Peter and Faith, the authors and photographers of this book, traveled around the world and took a look at different cultures and the foods that they eat when they sit down with their families for dinner. Peter and Faith visited a number of different families, and stayed with them for one week each. While they were visiting, they observed and photographed the different meals that the families ate for one whole week, leading them to find that no matter where you are in the world and what kind of culture you come from, there are many similarities and differences to the foods and eating patterns between different cultures. This book also contains a great deal of interesting facts about how much of certain foods is consumed in different parts of the world, how much money is spent on meals, and the comparisons between different countries. This book also is made up of a number of photographs that the authors took of the cultures while they were staying with each family, with captions describing the family members and their methods for preparing meals.An activity that students can do in classrooms could be to take the book home and make on of the recipes in the book with their family.Genre: Cultural Format: Picture BookReading Level: MediumTheme/Topic: Food, Culture Gender: AllRace: AllSocioeconomic Status: AllMenzel, P., & D'Aluisio, F. (2008). What the world eats. Berkeley, CA: Tricycle Press. This is a very factual picture book that follows 25 families, from 21 different countries, and tracked their weekly eating habits. With illustrations that are actual photographs of these families and their groceries, this book illuminates the radical differences between different cultures and their dietary needs for a week long period. It is filled with information and statistics on different types of food, where they are available, how much food costs, and more. This book allows students to be introduced to different foods in several cultures and how Americans differ from other heritages. This also allows them to look at their own weekly diet and determine what, if anything needs to change. Students are becoming more and more obese and it is crucial to lead a healthy life and that begins in the kitchen. This can also relate to parents. Students often just eat what their parents prepare for them. If the student is educated then hopefully they can share important facts with their parents.
What do You think about What The World Eats (2008)?
Interesting to compare not only the volume of food between people, but the variety.
—Monica_Arguello
Used in conjunction with our Sonlight core f Homeschool curriculum.
—floridagrown
I highly recommend this book to everyone to read!
—laylay
A very interesting and eye opening read.
—JazzyBoo
