This article by the BBC talks with 6 different families about how food prices are affecting them. I find it interesting and enlightening.
It really is eye opening to see how much people in other countries spend of their income on food. I think DH and I spend probably 5% on food. Mostly it’s due to having a higher income. But part of it is due to be being more frugal.
While it is lower than the famililes interviewed, most of the families spend between 10-20% of their incomes on food, except the famillies from Guatamala and Egpyt. They spend 40% and 80% of their incomes on food respectively.
Reading about people living like this makes me grateful to live in the US. To put it into perspective, I ranted about a single mother struggling on $280/month + $65 WIC for her and one child. A family of 6 in Guatamala lives on $250/month, while in Egypt they spend less than $50/month.
So in the US the thrifty meal plan for a family of 4 is $501 for small children and $576 with 2 older children. This was published by the USDA.
When compared to other countries I can’t help but wonder if this is why obesity in the US is running rampant? That we spent 2x on food? And that people eat more than necessary?
4 responses so far ↓
1 Mrs. Accountability // Jun 14, 2008 at 5:47 pm
My theory is because even people who are eating what they consider to be “healthy” are eating a diet with little or improper nutrition. Check out Eat Fat, Lose Fat by Mary Enig and Sally Fallon for an introduction to traditional eating - the diet that kept our ancestors alive and that many are adopting to heal themselves of many modern diseases. This book is a great introduction to Mary and Sally’s “heavier” (as in “heavy, man”) cookbook, Nourishing Traditions.
2 Greener Pastures // Jun 17, 2008 at 1:57 pm
I stop complaining about food prices when I start reading about global challenges such as the BBC describes.
Lisa
3 LivingAlmostLarge // Jun 17, 2008 at 2:05 pm
I gotta agree that I’m not sure about our nutrition. But am grateful to have the opportunity to choose what I eat.
Carnivals of the Week | LivingAlmostLarge - Jun 20, 2008
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