The Washington Post

It’s easy to believe that everyone in the world eats the same kind of food, plays the same kind of games or has the same type of life. But is that so? A sample of statistics on living conditions across the globe says otherwise.

This material comes from a fascinating book published in 2005, “Hungry Planet: What the World Eats,” by Napa residents Peter Menzel, a photographer, and Faith D’Aluisio, a writer.

• Australia: In 2003, 3.9 million kangaroos were killed so their meat and skins could be sold.

• Mali: 91 percent of the population lives on less than $2 a day.

• France: Each person eats, on average, 57 pounds of cheese every year.

• Mexico: 228 pounds is the average tortilla consumption per person each year.

• Chad: 2 percent of households have electricity.

• India: About a third of its 1.1 billion people have access to safe sanitation.

• Japan: 146 pounds is the average fish consumption per person every year.

• Ecuador: $127 is spent per person on average for health care each year.

• China: Twelve of every 100 families in rural areas, where most of the country's 1.3 billion people live, have a refrigerator.

• Egypt: 90 percent of imported camels are used for food.

• Greenland: 20 percent of the population eats seal about four times a week.

• United States: $43 billion in household food is wasted every year.