Taking a look at Peter Menzel’s online Hungry Planet gallery , a photographic essay on the dietary habits of families all around the world…
Making a side-by-side comparison of the food cultures of the two contrasting countries, Germany (an affluent one) & Chad (a developing one), stirs up a plethora of heavy economic, political, and social subject matter and disparities simply by examining Menzel’s gallery.
The photos of Germany depict a society that is flourishing economically. There are many more choices than any person could singlehandedly wish to consume. Food items are all readily available, and located conveniently in supermarkets, on shelves, in refrigerators, and in lush green vegetable gardens. The first photo of the Germany series perhaps makes the most impact. There is a family of four standing next to their dining table; the table is completely covered in a colorful array of nicely packaged and brightly colored foods. The caption to the photo reads, “…with a week’s worth of food.” There are plenty of non-essentials on the table as well; bottles of beer, bottled water, processed convenience “food-like substances”.
The photos of Chad show a very different picture. That is an understatement. It is like night and day. Food is scarce, and clearly rationed out carefully to maximize sustenance to as many people as possible. Where in Germany thee food was shown in settings like elaborate stores or fanciful homes, in Chad the food is framed by rather barren landscape and arid ground. Questions about health and sanitation come to mind when looking at images of meat for consumption being prepared right on the dirt in a hot desert, and bowls of entrails sitting in the sun. Stacks of grain and rice in large bags are carried laboriously as well as buckets of fresh water, often carried by hand for long distances just to survive.
What does this say about the economic, political, and social climates of each country? A lot, no doubt. Germany has the capital and political stability to have established a complex food system, one that imports foods from all over the rest of the world. Chad, on the other hand, has not benefitted from a well-established state and it is reflected in the food system. What can be imported with the state’s limited capital is imported, but as we can see it is limited to some of the cheapest ingredients that can be used to make the most “filling” food dishes. Hunger also is a cause for conflict, protest, and violence.
This assessment from just a brief look at photos only scratches the surface of all the complexities and inequalities of the world food system.