It’s good they did the book now, before McDonaldization completed blankets the universe and everyone’s intake is depressingly the same. When I am checking out at my nearest King Soopers (which, BTW, has a substantial section of fresh produce and a higher propotion of organica than most mainline supermarkets), I am often amazed at the canned, excessively packaged, processed, prepared frozen stuff that fills so many grocery carts. Add to that the billions and billions of fast food items (plus ingestibles bought at convenience stores), and our week’s worth of meals is pretty appalling. Do you know whether the US is one of the countries in the book?

Claire — there are multiple North American families in the book with a variety of diets. A few of them are found in the TIME selection above.

I love Peter Menzel and Faith D’s work - I use Hungry Planet, as well as their first book (Material World) in my university classes. It takes powerful images to shock and amaze students these days, and Hungry Planet does the job. The photos of Darfur refugees’ food supplies for a week are amazing. - Karen

Yeah, Karen, I’ve been using Material World as a teaching tool during the Alternative Break trips I lead to Central America. It’s very effective.