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The Aboubakar family of Chad is our last family for World Food Week, and they paint a striking picture, spending only about $1.23 on food a week for six people.

You know those tearjerker commercials that try to get you to send money to starving children in Africa? Whether they give the money to the children or not, this does prove that “30 cents a day” really CAN make a difference, doesn’t it?

After all, with this family’s food budget, each person only gets about twenty cents a week.

Think about it… When we fork over our “pocket change” for an 89-cent burrito, we could actually be feeding most of this family for a whole week.

Would this be enough to feed your family? Do you think it’s enough to feed their whole family, truly? How much nutrition do you think this family gets—or do you think that they are malnourished at all?

As with every family, we’d like for you to answer this question: Have they spent too much—too little—or just enough, and why?

Comparing this family with all of the others we’ve looked at—as well as your own—do you think that as Americans, we really eat what we need, or a whole lot more? We already know that our serving sizes are blown out of proportion; what about our whole diets?

We’d love to hear your comments on the American diet, and to get your vote on which of the families we’ve profiled YOU think has the right amount of food. Cast your vote in the comments! Your feedback means alot to us. Your feedback counts…

Today, we’re in Bhutan with the Namgay family of Shingkhey Village. They spend about $5 on food a week—for 13 PEOPLE!

This is unimaginable for most of us. What on earth could you buy with thirty cents—which is how much this family spends per person for a full week? You can’t even get a taco for that much money.

Look at how much food the Namgays have for the week. Would this be enough to feed your family? Do you think it’s enough to feed their whole family of thirteen?

Imagine your family with this much food. How much would you have to ration? Would you have to share an orange for breakfast? Could you do that?

All of their food is from fresh sources, and there is no “fast food” in sight—how does this compare with your own family, or the previous families we’ve looked at?

As with every family, we’d like for you to answer this question: Have they spent too much—too little—or just enough, and why?

Do you even think this is enough food to survive on?

Let us know what you think in the blog comments, and be prepared for the most shocking numbers of all on Monday.

Meet the Ayme family of Ecuador. They spend about $31.55 on food a week—for 9 people!

That’s as much as some Americans spend on one nice meal a week—and it averages out to less than $4 a week per person! That’s like one prescription drug at Wal-Mart for most of us.

How much food would you be able to buy for $4? Maybe some ramen noodles and tea bags?

Look at how much food the Aymes have for the week. Would this be enough to feed your family? Do you think it’s enough to feed their whole family of nine?

All of their food is from fresh sources, and there is no “fast food” in sight—how does this compare with your own family, or the previous families we’ve looked at?

As with every family, we’d like for you to answer this question: Have they spent too much—too little—or just enough, and why?

Let us know what you think in the blog comments, and be prepared for some shocking numbers for the rest of the week.

Meet the Ahmed family of Egypt. They spend about $68 dollars on food a week—for 12 people!

I don’t know about you, but I doubt that even Jon and Kate Plus 8 could live on that much.

Look at how much food the Ahmeds have for the week. Would this be enough to feed your family? Do you think it’s enough to feed theirs?

Nearly all of their food is from vegetables or other fresh sources… how does this compare with the previous families? With your own family?

As with every family, we’d like for you to answer this question: Have they spent too much—too little—or just enough, and why?

Let us know what you think in the blog comments. And you’re in for a surprise if you think that this is the least amount of money people spend on food. Next week, the amounts will keep getting lower, and we’ll have to return to the question—how much is too much, or in this case, too little?

This is the Sobczynscy family of Poland. They spend about $151 on food each week for five family members, averaging about thirty dollars per member.

The Sobczynscy family seems to have bought a lot of fresh foods and vegetables. How does this compare with the rest of the families we have featured? Are your family’s shopping habits similar or different?

As with every family, we’d like for you to answer this question: Have they spent too much—too little—or just enough, and why?

Let us know what you think in the blog comments. The amount of food is going to keep getting less and less over this week and next. Our next family spends less than $100 a week on food!

This is the Casales family of Mexico. They spend about $190 on food each week, which is nearly half of what the Melanders of Germany spend—and they have an additional family member!

So far the Casales family has spent the least amount of money during our food study. The two big questions are:

Have they spent this money wisely? (Is it on junk or healthy food—and how does it compare with the families from last week?)

And, have they spent too much—too little—or just enough, and why?

Let us know what you think in the blog comments, and be prepared for the amount spent on food—and the amount of food that people buy for their families—to get less and less over the week. You won’t believe your eyes by Friday!

Meet the Melander family of Germany, who spends about $500 on food weekly.

While the Manzo family of yesterday has five members, they spend almost half of what the Melanders (a family of four) spend. Note what the Melanders spend their money on.

Which one has more healthy food? Which has more junk food?

Compare both of these families to the Revis family of Monday; is there a general pattern developing with European families versus the American one?

Of all three of these families, who do you think buys the right amount of food? Who has too much, or too little?

Please answer any of these questions and share your thoughts in the blog comments. Stay tuned for some shocking photos next week!

This week, we’re running a series of reports about how much food families around the world eat. Below is a picture of the Revis family of North Carolina, who spend approximately $342 on food each week.

Note how many bags of chips, fast food items, and sweets the family buys, and compare this to your family’s food intake. Are your kitchen’s contents similar?

Compare these items with the green and healthy foods here. Do you think this kind of food distribution reflects the ever-increasing obesity rate in America?

What we’d like for you to do is to try a little experiment. Try monitoring all of the food you buy this week and note what you buy. How much is fresh food? How much is packaged? How much do you spend on fast food, or food overall?

Do you think that this family has more than enough? What about your own family?

Is your food spending wasteful, or frugal? How can you modify what you spend on food to help you during this time of economic instability? Share your answers in the blog comments.

Send your notes and a picture, if you like, to Laura@onepinky.com and we’ll highlight them in our world food week special.

Check in on Wednesday to see how other countries compare with the United States. You may be surprised!