Friends gave me Hungry Planet for my birthday nearly two months ago, and I’ve finally had a chance to sit down and read it. It’s a fantastic book, quite like anything else I’ve ever read: part coffee table book, part recipe book, part commentary on the differences (and similarities) that exist between the developed and the developing world.

The basic idea of the book is this: Photographer Peter Menzel and his partner Faith D’Alusio travel to a variety of countries, all over the world, and document what people eat. Each family they visit is photographed sitting with a week’s worth of food, and the family is interviewed; the reader gets a sense of how food fits into the family’s life and culture.

I’m not sure I’ll make any recipes in the book, but the family photos alone are eye-opening. It’s sobering to compare the weekly food consumed by a family in a first world country with that of a family living in a refugee camp.

Pictures from this book were a bit of an internet meme a month or so ago, but the basic gist of it is that Photographer Peter Menzel and his partner Faith D’Alusio traveled the world, visiting people in a number of countries at varying stages of development, photographed them with a week’s worth of food, and interviewed them about their lifestyles, especially vis-a-vis food. There was a series of essays on different food issues interspersed through these family portraits, each accompanied by its own photo essay. It was a fascinating read, and I think my aim is to acquire a copy of this to have around for leafing through and sparking discussion. Would be great to look at with kids!