Side-By-Side Photos Of What Rich And Poor Eat Reveal 'Glaring Disparities' Worldwide

Photos Of What Rich And Poor Eat Reveal 'Glaring Disparities'

Initially, Henry Hargreaves and Caitlin Levin were interested in investigating how history’s most notorious dictators ate and used food deprivation as a weapon to punish insubordinates.

But soon after starting the project, the photographers realized hunger -- and the vast pain it causes -- is still very much a pervasive issue worldwide.

That’s when the pair switched gears and decided to also juxtapose the decadent meals eaten by the rich across the globe with the stark fare struggling individuals consume. The food on the tablecloth represents the meals of the privileged and the meager grub on the bare table represents a diet of the poor.

"We want people to literally and figuratively sit down and look across a table to see the glaring disparities between the 'haves and have nots,'" Hargreaves told The Huffington Post in an email.

The series, Power Hungry, is currently on display at Air Circulation in Brooklyn, New York. Below is a sampling of their work:

United States Today
Hunger is on the rise in the U.S. where 18.9 percent of people said they struggled to afford food last year. In a recent Feeding America survey, 56 percent of respondents said they eat food past its expiration date and 40 percent said they water down food and beverages to make them last longer.
Left foreground: Diet of the "haves;" right foreground: Diet of "have nots."
North Korea Today
In North Korea, more than a fourth of all children are stunted as a result of chronic malnutrition and 2.8 million people there "are in need of regular food assistance,” according to the United Nations.
Left foreground: Diet of the "haves;" right foreground: Diet of "have nots."
Syria Today
The U.N.’s World Food Program (WFP) continues to provide monthly packages, that include rice and pasta, to more than 4 million people living in Syria who are desperate for food aid. But funding shortages and armed conflicts have hindered the group’s efforts.
Left foreground: Diet of the "haves;" right foreground: Diet of "have nots."
France, Before the 1789 Revolution
While France was on the brink of bankruptcy at the close of the 18th century and citizens struggled to pay skyrocketing bread prices, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette reveled in their decadent tastes. The queen was known for her expensive hairstyles and her love of chocolate, which was a luxury item at the time. She began each day with a hot cup of chocolate with whipped cream and orange blossom.
Left foreground: Diet of the "haves;" right foreground: Diet of "have nots."
Ancient Rome
Those indulgent feasts you might recognize from history books were enjoyed by just 2 percent of the population in ancient Rome. The rest of the population mostly subsisted on millet, a grain that the wealthy snubbed as fit only for livestock.
Left foreground: Diet of the "haves;" right foreground: Diet of "have nots."

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