During the broadcast of the Olympics in China, I have seen the correspondents on TV try a lot of unconventional foods. We all know that food consumption worldwide is obviously very diverse but have you ever wondered what does this actually looks like? What does one week of food look like for your family?

I was weeding through my bulk mail folder and I found something that although my spam filter had correctly classified as spam, my human filter found very interesting. It was a massively sent email with some very interesting photographs of families posing next to all the food they normally eat during one week. Each photograph is from a different and unique part of the world and states the total food cost for that week in their local currency and in US dollars. I mashed these from the mail but later found out that they are from a book by Peter Menzel and Faith D’Aluisio called Hungry Planet.

Besides the ethnic and cultural differences in the people and their setting, the most interesting thing that stands out to me is the contrast in the amounts of packaging or (waste) per food item. If you compare say Ecuador ($32/week) in the top middle to Kuwait ($222/week) or Norther California ($324/week) on each side, you may at first think that some of that price differential is accredited to the unnecessary and excessive processing and packaging. Then I thought that I would be willing to bet that most of that Ecuadorian food shown is uncertified but never the less 100% organic and fresh which does not require any packaging. Let me ask you this, how much do you think all that organic food would cost In a WholeFoods or Trader Joe’s up in Northern California?

Also found a good quality presentation of the whole photograph collection here

Just 90 miles south off the tip of Florida you will find one of the most unique, self sufficient and un-globalized societies in the world. If you isolate yourself from any presumptions you may have about Cuba and put on your green goggles and measure quality of life through a sustainability filter, what you will see is one of the purest and most successful overall models of sustainability in existence today. Cuba is both one of the poorest and yet one of the healthiest countries in the word. Cubans are experts at making the most out of very little resources especially in the areas of medicine, agriculture and education where they are particularly strong.

“to care for nature, is to love it” Las Tunas, Cuba

If you are ever fortunate enough to go to Cuba, trust me, don’t spend too much time in Varadero or Habana. Please travel through the entire island as I was able to do for three weeks earlier this year, you will be blown away by the completely different reality of this giant island paradise in the middle of the Caribbean.

“leapfrogging” to solar power in Vinales, Cub

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