http://v.mercola.com/blogs/public_blog/What-the-World-Eats-21099.aspx A great page that compares with photos what different families in sample countries typically buy and amount of money on groceries for 1 wk.

Look at comparison amongst a family in Chad, Africa, Bhutan, Mexico… course, you have to count the number of mouths to feed..

I love comparative stuff like this.

Also a good thing to show children and teens of what they would eat vs. others world-wide on a regular basis.

What do you spend weekly on groceries? Problem with us is that we do have a small restaurant dinner on Friday evenings…and then some other evenings we might drop by for a snack on way home on bikes.

But every week, we set aside $60.00 weekly for groceries for 2 of us. It only works, when we stock up on 1 or 2 food items in bulk so that we have our pantry with extra non-perishable food, etc.

Fine by us.

Once again Orchid you bring up a fresh new breeze...maybe from bike riding?

We spend around 100 Euros on groceries weekly ( including alcholic and non alcholic beverages); of course when we have company, then more. We eat lots and lots of fruit. A typical meal is potatoes served 100 different ways, breaded veal, and salad. We always eat our main course at noon. Evenings we eat very light.

When we were in Vancouver last year we were shocked how expensive groceries were. One banana cost 60 cents. Maybe it was an expensive store, ..but still I don't know how the average Joe can afford it.

When my brother comes to Germany he is always amazed how inexpensive food is. We have huge fruit baskets in a couple of rooms. He says this would be an absolute luxury in the States. Now why is that? Why should fruit be more expensive in a country where most of the fruit grows? Maybe the system is similar to the unexplainable skyrocketing gas prices.

A bunch of large bananas year-round 5-6 a bunch..is a little over $2.00CAN in Vancouver. 69 cents a pound. Your 60 cent banana might have been a more expensive store.

Fresh food in Vancouver is abit more expensive than Toronto. I even find Chinatown prices a tad more. During local, it can get better, right now fresh raspberries are $3.99CAN a pound. You do have to know where to shop.

Is it typical still for Germans to eat a full meal at lunch? It is a good way of fuelling up and using up energy over a longer period of time.

8 kilograms of long grain white rice (sorry to mix in metric vs. imperial measurements but I was the kid caught in Canada's switch to metric ...still think mixed up)....is about $8.00. Lasts us for 5-6 months.

Even when I was single, I bought large bag of rice for myself..to make it last and cheaper. Just walk next door to a Indian grocery store and lug home that bag of rice. Old habits never die. My childhood memory is going into the pantry where we had a huge bin full of rice...probably 20-25 lbs...would scoop up into pot..to wash the rice for our family dinner.

This is all in CAnada. .

Has anyone used Community Supported Agriculture? We've been looking at the one here but don't know anyone who's in it. I was wondering what you thought of it.

If you haven't heard of it, it's a subscription-based 'club' where you pay a fee and get fresh, locally-grown produce that you pick up on a weekly basis. Here's a good web site with listings of local farms that participate:
http://www.localharvest.org/

I have heard nothing but good things about this orsctice Yonuh. The ones here, you get a plot of fertile ground and plant your own veges. Everyone shares and exchange the fruits of their labor.

Hannelore,
It depends on where in the States you live. My sister used to live in Oregon and they ate lots of fresh fruit for a reasonable price. Fruit juice was cheaper than cokes. Here cokes are cheaper than fruit juice.

Here in Oklahoma some fruit is higher. Local fruit in season isn't bad. Peaches, strawberries, watermelon and cantelope are grown here. Bananas are usually 50 cents a pound unless you go to Sam's then they are 3 lbs for a dollar.

Fresh vegetables are pretty high here. I buy them anyway.

(orsctice) Good Lord, was suppose to say 'practice.' Now I know I'm tired...

In simply looking at the photos, I just found it intersting to visually see and compare differences in those who had more veggies and fruits naturally integrated into their pile of groceries, vs. others where you had to look extra hard to find the fresh stuff.

For instance the Egyptian family, probably have a reasonably healthy diet (for that upcoming week, at least). I think the Chinese family in Bejing is not typical. They look like a wealthy, upper middle class family. Their home in that modern looking apartment is just gorgeous and not typical of most mainland Chinese across that country.

And the Japanese family is living proof that some foods in Japan are genuinely expensive. Interesting, a couple we know who take in Japanese adult students learning English here in Vancouver, say that the Japanese normally don't make much sushi at home. And sushi in restaurants in Japan can be expensive.

So when they come to Vancouver, the Japanese student-visitors just go nuts with all our sushi restaurants. (We do have alot in the region..since lots of fresh seafood around.)

I've always liked international comparative stuff like the original website that I posted to start this topic.

It reminds us to think for a few minutes outside of our comfort zone (in this case, food/diet) and our own little tiny local world.

I also get a real buzz of understanding of how (similar or differently) someone else in a foreign country(ies) is living their life at the same moment that I am living my life.