The difference in food affordability and the factors leading to food disparities across the globe may come as a shock to most.

The World Food Programme’s (WFP) Counting the Beans index reveals the truth behind the cost of an average plate of food across the globe.

For instance, a $1.20 meal in New York costs $82.10 in the Central African Republic.

WFP calculated the cost of a plate of food in a poorer region of the world and adjusted it to the community’s average income.

“Think of it as a reverse Big Mac index, if you will: rather than focus on the product’s nominal price, we focus on the price as perceived by those meant to purchase to product,” WFP reported.

Read the full article by Chloe Bennett at United Nations Foundation