[mikeholler]

I've been telling friends and family this for years. It's by far my favorite thing to see in a new city in a region I've never been before. It's sort of like a modern anthropological exhibit in more ways than any other single city structure.

There was a photography coffee table book I loved, where the artist took pictures of an entire family around their table, which had all of the food they ate for a week on it.

I've since forgotten the name of the book (if anyone knows it please tell me -- search isn't turning up much), but grocery stores feel like as close as a regular tourist can get to those personal scenes.

[alteria]

The book you're thinking of is probably Hungry Planet[1]

[1]https://menzelphoto.photoshelter.com/gallery/Hungry-Planet-F...

[mc32]

What’s amazing about that is the unnecessary or excessive packaging becomes evident.

Underdeveloped nations haven’t yet gotten in the bad habit of wrapping everything in plastic. Grains are in reused sacks, meat is straight from the butcher. I mean, sure I get egg cases and wrapped meats. But some places put vegetables and fruits in styropacks.... why?

[mikeholler]

Yes! This is it. Thank you!

[personlurking]

> It's sort of like a modern anthropological exhibit in more ways than any other single city structure.

I seem to mainly recall the negative experiences.

In Rome, on vacation, I remember a grocery store where there were only two cashier lanes open, and long lines, and the two cashiers were facing each other, just havin' a five-minute chat about something unrelated to their work. This might have been an unusual event, since I've never lived in Italy.

In Portugal, where I lived several years, you're just out of luck. The cashiers are as slow as molasses. Also, one particular major chain seemed to have this weird occurrence of always looking ransacked and constantly being restocked during every one of their opening hours. And the "we're opening a new lane" thing wasn't "next person in current line is first in the new line". It would be a free-for-all, especially for newcomers.

In Netherlands, a major chain in Amsterdam would only take cash or a Dutch credit card. Visa/Mastercard from elsewhere were not accepted forms of payment.

[mfenniak]

> In Netherlands, a major chain in Amsterdam would only take cash or a Dutch credit card. Visa/Mastercard from elsewhere were not accepted forms of payment.

Same experience just recently -- Albert Heijn. You'll find this grocery story every 50 meters in a major city like Amsterdam. No credit cards. It was pretty odd to me as a Canadian.

[personlurking]

Yep. I had to leave everything I had just gone through the store to pick out. I prefer Albert Heijn for their selection but shopped at Lidl cause they'd take my cards.

[emj]

I does tell you something about how much of a cut the credit card companies take from retailers and customers.

[GuiA]

Hungry Planet by Peter Menzel

https://fstoppers.com/food/what-week-groceries-looks-around-...

[escapecharacter]

I’ve been saying the same! Also, when you go to corner stores, you can see what the locale considers “high priority items”

[jonathanbull]

Not quite what you're looking for, but Time recently did a great piece on what kids eat around the world. You might enjoy it:

https://time.com/what-kids-eat-around-the-world-in-one-week/

[mikeholler]

Wow, this is great. Thank you!

[pokoleo]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0984074422/ref=as_li_tl?ie...