Dinner 48 ways

Photographer Peter Menzel sat down for 600-plus meals in 24 different countries. He came away with a series of photographs called Hungry Planet: What the World Eats, on display through January 18 at the Central Branch of the Kansas City, Missouri, Public Library (14 West 10th Street, 816-701-3400). Menzel documents great disparities in the world’s cultures, from the fast-food restaurants that clog America (and people’s arteries) to a waterside market in the African country of Mali (which the United Nations has designated a fourth-world country), and he captures the flavors and people of those places. Far from being depressing, the exhibit’s 48 color photographs are of citizens who are proud of their cultures and what they are able to put on their tables.

Oct. 18-Jan. 18, 2008