This week, young readers will travel to 21 countries, meet 25 families and learn about more than 500 meals, all while leaving their passports at home. From learning of Nadia Ahmed’s Okra Tagine with Mutton from Egypt to going through the supermarket aisles with the Cavens of California, this week’s read not only teases the palate but dishes out food for thought.
Week Two’s CLSC Young Readers selection, What The Worlds Eats, written and photographed by the wife and husband duo of Faith D’Aluisio and Peter Menzel, explores what people from each corner of the globe are eating and the effect globalization has had on food consumption. It also highlights customs and traditions from around the world, as well as the importance of families.
Today at 4:15 p.m. in the Alumni Hall ballroom, the young bookworms, in addition to discussing What The Worlds Eats, will also have the opportunity to give their two cents about this week’s theme of “Feeding a Hungry Planet.”
In addition to discussing What The World Eats, the Young Readers will delve into how food is consumed and the impact of food consumption in the world with Special Studies instructor and “locavore” Ellen Rozman.
“We all have to eat, and we do it in pretty amazing and different ways depending on our region, our culture, our religion and our geographic or economic concerns,” What the World Eats author D’Aluisio said. “There’s so many contributing factors that make us who we are in terms of what we eat. It’s pretty fascinating.”
Looking at how the rest of the world eats and spending time with different families is a journey D’Aluisio and Menzel have taken dozens of times and written several other books about. In What The World Eats, D’Aluisio, the writer, and Menzel, the photographer, with the help of their many families, take readers into the kitchens of the world with detailed pictures and thirst to want to know more.
“The words and the pictures work together to bring life to people that you might not have met in real life,” D’Alusio said.
“We went around the world doing this book and looking at families from other countries to try to understand and to show Westerners what people in other parts of the world were eating,” Menzel added.
In an effort to further expand the Western purview, D’Aluisio said that What The World Eats is an invitation to explore and that it was the stories from families that were most important when putting the book together.
“We really like these people and their stories to be the voice and to shine through,” D’Alusio said. “We work really hard on the text to make sure that it’s their voice you hear and not mine.”
Note: CLSC Young Readers is a program designed specifically for youth and attendance space is limited. Parents, grandparents and adult guests will be asked to wait outside the venue to allow room for allow interested youth to attend
and participate.
The Chautauquan Daily 
