If the most popular foods of Rio de Janeiro have one thing in common, it is their informality. You can find fine restaurants in the city, but they do not set Rio apart from other places. What does set it apart, and what invariably brings its residents, known as "Cariocas," together is the unpretentious food they eat in bright, loud, crowded bars and restaurants, on busy street corners, or after a day at the beach. Here: A view of traditional bolinhos de bacalhau (fried codfish balls) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 7, 2016. (Photo by Sergio Moraes/Reuters)

An inmate, dressed as a carrot, participates in a culinary competition at the Santa Monica female prison in Lima, September 10, 2015. About 14 prisoners from different jails took on the roles of cooks and assistants to participate in a culinary competition called “Inpe Mistura 2015”, an event held concurrently with the Mistura food fair taking place in Lima in September. (Photo by Mariana Bazo/Reuters)

Sugar gliders, Candy and Popcorn, enjoy their favourite food, Nectar, at Wild Life Sydney Zoo on February 14, 2017 in Sydney, Australia. The treat made up of honey, high protein baby cereal and egg yolks is the human equivalent to chocolate to the Sugar Gliders. St. Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine began as a celebration of the early Christian Saint Valentinus. From the 18th Century onwards it has steadily transformed into a celebration of romantic love and sentiment in many countries around the world. (Photo by James D. Morgan/Getty Images)

Respect, Kronotsky nature reserve, Russia. The photographer’s cat, Ryska – her name means little lynx in Russian – stands outside their cabin and with aggressive posturing warns off a fox. In winter, foxes would regularly visit the cabin searching for food. If one peered in at the window, possible when the snow was deep, Ryska would sit on the other side, fur raised, and growl. When outside, she would hold her ground. The foxes were not always frightened and so encounters could be a sort of dance. (Photo by Igor Shpilenok/Unforgettable Behaviour/NHM)

This picture taken on June 20, 2020 shows longtail macaques chasing a woman on a scooter in the town of Lopburi, some 155km north of Bangkok. Residents barricaded indoors, rival gang fights and no-go zones for humans. Welcome to Lopburi, an ancient Thai city overrun by monkeys super-charged on junk food, whose population is growing out of control. (Photo by Mladen Antonov/AFP Photo)

People participate in a Labor Day parade on September 2, 2024 in Marlborough, Massachusetts. The festival is a new event this year added by Mayor J. Christian Dumais in an effort to bring the community together on Labor Day weekend. The festival included musical and artistic performances, children's games and activities, touch-a-truck, a beer garden, food trucks, vendors and more. (Photo by Zhu Ziyu/VCG via Getty Images)

A stunning photographic collection featuring portraits of people from 30 countries and the food they eat in one day. In this fascinating study of people and their diets, 80 profiles are organized by the total number of calories each person puts away in a day. Featuring a Japanese sumo wrestler, a Massai herdswoman, world-renowned Spanish chef Ferran Adria, an American competitive eater, and more, these compulsively readable personal stories also include demographic particulars, including age, activity level, height, and weight. Essays from Harvard primatologist Richard Wrangham, journalist Michael Pollan, and others discuss the implications of our modern diets for our health and for the planet. This compelling blend of photography and investigative reportage expands our understanding of the complex relationships among individuals, culture, and food.

A long-tailed macaque grabs a necklace from a statue during the annual Monkey Buffet Festival at the Pra Prang Sam Yot temple in Lopburi, north of Bangkok November 30, 2014. The festival provides food and drinks to the local monkey population, which numbers more than 2,000, to thank them for drawing tourists to the town. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)