What the world eats

deb1

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My goodness, I know of no one who eats as much junk food as that American family did. I think that NPR is playing into the stereotypes of Americans.

I don't know how much that I spend at the grocery store on food alone because we don't buy just food at the grocery store. I am guessing 100-125/week. That was when my oldest son lived with us. Our food bill has dropped since then. We now are a family of five.

We eat more fresh food also.
 

enjoy the ride

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If you want to know what people eat in the US, look at the supermarket shelves. If a tenth of the store is produce, I'd be surprised.
But also remember, that more American women work outside the house than most other countries. It's a real challenge for a fulltime mom who works fulltime to prepare meals with almost daily purchased fresh food and make meals from scratch. I can just imagine the temptation to see that easy to fix in 20 minutes meal as a real blessing.
Also American children generall snack all day long- unhealthy but a hard habit to keep in check with the tendancy to sit around the house all day playing video games or texting- right where the food is. My Mom would chase us out of the kitchen when I was young and, actually, outside as much as she could- she may have been a stay at home mom but she had too much work to do around the house to entertain us all day.
 

keljonma

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deb1 said:
My goodness, I know of no one who eats as much junk food as that American family did. I think that NPR is playing into the stereotypes of Americans.
NPR didn't write it - they reported it - when the book came out last year.
 

Beekissed

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elijahboy said:
i spend 500 a month and could not imagine spending 300 a week and we are a family of 4

i suppose they dont know the value of a coupon
:th

You're joking, right? :idunno I would literally lay down and die if I had to spend that much each month on food!!! :barnie

I might spend $500 in three or even four months! :ep
 

dragonlaurel

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Turkey, India, Mexico, and some of the Asian food were my favorites. Too much processed stuff in most of them.
We spend 100 to 150 for groceries each month for two people.
 

Beekissed

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When I still had a family of 4, I could get by on around $200 a month, much less when I just used more food from the cellar.
 

deb1

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I am not putting down those who want to work outside the home but I am grateful that I remain home. Its been tight but now I have found another reason for me to continue doing so. It is easier for me to make food from scratch, using products that don't contain a lot of preservatives, then it might be for other couples. That is a benefit that I had not considered. :)


I would also like to see the average age that the members of these countries live until. That way we could compare what they eat with how long on average that they live. Yes, I know many factors go into life expectancy but it would still be interesting to compare along with eating habits of the average inhabitant of each country.

Also, here in America it is less expensive to buy soda then milk, for instance. The stuff that is bad for you is sometimes the cheapest. :( That is why poor Americans are fatter then those with more money.


By the way, my family hasn't eaten fast food in a long time. We decided to splurge last night and get Burger King. Yuck. It wasn't as good as I remember plus the sandwhiches seem to have shrunk. I don't know if my taste buds have changed or if Burger King is just putting out less tasty food now.
 

deb1

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dragonlaurel said:
Turkey, India, Mexico, and some of the Asian food were my favorites. Too much processed stuff in most of them.
We spend 100 to 150 for groceries each month for two people.
My sister lives in India and has a very sweet woman who cooks for her. SHe says that the food is delicious.
 

deb1

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keljonma said:
deb1 said:
My goodness, I know of no one who eats as much junk food as that American family did. I think that NPR is playing into the stereotypes of Americans.
NPR didn't write it - they reported it - when the book came out last year.
It doesn' t matter who did the study, it is important to understand how they came up with their figures.

Americans eat a lot of junk food, but the amount that they showed was out of porportion to what I am seeing in other families around me. I would like to know how they arrived at their figures. Did they do a survey and if so, how many people were in the survey?

I looked the couple up and I can't find the information that I want about their methods. Does anyone have a link to the information?

Actually, I hope that they used great methods and were careful not to show any biases. :) But I would like to know how they came to their conclusions.
 

FarmerChick

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hey deb1

you said: By the way, my family hasn't eaten fast food in a long time. We decided to splurge last night and get Burger King. Yuck. It wasn't as good as I remember plus the sandwhiches seem to have shrunk. I don't know if my taste buds have changed or if Burger King is just putting out less tasty food now.


_____
Yup when I went on my healthy eating plan I stopped the McDs and all that. When I did eat a quarterpounder on a road trip...yuck. Taste buds change back to normal when we don't eat this stuff...LOL--when we try it again, it is just sub-standard food!!!
 

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