Feb 12, 2012
The Food Question
Ever wonder how much money it costs to feed a family for one week? A recent study published by TIME highlights photojournalist Peter Menzel responds to the world’s food crisis. Menzel posed several families from the international community surrounded by their weekly caloric intake. The photographs emphasize the high cost of living in the West in comparison to the meager rations of those living in the developing world. Menzel’s photo-essay specifically draws attention to the basic diet of a traditional family unit in a Sudanese refugee camp in Chad. In comparison to their German counterparts who spend over $500.00 on food, the Sudanese refugees located at the Breidjing Camp are provided with the equivalent $1.23 in weekly rations. Menzel’s findings only underscore the need to ensure safe delivery of food aid in conflict-prone situations where the limited food rations remain meager if provided at all. 
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You bring up an interesting
You bring up an interesting point, albeit a difficult one to answer. I would add this: the family living in Chad spending approximately $1.23 per week is certainly surviving, but not very well. Many families under the dollar-a-day mark that pass from Darfur to Chad are not so luck as the individuals at the Breidjing Camp. And thus, the food question continues to be a significant challenge.
A friend emailed me this a
A friend emailed me this a few weeks ago. I've got to say, I'm surprised Japan was near the middle of these examples. I've always heard it's fairly expensive.
This also gets to a question I've wrestled with in class before, "How can you not starve on $1 a day PPP."
Going off the PPP conversion rates that family is spending $6.15 a week which even if you exclude children is well less than a dollar a day per person.