‘The lunch of suffering’: Chinese bloggers appalled by what they call ‘white people food’ such as salads, cheese and crackers
- Mainland Chinese bloggers are trying out ‘white people food’, or vegetable-heavy meals inspired by Europeans
- The term takes aim at raw salads, boiled eggs, chicken breast, sliced ham and the occasional piece of fruit
People in China are jumping on a new trend to express just how boring their lives are: mimicking how Europeans take their lunch.
Chinese blogs and social media are awash with people trying out “white people food”, or veggie-heavy meals cobbled together with whatever’s in the fridge.
They aren’t necessarily knocking Western cuisine. Rather, the term takes aim at the world of raw salads, boiled eggs, chicken breast, sliced ham and the occasional piece of fruit.
That might sound like a simple, healthy lunch in another part of the world, but to the average Weibo user, it’s absolute misery.
“The point of the white people’s meal is to learn what it feels like to be dead, but I’ve taken two bites and it was so bad it made me realise how alive I am,” wrote one poster who tried a serving of plain crackers, cheese and ham.
“Ah, the intoxicating white people’s meal,” wrote another sarcastically, posting a photo of sliced tomatoes and a banana.
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The trend has come to represent a grudging acceptance of simple eating from people striving to succeed in China’s gruelling “996” work culture.
Some posters, who compared making light meals to cooking or buying Chinese dishes, said the trend saves them time, money and a boatload of calories. It’s helped them realise that the point of eating is just to keep yourself alive, they said.
One poster, declaring themselves an advocate for “white people food”, said roasted tomatoes provided an “immortal’ taste.
“Self-cooking’s objective is, of course, to taste bad but be healthy,” wrote one user, showing off two boiled eggs in a tin can. “As long as you have the nutrients, it’s good. Being alive is good.”
One blogger wrote a particularly scathing review about a diet of broccoli, chicken, brown rice, and raw garden vegetables, calling “white people food” the “lunch of suffering”.
“It’s so confusing and outrageous to eat, it’s so lawless and outrageous,” they complained.
The stereotype’s origins can be traced in part to an initial fascination with healthy eating in Europe. A video posted on May 28 by a Chinese woman in Switzerland showed a European woman making her lunch on a train with just a bag of lettuce and slices of ham.
People in the comments also said their European colleagues would eat a single raw vegetable, like a bell pepper or carrot, for lunch.
“The locals’ tricks always shock me in new ways,” wrote the poster.
An article by the Yangtze Evening News documented several Chinese expatriates in Europe similarly posting about their local colleagues’ lunches.
“Can they already generate their own energy without eating?” wrote one person living in Denmark, who discovered a colleague had eaten only carrots and some spinach.
“My colleague’s lunch has not changed for more than 10 years, which is a handful of oatmeal mixed with low-fat yogurt, with half an apple and a carrot,” wrote another expatriate living in Germany.
Not everyone is convinced by the purported benefits of “white people food”.
“If such a meal is to extend life, what is the meaning of life?” wrote a commenter.
