What's In Your Weekly Shopping Basket?

I was taken by a series of photos recently that showed typical families from around the world with their weekly food put out in front of them. The differences in how much each family spent for a week on food was staggering but not that surprising given the different costs of living and, crucially, the amount of food involved. We all know that we generally eat far more food in the West (and developing countries) than we actually need, obesity being a real concern now and one that is only going to get worse. It wasn't that which surprised me though. Looking at what food was actually on show started me thinking about not only the nutritional value but also of the costs involved. For the so-called developed countries there was a predominance of processed foods. 

I'm not just talking about ready-meals that you heat up in the micro-wave, this is about foods that have been produced in factories for our consumption. Breakfast cereals, tinned food, coffee and chocolate all fall into this category, not to mention confectionaries and snacks. While there was fresh produce in evidence on the tables of the developed country families it was very much in the minority. This was in stark contrast to the food the families in some of the poorest counties of the world were showing. Their food for the week almost entirely consisted of fresh produce and by and large this was fruit and vegetables - very little meat.

This got me thinking about how much we spend on food. Those companies producing the processed foods in factories have to make a profit so that's where a great deal of the price goes, along with money to the retailer. If we could only increase the amount of fresh produce we used in our weekly meals we would be reducing that element of the cost. The health benefits ought to be obvious to everyone too. 

If you put all the food you and your family ate in a week on a table in front of you what would it look like?