Food Consumption Around the World

I love when synchronicity presents itself in my life, and this week with my new found interest in saving money, and also adapting our diet to be gluten and dairy free, this post was sent to me from a friend in America.

The article originally appeared in Time Magazine and you can read it in full here. I found it very enlightening and as I was saying to my friend in relation to eating vegetarian, I'm not an evangelist, I think its more about being respectful about food, and not wasteful. So here's the post (the photos are the work of Peter Menzel Photography) which is what each spends in a week on food:

Italy: The Manzo family of Sicily.
Food expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.11

Germany: The Melander family of Bargteheide.
Food expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $500.07.


United States: The Revis family of North Carolina.
Food expenditure for one week $341.98.

Mexico: The Casales family of Cuernavaca.
Food expenditure for one week: 1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09.

Poland: The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna.
Food expenditure for one week: 582.48 Zlotys or $151.27.


Egypt: The Ahmed family of Cairo.

Food expenditure for one week: 387.85 Egyptian Pounds or $68.53.

Ecuador: The Ayme family of Tingo.
Food expenditure for one week: $31.55.

Bhutan, Himalayas: The Namgay family of Shingkhey Village
Food expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum or $5.03.

Chad, Africa: The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp.

Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23

Because this was an American article, everything is converted to dollars, and unfortunately the UK was not represented. I suspect however, that the average UK family table would look very similar to the US one. Our own expenditure I would say falls somewhere between the Polish family and the Egyptian family in terms of food represented. We spend on average £60.00 per week not including any alcohol, which we try to keep in moderation and to the weekend, so that might come to an additional £15 pounds. Unfortunately I put away this weeks groceries before writing this, so I couldn't be asked to drag it all out and photo it!! I may do so next week just for fun.

I find it very shocking indeed to see how the expenditure pares down when you leave the more westernized countries, how the absolute basics are all that's available. And what's with all the soda in so many places??? I can't stand the stuff!!

To market, to market..

In our attempt to lower our overall outgoings, avoid big supermarket chains and rely more on local shops and produce, we went to the market today, in Hebden Bridge. Its not a big market, but has all the fruit and veg we need, plus a fabulous cheese stall where I can now get a spicy mexicana cheese. I couldn't get motivated though to carry around a pumpkin for the rest of the day.. so maybe next week.

The rest of the day involved a visit to Flying Saucers paint/pottery cafe. This was our first visit, mainly to design some Christmas presents for the grandparents. I have to say it was an expensive outing that we won't be doing again for awhile. It was fun though, and my son did a mug for his grandma and an alien for himself. I did a mug with my daughter's handprint on it. She mostly wandered around 'chatting' to everyone. And although its meant to be relaxing, I would say that with a 21 month old toddler in tow, its a little nerve-wracking with all the breakable and expensive pottery on display. We pick up our treasures next week after they have been fired in the kiln.

Making and baking..

I can't believe I have never actually made bread before now. I seem to have some vague recollection of perhaps attempting it many many moons ago, but can't really recall it. So with the school break it seemed like the quintessential thing to do with the kids.

Well with one child only. We did it while the little toddler slept! Sneaky I know, but I thought the first time was going to be enough of a trial without little toddler hands slinging about as well. As it turned out, it went really smoothly and the mess was easily cleaned. Although it doubled its size before going into the oven, it came out a bit hmm, doughy. We were not prepared with a bread tin or anything, so it wasn't shaped too well. Nevertheless, it was a seeded loaf and very very tasty. I usually avoid bread due to bloating, but was told that fresh baked bread with wild yeast and no additives does not cause bloating.
So far I don't notice any, and the bread was tucked into before I had a chance to photo the end result! But you can still see the steam rising off it. Yum, I think a bread machine may be on the cards...

What's in your fridge?

I have read that you can tell alot about a person by looking inside their refrigerator. Well, here's the inside of mine. I would have to say that it all depends on the day of the week that you look in, and also that my fridge, in fact, is not just mine. Its a reflection of us as a family.

So what's inside? There's my favourite Rachel's organic yogurt; my son's favourite yogurts as well; organic strawberries; red grapes; two pots of hummus; cherry tomatoes; salad cress; Flora margarine; Brie cheese; two packets of tofu; organic broccoli; pasta sauce; red leicester cheese; soy milk; cranberry/rasperry juice; soy sauce; red pepper; carrots; spring onions; lemon and lime juice; and some vodka in the freezer bit...

So what's in your fridge?

Vegetarian is earth friendly!

Being a vegetarian is also earth friendly. Farmed animals produce more greenhouse gas emissions than the world's entire transport systems. It also takes less water to grow vegetarian food than it does to produce meat. Livestock production is responsible for 70% of the Amazon deforestation in Latin America where the rainforest has been cleared to create new pastures supplying meat (including fast food giants) around the world.
Read more detailed info on the Vegetarian Society page here: http://www.vegsoc.org/vegweek/reasons.html

This post is written as part of National Vegetarian Week here in the UK.

Vegetarian Family

My husband and I have been veggie for about 12 years, if not longer. I can recall my early tries at giving up meat about 15 years ago. I was vegan for about five years, including during my first pregnancy. Both my children are being raised vegetarian and it is indeed not only possible, but also easy once you get the hang of it.

Yesterday my 16 month old daughter ate homemade chili with lentils, aduki beans, onions, tomatoes and served with bulgar wheat. It wasn't spicey hot. The same goes for my six year old. Both eat tofu, broccoli, brown bread and brown rice.. all essential building blocks for health. I've heard many parents complain that their kids won't touch veggies, but to me, you have to start as you mean to go on. It seems if you start young, from the start, then there's no reason they shouldn't eat them. Brown bread from the start, becomes the only bread there is! Of course they may grow up and detest lentils, but by then, it will be their choice and I will know at least they have had healthy foundations. There's also plenty of processed vegetarian stuff around, not like the 70's! The trick is not to give up if they don't eat it the first time, just re-introduce it again later, and again, this has worked well for daughter especially.

My son seems to be the only vegetarian that we know of at his school, but the school caters for veggies in the school dinners-- sometimes. They still need guidance in that Fish, is not vegetarian! But we pack lunch. If you are thinking about going veggie, or need some info about it, the vegetarian society has some useful tips. You can read seven tips to getting started here: http://www.vegsoc.org/newveg/fft/seven.html .

"What could be better than enjoying great tasting food that is not only good for your health, but also far better for the planet and the creatures that live with us upon it?" Sir Paul McCartney, Vegetarian Society Patron

The Roots of Vegetarianism

Where are the roots of the vegetarian way of life? Sites like The International Vegetarian Union and The Vegetarian Society provide some useful info.

Beginning in England in the late 18th and early 19th centuries due to the industrial revolution, large factories were being established and more and more people found themselves crammed into close city quarters, working long hours on poor diets. An interest in animal welfare and improving one's health was developing in certain areas, with Manchester being at the center. A minister called William Cowherd from Salford, near Manchester, converted his entire congregation to vegetarianism.

As the interest grew in the vegetarian movement, around 1817 some of Cowherd's congregation left England for the United States, where they settled in Philadelphia and set up a vegetarian group, which is considered to be the start of the American vegetarian movement. The interest in Britain spread beyond Manchester to other parts of the country, and in Ramsgate Kent a health resort/vegetarian hospital was developed. A group of vegetarians organized a meeting there on 30 September 1847 and formed the Vegetarian Society, with James Simpson, its first president. Joseph Bratherton, a then Member of Parliament, was an ardent vegetarian, and his wife produced what is widely believed to be the first vegetarian cookbook in 1810. In 1848 they held the first Annual General Meeting of the Society in Manchester and since 1849 the society has been publishing a magazine.

National Vegetarian Week

It's the 15th national vegetarian week and I couldn't be happier! I'm definitely not a proselytizing veggie, but I can't ignore a whole week dedicated to spreading the info! At my son's school on Thursday they are having a special lunch with four options all prepared using Quorn, which is a mycoprotein derived from mushrooms, and very very tasty. It resembles chicken and so substitutes well in those recipes especially. I'm thinking of ways to share the love on here, which may result in a post a day..

Last week Mars company, makers of Mars Bars , Milky Way, Bounty, Snickers, Galaxy, Twix and Maltesers and others, decided to start adding animal rennet to all of their candy production. Why? you may ask, well its simply left over industry waste from meat production that they need to get rid of! As a veggie, one would expect it to show up in non-veg cheese production, and one looks out for gelatin (another animal by-product) in certain sweets and items, but rennet in chocolate?? just digusting. {Rennet; the lining membrane of the fourth stomach of a calf or of the stomach of certain other young animals.}

Having received some 6,000 complaints plus a petition from the Vegetarian Society, Mars have reversed their unpopular rennet decision. But be warned, Maltesers are the last on the list to be revised.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/skynews/20070520/tuk-vegetarians-win-battle-of-the-mars-b-45dbed5.html

Better veggie news concerns India-based MDLR airlines, which has chosen to serve completely vegetarian cuisine onboard as of May 2007 -read about it here: http://www.expresstravelworld.com/200704/aviationworld06.shtml

A crisis of carrots...

Well maybe not a crisis, but this is what happens when you shop- tired -online. I thought I was indicating five loose carrots, but no, turned out it was five bags of carrots.. that's a lot of carrot soup for the next few weeks.

Change Today, Choose Fairtrade

That's the theme of this year's fairtrade fortnight, two weeks (26th Feb - 11th March) to raise public awareness about the products now available.

The number of products labelled Fairtrade is growing all the time and it is definitely getting easier to buy these things here in the UK. The idea of this fortnight celebration is to change something, even one thing, that you eat, drink or wear to fairtrade. Just some of things that can be bought fairtrade include; coffee, bananas, mangoes (and other fruits), flowers, wine, chocolate, spices, nuts, ice cream, brown basmati rice, tea, and clothing.

British clothing retailer, Monsoon has launched nine fairtrade cotton t-shirt designs in mens, womens and kids sizes. Retail giant, Marks & Spencer has also added to its range of fairtrade clothing including socks, underwear, t-shirts and babywear.

Flowers in the window... it is certainly a British thing to have flowers in the window..and its good feng shui as well. Its estimated that British consumers each spend about £28 a year on flowers, but many spend more, keeping the blooms going each week. Kenya is the largest non-Eu supplier of flowers to the UK. There are several certified fairtrade flower farms situated around Lake Naivasha in Kenya, including Finlay Farms, which is also working to operate in a sustainable way by developing a controlled wetland area to purify waste water and chemical off-flows from the farm. They are also increasing the use of hydroponic techniques to grow their flowers, thereby reducing the amount of water taken from the lake.

Currently fairtrade flowers (look for the fairtrade mark) are available in Sainsbury's, Tesco, Asda, and Morrisons.

Whole Foods

So there's whole foods, and then there's Whole Foods [Market], which I just found out, is opening its first UK store in London this June. Now I've known a few folks, including my husband, that like to refer to this store as Whole Paycheck, and things like that.. and its pricey its true, which is probably why it will do well in London. But I can't help feeling a little twinge, feeling just a bit out of the loop, living up here, and sometimes wish we would move south. I really loved their fresh baked vegan chocolate chip zucchini bread..ooh that was good. I approximated the recipe at home a few times, but not vegan, and its never been quite as good.

I don't want to live in a city exactly and definitely not London, but just a little closer to most things, like Whole Foods, the Eurostar, and ferries to Europe, would be nice. I doubt it would happen though, since our family (hubby's family that is) is all situated here in the north.

But never say never as we've moved around a fair bit, and since you never know when an opportunity will arise, one should stay open to all possibilities.

*Fat*Shrove*Pancake*Tuesday*

Its Pancake Day here today, otherwise known as 'Shrove' Tuesday. This day was known to me as 'Fat Tuesday' in Chicago, and also Mardi Gras (as in New Orleans). I have to say I never really made pancakes on this day, mostly I didn't do much as I was usually working and it was just another day mentioned on the radio or something.

In Britain shrove has something to do with confessing your sins before the Lent season begins. Its been a long time since I've observed Lent (lets say childhood!!). The idea of pancakes was to use up the rich ingredients in the cupboard, like eggs, flour, butter etc. just before the fasting time. I love pancakes as does my son, so I can get with the program and make some, but its going to be with maple syrup..not lemon and sugar as is so popular here, sorry..

The lovely ladies in the photo are having a pancake race, which was a tradition in the town of Olney here in the uK since 1445!.

Ode to food

Truly, there is nothing nicer than a house full of food, the shelves stocked, the refrigerator full. I've just done the weekly shop and I always feel this way after..very grateful. I never used to enjoy grocery shopping, it was just a necessary chore. But now, perhaps because I am not pulled in many different directions, or because I cook more, or enjoy healthy eating, whatever the reason, I now look forward to it. A fabulous saffron flavoured risotto is planned for tonight. I suppose you could say I have nothing better to think about!! But what is better than good food? Even when the budget is tight, food takes priority over anything else and being a vegetarian, it is easy to eat well on less.

The scent of freshly brewed coffee floats out of the kitchen, while Camille Saint-Saens plays in the living room, as I write. Its another gloriously sunny day, but COLD.. that poor daffodil.. snow is expected tonight, but maybe not in this area, we haven't had any yet!! I am now trying to psyche myself up for the (COLD) school walk that I have to embark on soon...