Burka-wearing Afghan women walk past a clothing shop, in Herat, Afghanistan, Tuesday, November 23, 2021. (Photo by Petros Giannakouris/AP Photo)

Palestinian girls struggle as they get donated food at a distribution center in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, on Friday, December 6, 2024. (Photo by Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Photo)

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 fisherwoman prepares a meal in her home in a fishing village in Virar, about 40 km (25 miles) from Mumbai December 27, 2005. (Photo by Adeel Halim/Reuters)

Models of the SibPlus Models agency and participants of the Miss Doughnut beauty competition take part in a rehearsal in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Russia, March 4, 2017. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

Marie Joseph bathes her friend Jean Robert outside a shelter for the internally displaced where they live due to police violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, September 16, 2021. Most of the population of Port-au-Prince has no access to basic public services, no drinking water, electricity or garbage collection. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

A person believed to be possessed with the Gede spirit holds sculls during a ceremony honoring the Haitian Vodou spirit of Baron Samedi and Gede at the National Cemetery in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, November 1, 2021. (Photo by Matias Delacroix/AP Photo)

Voodoo followers, called Pitit Fey, attend a ceremony during the Day of the Dead celebrations at the Meyotte cemetery in Kay Gouye, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, November 1, 2021. (Photo by Claudia Daut/Reuters)