Simply Missional pointed me towards this stunning pictorial comparison of what families eat during a week and how much it costs.
Just think about this, the next time you eat out if you ordered a water instead of a coke, then donated the money, you could effectively double the amount of money a Sudanese family in Chad would have for food for the week.
Any thoughts? Have any of you lived in a third world country for any length of time and care to chime in? Does the difference in how much people spend on food surprise you?
Another reminder from my current favorite web comic ASBO Jesus.
Edit: Andy just pointed out that we’ve already covered this topic! I apologize for any deja vu this might have caused.
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November 27, 2007 at 18:09
I noticed some odd things about these pictures. The industrialized nations were drinking a lot more. For example, the family from North Carolina had beer, soda pop, fruit juice drink pouches, 3 gallons of milk (although it looks like 2 of them might be distilled water) and then EIGHT bottles of fruit juice in one week? Also, consider the packaging involved here. How many tomatoes go into one jar of spaghetti sauce? Ten or more? A lot of what we consume is the PACKAGING. Also, consider where those tomatoes were grown. If you buy and eat local foods seasonally, you are supporting your own local economy and saving the cost of transporting food halfway across the country. The people in the foreign countries shown are eating foods that are purchased locally, made without the costs of packaging, transportation, mass chemical fertilization/herbicides/insecticides, and prep costs.
Our eating habits are a function of what we consider to be important—and for many of us, that is “convenience.” We have lost the knowledge passed down from older generations about where to find wild berries, which mushrooms are safe to eat, how to cook so-called “bitter” but healthy vegetables so they are palatable, how to raise livestock and poultry to support our own selves. How many of the families listed have a goat and hens out in their yard, for milk and butter and cheese and yogurt and eggs and meat? It would be unusual in a society such as those listed to NOT have those animals. What about the refugee camp? The food they eat is provided by an aid organization. Why are they there in the camp, though?
It’s tempting to think that we can just send a few bucks to some aid/relief organization and that will keep a family alive for one more week or month. However, we are perpetuating this cycle of need if we contribute through our buying habits to this problem. There is enough food in the world, but evil dictators keep it from their subjects and tribal wars prevent the equitable distribution of food. We must use our wealth here in America to become educated about how to really solve this problem… and that solution is more complex and requires more personal sacrifice, labor, and time investment than just donating money.
November 28, 2007 at 09:57
I am not sure that I agree with Kerrissa in her comment to today’s post. The point of the pictures was probably not the exact portions or even the exact amounts of food consumed. Rather it was the total cost. We consume a lot of food in this country. Recently I started a new diet for myself. I simply cut back portions. When eating out I have started to order kids meals or box up my left-overs for lunch the next day. A kids meal never seems like much, but it fills you.
But really it is not about the food at all it is about the fact that we have plenty and there are those that do not. Yes we need to do more than slap a band-aid on a gaping wound, but there needs to be a place to start from. That place needs to be taking care of essential needs so that they can start fighting for their rights instead of their basic needs in life.
We are called to help the poor and the needy we see in James 1:27 the exortation to believers to take care of the orphans and widows. It is my hope that we start doing something for those in need rather than just talking about it in the nice comforts of the internet.
November 28, 2007 at 14:04
I spend $100 a week on food. Sometimes more, sometimes less. I think the Church has failed to organized itself to fight global hunger. I am amazed at Christ’s longest prayer in John (before his arrest), where he prayed for “unity” among his disciples and “those who will believe by their testimony (all of us)”. If we would just let go of our prejudices of denominations or “style” of worship and just do the work of God, the Church would be an unmovable force. Too often you see just the opposite, churches competing with each other and singing their praises of how they work for God’s glory. I’m not saying the church has failed or it’s doomed, I’m saying, it can do a lot better.