What the World Eats

In What the World Eats, Peter Menzel took photographs of families from 21 different countries, each taken in their home, surrounded by the food that they will eat over the week to come. I found myself pouring over the photos, which are wonderfully composed still lifes as well as portraits. The text is by Faith d'Aluisio, but the large format of the book, with its charts and recipes, means it's easier to browse than read cover to cover.

Menzel's best known book is Material World, which came out in 1995 and shows pictures of families with all of their belongings piled in front of their home. (Something one of my friends did on a smaller version for their Christmas card photo one year - and wouldn't it be more interesting to see your friends with a week's worth of food piled around them rather than their vacation pics?) What I Eat came out last year and pictures individuals from around the world, from surfers to sumo wrestlers, with a day's worth of their food.