Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Food Budget: What is the world eating?

Alice and I watch the evening news  after dinner. The other night we watched a news piece about a family in Sudan that was living in a cave. They had been driven from their homes because of the governments bombing. The family that was being interviewed was quite large. I'm not sure how many children.. possibly 7 or more? The family had not eaten anything for 1 1/2 days. I read that some are eating leaves off of trees to keep them barely alive.



Suddenly, my $200 a month grocery budget (which lately I find difficult to keep)  seems like a million dollars!

My husband and I like to also watch the international programs such as Bizarre Foods. I enjoy watching other cultures and how they live. The filming was in Mexico... not near the border but down deeper where there is more poverty.  It was fascinating to see how they eat literally every part of the animal.. feet, ears, skin, blood... nothing was wasted.

And then here we are... America! Here I struggle to keep within a $200 budget and I'm realizing that lately I have rarely been meeting that goal. What that family wouldn't give to have the money I spend on groceries yet I struggle to stay within my budget thinking I need more and more.

It's find it very helpful to wander outside the realm of thinking as an American and compare how the rest of the world lives. It helps me not whine and helps to develop a thankful heart.

The link below compares what families eat in a week from all over the world along with what they spend. I went through the pictures and really took notice of the families living on the lowest budget. Most were eating veggies, some fruit, homemade bread or tortillas, rice and beans with little meat and rarely any packaged items. Simple food items.  Take a peak. It's fascinating to compare the Americans with the poorer countries.

What the world is eating

8 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing- it truly lets us see how blessed we are.
    http://www.oneincomedollar.com

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  2. I very much appreciate this post. Since I've travelled to Africa and started helping those in the villages, I never complain. We have so much more than the vast majority of them will ever have. I try to encourage people on my blog to give and most people still feel they don't have anything to give because they think of what they do not have rather than what they do. I know you are working with less than a lot of people and you are doing a great job. God bless you.

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    1. I'm curious to know how those in Africa think about their health? Is this the big issue it is in America?

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  4. When we look around at the rest of the world it helps us to get our perspective in better shape. After living in Africa we will never be the same, but it's still easy to forget back in this country where we are bombarded by the media.

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  5. Yes, we are so blessed just to have our daily bread here in the US. I have not been to Africa, but I have taught English four times at a UNESCO summer camp for teens in Poland. The food was nourishing but simple. There was lots of soups. Every day we had potatoes for lunch. There was no junk food and desserts were rare. Eggs were expensive and not served. They could not afford to serve milk to the teens for meals (they drank tea), but we did have yogurt for breakfast a couple times a week, or there would be some cheese. Sometimes supper was just rice with a strawberry sauce. It opened my eyes to what we consume as Americans.

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  6. This entry was absolutely fascinating to me. I am working toward feeding my family more of a Mediterranean diet and find many good ideas from African diets as well. I now am the owner of a wonderful pressure cooker, which makes preparing presoaked beans and legumes a snap. My husband was raised as a meat and potatoes man, but he has a good attitude with the changes. I think of meat as more of a condiment than main course now, but I do cater to my husband's desires as well. Please post more on this subject, if you can! Thanks from............Denise

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  7. I think the 'poorer' in the slide show have an advantage of healthier food. It's amazing to see all the processed food stuff in the western families.

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