. In richer countries, families pay more for food each week, and eat more of whatever can be boxed, packaged, canned, or frozen.
Which suggests, I submit, that America may be the richest country in the world, but Americans sure aren’t the smartest or the healthiest people.
James T. Moore
http://jamestmoore.us/
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