Friday, October 30, 2009

Hungry Planet...What The World Eats

I found this orphan book on the bottom shelf in my local library. In the two years they had it, only one other person checked it out. Imagine inviting yourself to dinner with 30 different families in 24 countries and shopping, farming, cooking and eating with those families. I have a huge interest about the world I live in so this book was educational. I loved the photography and each and every detail about how globalization, migration and rising affluence are affecting the diets of communities around the globe. Each chapter of the book features a portrait of a family, photographed alongside a week's worth of groceries.

Authors Menzel and D'Alusio also wrote in personal experiences in the countries they visited- the shock of seeing Ramen noodles in Papua New Guinea, or eating dugo congealed swine blood in Manilla. Their facts and photography, along with their own personal experiences made this really interesting reading.