The look of hunger is unforgettable. Author Phillip Shaw checks out rice paddies For the past 20 years, the country has had an annual food deficit of 20 million tonnes. That's the amount imported. Everything produced in the country is sold on the free market. Food in Bangladesh is either fresh or not fit to eat.
Frozen foods are rare.
Fresh beef, slaughtered in the morning, hangs on hooks by the roadside with the head of the animal usually placed on the floor. Chicken is sold live, but always goes home freshly killed. It's not uncommon to see people walking down the street carrying dead chickens. On one of my trips to Bangladesh's southern-most point, St. Martin's Island, I got in a fishing boat complete with 3 chickens tied together at the leg. I asked what they were for and was quickly told they were my supper.