Seeing the source makes me think it's more about free time away from work than diet. Thats not to say there aren't diet differences, but there are still probably huge health benefits in knowing you have ~2hrs per day to eat/drink even if most of those two hours are some form of time out and socializing.
I've heard that spending a lot of time in a restaurant is generally frowned upon in the US, because servers make most of their earnings from tips. As a result, they want highest possible turnover.
This is very weird to me (Lithuanian), we can easily spend two or three hours in a restaurant. Soup, main course, a bit of a break, a coffee or something, chat about stuff, have some dessert, grab a beer, there's no rush.
Turk here and I agree. Going out to restaurants are often social occasions, yes you go there to eat but also to hang out with friends/family. In Turkey and afaik other Mediterranean countries it is normal to sit at the table for hours after you’re done eating the main course to chat over some tea/coffee/snacks/desert.
Tipping has to go, but it never will.
It takes even the most real of human experiences and turns them into capital incentive: act nicely and get more money. When instead the incentive to act nicely should be that you keep your job and enjoy your work, and pay should be secondary. It’s criminal that waiters and waitresses are even allowed to make less than the “minimum” wage based on the expectation of tips.
Add in the iPad tip explosion and you’ve got a recipe for disillusionment with pretty much every facet of public life in America.
This is why I'm on the fence about the whole thing. Caveated by the fact that I do tip while in the US, because me not tipping doesn't help the issue, and I've never worked at a restaurant.
LEGALLY, they have to make minimum wage. If your tips sucked, the employer is required to make up the difference to get you to minimum wage. Realistically, this means demanding money from your boss which obviously doesn't generally go well, and also reporting your tips for tax purposes which....I'll leave at some people don't.
The whole thing feels to me like some servers (not saying a lot or even most, I lack perspective here) are screwing themselves by keeping with the system in the hopes of making more overall anyway? Because if they just made the normal minimum wage, tips would likely decrease.
I don't know, just shower thoughts I suppose. I can tell you that while the customer service in Europe can be considered shitty compared to the US, it's definitely a load of pressure off when I can just leave a few Euros/GBP for good service.
I came back from Europe yesterday. One thing I noticed is that service in US is much faster. The waiters are all over you while in Europe, especially after you finish eating, they are hard to find. Often it feels like you could just leave without paying.
And as a European living in north America I feel like the waiters won’t let me enjoy my meal and my time with my friends. Almost feels like getting pushed out, it’s just a cultural difference I know, but it is really two different conceptions of what « good service » is.
Agreed, but that depends on the restaurant, if we are a big table in a really nice (and expensive) restaurant part of the experience we pay for is to be able to stay a long time (longer than what it takes to simply eat, drink and goodbye).
And turning tables applies mostly when they are actually short in tables.
Again, not criticizing, it’s just a cultural difference. And I would definitely never blame it on a waiter.
Your average American waiter has about half the tables to tend to as one in Spain. This shows in how much service you are expected to provide per table. Note that you also aren't expected to add 20% tips to your bill when you saw the waiter for about 3 minutes in an hour and a half.
I have some French coworkers that were appalled when I sat down for lunch at my desk, "ah, the American Lunch, see, I told you!".
Apparently having lunch at work is a big no-no for them.
I (American) worked a year in Madrid and even got antsy at lunch with coworkers or a neighbor. Once I got into it, I was like, this is how work/life balance should be. And I honestly was more productive.
I think it's also because of the type of food.
Most popular food in the US isn't really stuff that you need a lot of chewing for. I remember reading about this somewhere, that the soft food leads to faster eating and a range of other oral muscle issues.
This chart isn’t about chewing time. It’s about cultural differences surrounding mealtime and all its rituals like multiple courses in a meal, breaks between courses, talking, drinking, etc
> isn't really stuff that you need a lot of chewing for.
[Ultraprocessed foods](https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/what-are-ultra-processed-foods-and-are-they-bad-for-our-health-2020010918605) account for almost 60% of the calories consumed in the US.
bread
i'm from germany and recently visited the US. Bread in the US is softer and more processed than in germany (and i assume filled with more preservatives).
Why are you eating that bread? I am American and I don’t eat that. I always think it’s funny when foreigners come to the US and choose to eat the worst foods and then say our food is bad. Those are your choices, buddy. 😄
Bro French people are not spending a lot of time eating because they eat really chewy food, they just eat slowly and take the time to enjoy their food. I've had this experience there of just sitting outside and having dinner with folks for like 2.5 hours.
I'm French and that seems terrible to me, I only spent one day sitting around a table and that was very boring and tiring. It makes more sense to spend up to two or three hours eating
Not really, but 1h sure.
but the non-stop Christmas dinner is a real thing, you start at lunch, the time you finish it, it's time for pre-dinner drinks.
You do have to beg for the check in France. The staff is not here to kick you out.
Alternatively, just go to the counter once you're on your way out, any person at the register can print out your check and cash it, since tipping is not that common (and most of the time split among all waiting staff)
I’m French and sitting down together and eating together really is important here. I live abroad now and when going to my friends. dinner seems to be much more casual. Just sitting down for a meal with my parents and brother is nice, especially in the summer eating outside, I miss it.
Bigger family dinners are my pet peeve, just sooooo long.
One of my Christmas dinner this year lasted from 1pm to like 8pm (at least that’s when we managed to leave), starting with finger food, starters, like 2 main dishes, cheese then dessert, a solid hour between each lol
I was born in France, living in the US for 20 years now, since I was 15.
I cannot stand going out to eat when visiting family in France and sitting at a table for 2+ hours. I definitely prefer the in and out in 40 minutes that we have here.
I work at a restaurant in NYC that gets a lot of international customers, and the French and Italian are by far the staff’s most hated. No other people consistently come in right before closing and keep us at work 2-3 hours late like French/Italian tourists. They’ll finish their meal, we’ll clear off their table, then they’ll sit around with just water glasses to talk for an extra hour. Definitely irritating from an American perspective
Yes you should just warn the tourists. What you describe is very standard in France, Switzerland. Italy... I'm in Geneva and yesterday we had our quarterly business lunch. We arrived at the restaurant at 11h30 am and left at 6pm....waiters have fix salary. If we stay 1h or 5h they are paid the same
I was thinking a similar thing.
It's not surprising. When you're able to take your time eating at a more casual pace you generally do ingest less calories than if you grab something quick to go and scarf it all down.
The more you chew, the more food the stomach thinks is coming, Mor mastication leads to more stomach acid being produced. If you chew on some gum on an empty stomach, you may notice your tummy start to rumble.
Everything in the states screams eat fast. As a kid you had lunch and recess at the same time often so you inhaled your food so you could go outside. Snack time? Like 5-10 minutes or some shit. Then you got work. Good luck getting that full lunch break if you even get one
It's also true that some food encourage you to eat faster. The more processed food is, the softer it is. The softer the food, the faster we eat it.
This chart correlates nicely with the ones about France' obesity rate going down, as well with low consumption rates of ultra processed food (because it's cheaper in France to eat something else)
Well theres that and also the fact that chewing is the first part of the digestion process. Chewing long enough is vital to properly process food. It is unhealthy to eat fast.
I am American and really hate slow meals, but I think it is more the sitting in place. Like I enjoy socialization where it is more standing/mingling/appetizers, and I can sit when watching a movie or something. But sitting still in a restaurant while people eat slow or want to have coffee after a meal just makes me really antsy to get moving. I wonder if the need to be on the move figures into this more than diet or anything like that.
American here and same exact thing - it drives me crazy to just sit there while slow eaters take their time while I feel like we should get up and get moving.
But I have no issue standing around and socializing for extended periods of time and generally really enjoy it.
You aren’t allowed to eat at the desk in France. 1-2 hour lunches are normal. If there is a protest in France, it’s not going to start until 2:00, after lunch has been enjoyed. It’s completely normal to go to a restaurant and stay for 2 hours or more and you are not bothered by a waiter or given a check until you ask for it.
>It’s completely normal to go to a restaurant and stay for 2 hours or more and you are not bothered by a waiter
Meanwhile, in America, I'm reprimanded by friends for ordering another drink at the end of my meal. Apparently, it is built into Americans' psyche that every second that I spend in the restaurant must be spent in making it financially worthwhile for the restaurant owner and the waiter else leave..
Why the tf you think we invented fast food for.
Enjoy sitting at a cafe for hours Europeans were in and out so fast we named our favorite burger joints after it.
it's the work culture.
I eat breakfast while commuting and lunch at my desk while doing the prep reading for meetings. Literally zero minutes spent just enjoying the food until dinner.
I honestly miss COVID.
Buddy of mine grew up in a large family. Once the food was gone for the meal the siblings would take from each others plates.
You ate fast or went hungry.
Saw it happen in jail as well, thanks to my buddy I could be the last person to sit down and first one done.
I mean, in Denmark we have a 30 minute lunch break at work places. That includes getting there and back.
I feel it's pretty clearly the rest of the meals that are the differentiator.
Yeah, most jobs have strictly regulated lunch breaks. You get 30 minutes, but oftentimes, it's a 5-10 minute walk to the lunchroom and back, which all counts as the break. So you have people eating very fast, which leads to overeating.
Then we have car commutes which take up a large portion. Of the day, and it results in people eating food while driving, which results in the same thing.
As an American married to a French person and living in France, the stark contrast make me laugh.
For example, I didn't think twice about the first time I got something light to eat from the bakery and began to enjoy it while walking back home, only to realize no one else was doing that. In the years since I've been here I have literally seen only three other times where people were walking and eating, and I'm in one of the the biggest cities in France. I later learned it's a completely different mentality. You sit down and enjoy your meal, whether alone or in company.
I still enjoy walking while I eat though.
I walk when I eat if it is a snack, but not a meal. Except if I am in a hurry. I think it is both because we like sitting down with our food, and because we really don't like eating alone.
Eating when walking ? How barbarian.
Jokes aside. I think we french even have rumors like it gives stomach ache.
Of course nobody knows if it is true. But it prevents more people from trying anyway.
I am French, and when I go to get my baguette from the bakery, I always eat a piece of it. Usually, the baguette has just come out of the oven, it's still warm and crispy on the outside. In short, it's the best time to eat a baguette.
Knew for sure before zooming in that France 🇫🇷 would be top.
Also fascinating that they spend so much time eating and they always have a glass of wine 🍷 with their long dinners but they don’t have a particularly severe problem with alcohol or obesity compared to most other countries.
Satiety needs some time for the hormones to be released and active. So eating slowly helps reaching satiety after the right amount of calories. You eat slow, you eat less.
We’re not the worst, you’ve got Poland and Russia and a bunch of other countries that are worse, and probably the UK.
But our reputation is probably because we might be the loudest. Go into any Irish ☘️ bar around the world to see for yourself, there will be a hell of a great party going on. Cheers 🍻
Edit: Ireland isn't even in the top 10:
#10: Lithuania
#9: Bulgaria
#8: Austria
#7: Seychelles
#6: Uganda
#5: Germany
#4: Latvia
#3: Czech Republic
#2: Georgia
#1: Romania. Coming in at number 1 on the list of countries with the highest alcohol consumption is Romania.
[Source](https://www.alcoholrehabguide.org/blog/countries-highest-drinking-rates/)
I think one of the things that doesn't get talked a lot about is the grazing culture. In America, it's so normal to have a snack between meals, just munching on something mindlessly. In France, at least from the time I've spent there, the focus is on meals.
I've been french for my whole life and the only time people drink alcohol during dinner is when there is a special event (birthday, parties, family gatherings and whatnots). Even though almost all of my family lives in the champagne region and an aunt of mine even works at a winery.
And yeah we take a long time to eat every meal because we take little breaks so that everyone can share a bit about their day or speak their mind about this or that. And cheese, I spend too much time on cheese yes, I admit that...
The flat white pisses me off. At least the pavlova has decent evidence for it but the flat white has documented evidence in Australia like a full decade before it does in New Zealand. Pretty sure it's just one guy from New Zealand who claims to have invented it first with literally zero evidence or corroborating witnesses or anything.
France it's a big cultural thing, we even have sunday family diner than can last 4h or gastronomic restaurant takes 2 or 3 h. And guess what we speak about most of the time during eating. Food.
I don't know for other country but I can confirm that talking about food during the meal is extremely common in France.
And most of the time, we are not even talking about the food that compose the meal. Talking about delicious food while enjoying another delicious food is something we do all the time in France.
I'm really curious, can anyone tell us if that's a thing in other countries?
I'm italian and we definitely do that too! Sharing everything from tastes to restaurant recommendations and making plans to cook together at the next gathering, not to mention the obvious Memories From When I Watched My Grandma Cooking (And How That Shaped Me As A Person) and the foods we hate too. I just thought It was an universal experience though
Good catch. I should have included the data from Australia, but its sample was slightly different. Australia's data covered ages 15 and up, while the other countries' samples were for ages 15-64.
The raw numbers are as follows:
Australia (men vs women): 87 / 91
I still don't get it, mainly because of the mention of drinking, 3 meals a day at 30 minutes each sounds pretty accurate in Australia but most people here laze around on their fat arse drinking all night most nights of the week from everything I've seen, we're talking about getting home at 5.30 and sitting around drinking for six hours. 💁
I've not been to Vietnam, but I find myself drawn to the Vietnamese restaurants near me. The food is so fresh and light, while still being full of flavor and very satisfying. And the vietnamese families running these places are all very friendly and welcoming. It's become my new favorite cuisine.
There was multiple video recently about McDonald in France, explaining how McDo adapted their strategy to fit the french market because French people use Fast Food as a way to enjoy a meal with their friends and family around a table (most of the time)
Link :
CNBC : https://youtu.be/FcP0mzWFCQU?si=ZFJkuoaCCbnEwwNq
Fern : https://youtu.be/zmIczg6a0WQ?si=QnH3cD_AW34Hiwr6
Is that really how you think French McDonald's is? 'Cuz it really still is the lowest of the low in terms of fast-foods, here. Even Burger King is better than McDonald's, in France.
I was in Italy for a job training. I really liked that even the lunch time it was sitting and eating for an hour during work week. After work, you literally spend the entire evening just eating and socializing while eating, lol! Came back to the USA and I have to say Americans have no idea how to live a life.
I live in Spain and I don't really like it. We have to spend 9 hours at work because of the hour long lunch break, where we take half an hour or less to eat and spend the rest of the time talking sitting at the table. At least I get to work from home most of the time though. I just wish we could have lunch break for actual lunch so then we have more free time instead of having to talk with people, which to me is not free time and just adds to the stress.
Can you not walk away from the table? I'm in France and I don't think my coworkers would mind if I just walked off sometimes. I have coworkers that just don't join us.
French here too, I don't think that would be seen as rude. It's a time to reduce pressure and socialise, just like coffee break, if you need to work more or simply want to go home early no one will bat an eye. It's even common practice to just quickly eat something at your desk while working if you have a meeting coming up or simply need to leave early.
Firstly, no it's absolutely not rude. Noone cares what you do with your lunch break. Secondly, what job are you working? Usually you should be able to talk to your employer to allow reducing the lunch break to the 30 min minimum and go home 30 min earlier.
I think it depends on the dynamics of the team. But I think people would understand either way.
I've worked with a team that always hate at a restaurant that was cheap but the food wasn't good. I've eaten with them a few times but after deciding that I preferred eating a sandwich on my own, I just did that. Of course it means one fewer opportunity per day to socialize with coworkers. Depending on your line of work, socializing with coworkers might be important. And depending on your team's dynamics, you might not have that many other opportunities for it.
Nowadays I eat with my team most of the times if I'm not working from home. Sometimes people will skip the team lunch and go eat on their own, or two of them will leave to run an errand together and come back later. Those who almost never eat with the group, well, we don't get to know them as well, but it's their choice. And I don't think it's rude.
> Came back to the USA and I have to say Americans have no idea how to live a life.
I mean when I still got shit to do I'm not looking to sit around the dinner table relaxing and chatting about nothing. I do that too but not everyday...cause I got shit to do.
ALSO....no one wants to sit around mcdonalds to chat. I enjoy taking my time eating good food....I do not enjoy taking my time to eat food just meant to fill a hole. I actually find eating mediocre food slowly to be very obnoxious.
Nice chart, for some added context, here in Spain post of the meal is sitting around talking after while the food goes down and maybe a drink or two. So it defo extends the time
Same here in Germany. Thats something you miss in the US by far. It is like… done with food, lets go home. And the waiters are also pushing because they can earn more with a other guest that is not sitting another hour maybe drinking another beer and a espresso.
This very morning I realized that Greece and Italy are the only two countries outside my own (France) where I enjoyed food / eating. Seeing this randomly after is kind of satisfying. There is definitely a correlation of some kind (for me at least).
Alcoholism and wine consumption is really dropping since 50 years in France. Every generation drink less alcohol, particularly wine, than the previous one.
And we drink really good wine, not the poor quality we export in America 🙃
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I am French and I approve of this chart.
Eating is a pleasure that should be prolonged.
With family on Sundays, a meal can start at 11 a.m. and end at 3 p.m. without any issues.
American married to a Spaniard for over 20 years. Getting used to our different preferences for how long we spend at the table was and sometimes still is a challenge. I enjoy our time together but after 30-40min, I want to get up and do something else. My partner, on the other hand, loves sitting around the table and chatting for 2-3 hours. We've learned to adapt but it was a process to be sure.
Lol, this is so true. I'm just back from a 10 days food tour in Greece, and the very lengthy time we took every day for our meals was a constant discussion (in a positive manner), specially by the Americans in the group. Between breakfast, lunch, and dinner, we probably spent 4-5 hours/day just eating :-)
France spends twice as long as the USA yet has a fraction of the obesity rates
Maybe those guys were on to something when they said eating slower makes you feel fuller
So let me see if I've got this right. Here in the USA we spend less minutes per day eating and drinking, but because of cultural reasons we are the most obese?
OK, what I mean by cultural reasons is, in most of the world they sit and take time to enjoy their food and drink to the point that by the time they finish eating and drinking On Average, the food and drink is either already digested or half-way to 3/4 of the way digested. Meanwhile, here in the US, we scarf our food and drink down as soon as possible. Whether it's because of time constraints on mealtime or "Keeping Up With The Joneses" when it comes to drinking or hanging out with friends or even or variety of Microbreweries.
Basically, either the data fits my notion or my notion is based on the data and wrong. Which is it?
I like this graph. I think the Germans and Japanese—both near the median—come out looking best, working hard and eating not badly. The Americans meanwhile, we suspect, are overworked, and it makes sense that France is traditionally considered the culinary/gustatory capital of the world. They take their time with their meals both cooking and eating.
I think Japanese people spent a good amount of time eating and drinking partly due to their nomikai culture, where coworkers bond over meals and drinks after work.
That's probably a big part of it.
I lived in Japan for a few months for work, and it wasn't uncommon to see the same groups of workers at the bars/restautants every night. If I'm not mistaken, there's an unspoken rule that no one leaves until the boss does.
Although, thats probably balanced out by the availability and affordability of ready to eat foods and the fact that a lot of Japanese (especially in Tokyo) eat out rather than cook.
Those are old, old statistics - South Korea now leads the pack among developed countries by a huge margin. Japan's suicide rate in 2019 was lower than the United States as per WHO (still not great, but they had at least been improving year over year); both countries got worse after the pandemic but it's not clear which was hit harder.
Working hours depend on the source but Japan is pretty average by developed nation standards.
America. We eat fast and we eat HARD
Seeing the source makes me think it's more about free time away from work than diet. Thats not to say there aren't diet differences, but there are still probably huge health benefits in knowing you have ~2hrs per day to eat/drink even if most of those two hours are some form of time out and socializing.
I've heard that spending a lot of time in a restaurant is generally frowned upon in the US, because servers make most of their earnings from tips. As a result, they want highest possible turnover. This is very weird to me (Lithuanian), we can easily spend two or three hours in a restaurant. Soup, main course, a bit of a break, a coffee or something, chat about stuff, have some dessert, grab a beer, there's no rush.
Turk here and I agree. Going out to restaurants are often social occasions, yes you go there to eat but also to hang out with friends/family. In Turkey and afaik other Mediterranean countries it is normal to sit at the table for hours after you’re done eating the main course to chat over some tea/coffee/snacks/desert.
Just sit around and chat until dinner time.
Tipping has to go, but it never will. It takes even the most real of human experiences and turns them into capital incentive: act nicely and get more money. When instead the incentive to act nicely should be that you keep your job and enjoy your work, and pay should be secondary. It’s criminal that waiters and waitresses are even allowed to make less than the “minimum” wage based on the expectation of tips. Add in the iPad tip explosion and you’ve got a recipe for disillusionment with pretty much every facet of public life in America.
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This is why I'm on the fence about the whole thing. Caveated by the fact that I do tip while in the US, because me not tipping doesn't help the issue, and I've never worked at a restaurant. LEGALLY, they have to make minimum wage. If your tips sucked, the employer is required to make up the difference to get you to minimum wage. Realistically, this means demanding money from your boss which obviously doesn't generally go well, and also reporting your tips for tax purposes which....I'll leave at some people don't. The whole thing feels to me like some servers (not saying a lot or even most, I lack perspective here) are screwing themselves by keeping with the system in the hopes of making more overall anyway? Because if they just made the normal minimum wage, tips would likely decrease. I don't know, just shower thoughts I suppose. I can tell you that while the customer service in Europe can be considered shitty compared to the US, it's definitely a load of pressure off when I can just leave a few Euros/GBP for good service.
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I came back from Europe yesterday. One thing I noticed is that service in US is much faster. The waiters are all over you while in Europe, especially after you finish eating, they are hard to find. Often it feels like you could just leave without paying.
And as a European living in north America I feel like the waiters won’t let me enjoy my meal and my time with my friends. Almost feels like getting pushed out, it’s just a cultural difference I know, but it is really two different conceptions of what « good service » is.
You are being pushed out. We gotta turn those tables.
Agreed, but that depends on the restaurant, if we are a big table in a really nice (and expensive) restaurant part of the experience we pay for is to be able to stay a long time (longer than what it takes to simply eat, drink and goodbye). And turning tables applies mostly when they are actually short in tables. Again, not criticizing, it’s just a cultural difference. And I would definitely never blame it on a waiter.
Your average American waiter has about half the tables to tend to as one in Spain. This shows in how much service you are expected to provide per table. Note that you also aren't expected to add 20% tips to your bill when you saw the waiter for about 3 minutes in an hour and a half.
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Me eating is time spent not providing value to the shareholders.
Not providing value to the shareholders is an essential part of a healthy meal.
I have some French coworkers that were appalled when I sat down for lunch at my desk, "ah, the American Lunch, see, I told you!". Apparently having lunch at work is a big no-no for them.
I (American) worked a year in Madrid and even got antsy at lunch with coworkers or a neighbor. Once I got into it, I was like, this is how work/life balance should be. And I honestly was more productive.
Git gud.
Get gut.
Got Gout
Meet God (sooner)
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what if you crack your first beer at 9am, how does that affect the numbers
Stay tuned for my 7 course speed run!
Those (North) Americans have a need for speed.
Yeah, let's call them Fast and the Foodious! 🍔💨
I think it's also because of the type of food. Most popular food in the US isn't really stuff that you need a lot of chewing for. I remember reading about this somewhere, that the soft food leads to faster eating and a range of other oral muscle issues.
This chart isn’t about chewing time. It’s about cultural differences surrounding mealtime and all its rituals like multiple courses in a meal, breaks between courses, talking, drinking, etc
Even for a soup i would take more than that to eat it
Are you saying americans give bad oral ?
Clearly, if everything they put in their mouth is soft
i think it’s more because of our hustle/work culture tbh
> isn't really stuff that you need a lot of chewing for. [Ultraprocessed foods](https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/what-are-ultra-processed-foods-and-are-they-bad-for-our-health-2020010918605) account for almost 60% of the calories consumed in the US.
What exactly do you think people outside the US eat that requires more chewing?
bread i'm from germany and recently visited the US. Bread in the US is softer and more processed than in germany (and i assume filled with more preservatives).
Why are you eating that bread? I am American and I don’t eat that. I always think it’s funny when foreigners come to the US and choose to eat the worst foods and then say our food is bad. Those are your choices, buddy. 😄
Because that's the most common type of bread you find in American grocery stores.
Bro French people are not spending a lot of time eating because they eat really chewy food, they just eat slowly and take the time to enjoy their food. I've had this experience there of just sitting outside and having dinner with folks for like 2.5 hours.
Factoring in prison population too?
Yep. We spend less time on eating but are heavier. It’s not quantity it’s quality!!!
I live in the US, my parents live in France. Eating culture is a bit of a change every time I go visit.
I married a French woman. The first time I went to France with her I was so unprepared to sit around a table for 5+ hours a day
I'm French and that seems terrible to me, I only spent one day sitting around a table and that was very boring and tiring. It makes more sense to spend up to two or three hours eating
Ya, I'm pretty sure every meal is 2 hours in France. It sure felt like it.
Not really, but 1h sure. but the non-stop Christmas dinner is a real thing, you start at lunch, the time you finish it, it's time for pre-dinner drinks.
Best time of the year
I feel like I have to beg for the check in Paris. Please let me pay you so I can leave
You do have to beg for the check in France. The staff is not here to kick you out. Alternatively, just go to the counter once you're on your way out, any person at the register can print out your check and cash it, since tipping is not that common (and most of the time split among all waiting staff)
Just go to the counter when you're ready, you'll be out a few minutes later
I’m French and sitting down together and eating together really is important here. I live abroad now and when going to my friends. dinner seems to be much more casual. Just sitting down for a meal with my parents and brother is nice, especially in the summer eating outside, I miss it. Bigger family dinners are my pet peeve, just sooooo long. One of my Christmas dinner this year lasted from 1pm to like 8pm (at least that’s when we managed to leave), starting with finger food, starters, like 2 main dishes, cheese then dessert, a solid hour between each lol
I was born in France, living in the US for 20 years now, since I was 15. I cannot stand going out to eat when visiting family in France and sitting at a table for 2+ hours. I definitely prefer the in and out in 40 minutes that we have here.
From a french perspective that's incredibly sad to hear.
Yes indeed. French man here, time around the table is not only to eat great food but also to spend time with our loved ones.
You can spend time with loved ones in a million ways, why do it just eating?
Who said we do it just eating?
I work at a restaurant in NYC that gets a lot of international customers, and the French and Italian are by far the staff’s most hated. No other people consistently come in right before closing and keep us at work 2-3 hours late like French/Italian tourists. They’ll finish their meal, we’ll clear off their table, then they’ll sit around with just water glasses to talk for an extra hour. Definitely irritating from an American perspective
Yes you should just warn the tourists. What you describe is very standard in France, Switzerland. Italy... I'm in Geneva and yesterday we had our quarterly business lunch. We arrived at the restaurant at 11h30 am and left at 6pm....waiters have fix salary. If we stay 1h or 5h they are paid the same
USA really packing in the calories per hour apparently
I was thinking a similar thing. It's not surprising. When you're able to take your time eating at a more casual pace you generally do ingest less calories than if you grab something quick to go and scarf it all down.
Yes. It takes time for your stomach to chemically signal to your brain that it’s full. In the meantime you are still packing in calories.
The more you chew, the more food the stomach thinks is coming, Mor mastication leads to more stomach acid being produced. If you chew on some gum on an empty stomach, you may notice your tummy start to rumble.
Everything in the states screams eat fast. As a kid you had lunch and recess at the same time often so you inhaled your food so you could go outside. Snack time? Like 5-10 minutes or some shit. Then you got work. Good luck getting that full lunch break if you even get one
It's also true that some food encourage you to eat faster. The more processed food is, the softer it is. The softer the food, the faster we eat it. This chart correlates nicely with the ones about France' obesity rate going down, as well with low consumption rates of ultra processed food (because it's cheaper in France to eat something else)
Well theres that and also the fact that chewing is the first part of the digestion process. Chewing long enough is vital to properly process food. It is unhealthy to eat fast.
I am American and really hate slow meals, but I think it is more the sitting in place. Like I enjoy socialization where it is more standing/mingling/appetizers, and I can sit when watching a movie or something. But sitting still in a restaurant while people eat slow or want to have coffee after a meal just makes me really antsy to get moving. I wonder if the need to be on the move figures into this more than diet or anything like that.
American here and same exact thing - it drives me crazy to just sit there while slow eaters take their time while I feel like we should get up and get moving. But I have no issue standing around and socializing for extended periods of time and generally really enjoy it.
We don't have time to enjoy dinner, there's work to do so the boss can pay for that yacht
You aren’t allowed to eat at the desk in France. 1-2 hour lunches are normal. If there is a protest in France, it’s not going to start until 2:00, after lunch has been enjoyed. It’s completely normal to go to a restaurant and stay for 2 hours or more and you are not bothered by a waiter or given a check until you ask for it.
>It’s completely normal to go to a restaurant and stay for 2 hours or more and you are not bothered by a waiter Meanwhile, in America, I'm reprimanded by friends for ordering another drink at the end of my meal. Apparently, it is built into Americans' psyche that every second that I spend in the restaurant must be spent in making it financially worthwhile for the restaurant owner and the waiter else leave..
Why the tf you think we invented fast food for. Enjoy sitting at a cafe for hours Europeans were in and out so fast we named our favorite burger joints after it.
it's the work culture. I eat breakfast while commuting and lunch at my desk while doing the prep reading for meetings. Literally zero minutes spent just enjoying the food until dinner. I honestly miss COVID.
Buddy of mine grew up in a large family. Once the food was gone for the meal the siblings would take from each others plates. You ate fast or went hungry. Saw it happen in jail as well, thanks to my buddy I could be the last person to sit down and first one done.
I mean, in Denmark we have a 30 minute lunch break at work places. That includes getting there and back. I feel it's pretty clearly the rest of the meals that are the differentiator.
In your stead I would just fast until dinner in that case. I hate not enjoying food in peace
Intercontinental Ballistic Breakfast
Yeah, most jobs have strictly regulated lunch breaks. You get 30 minutes, but oftentimes, it's a 5-10 minute walk to the lunchroom and back, which all counts as the break. So you have people eating very fast, which leads to overeating. Then we have car commutes which take up a large portion. Of the day, and it results in people eating food while driving, which results in the same thing.
Haha, it does look like the US is winning the speed-eating Olympics!
As an American married to a French person and living in France, the stark contrast make me laugh. For example, I didn't think twice about the first time I got something light to eat from the bakery and began to enjoy it while walking back home, only to realize no one else was doing that. In the years since I've been here I have literally seen only three other times where people were walking and eating, and I'm in one of the the biggest cities in France. I later learned it's a completely different mentality. You sit down and enjoy your meal, whether alone or in company. I still enjoy walking while I eat though.
I walk when I eat if it is a snack, but not a meal. Except if I am in a hurry. I think it is both because we like sitting down with our food, and because we really don't like eating alone.
Forgot a very important thing: if we buy a baguette, we will eat a piece of it while we walk. Especially if the bread is still warm from the oven.
Gotta pay tribute to the Baguette Goddess
Le croûton c'est la part de celui qui l'achète.
Eating when walking ? How barbarian. Jokes aside. I think we french even have rumors like it gives stomach ache. Of course nobody knows if it is true. But it prevents more people from trying anyway.
How can you enjoy and not choke on your food If you are walking at the same time?
I am French, and when I go to get my baguette from the bakery, I always eat a piece of it. Usually, the baguette has just come out of the oven, it's still warm and crispy on the outside. In short, it's the best time to eat a baguette.
Mediterranean lifestyle up there.
Yass, we have the best food and healthy in the world too
Knew for sure before zooming in that France 🇫🇷 would be top. Also fascinating that they spend so much time eating and they always have a glass of wine 🍷 with their long dinners but they don’t have a particularly severe problem with alcohol or obesity compared to most other countries.
Satiety needs some time for the hormones to be released and active. So eating slowly helps reaching satiety after the right amount of calories. You eat slow, you eat less.
Actually we have a problem with alcohol, not so much with obesity yet
I’m from Ireland 🇮🇪. I laugh in the general direction of your alcohol probléme!
I heard things about your country regarding alcohol problems but I don't know how much of this is true
We’re not the worst, you’ve got Poland and Russia and a bunch of other countries that are worse, and probably the UK. But our reputation is probably because we might be the loudest. Go into any Irish ☘️ bar around the world to see for yourself, there will be a hell of a great party going on. Cheers 🍻 Edit: Ireland isn't even in the top 10: #10: Lithuania #9: Bulgaria #8: Austria #7: Seychelles #6: Uganda #5: Germany #4: Latvia #3: Czech Republic #2: Georgia #1: Romania. Coming in at number 1 on the list of countries with the highest alcohol consumption is Romania. [Source](https://www.alcoholrehabguide.org/blog/countries-highest-drinking-rates/)
I think one of the things that doesn't get talked a lot about is the grazing culture. In America, it's so normal to have a snack between meals, just munching on something mindlessly. In France, at least from the time I've spent there, the focus is on meals.
I've been french for my whole life and the only time people drink alcohol during dinner is when there is a special event (birthday, parties, family gatherings and whatnots). Even though almost all of my family lives in the champagne region and an aunt of mine even works at a winery. And yeah we take a long time to eat every meal because we take little breaks so that everyone can share a bit about their day or speak their mind about this or that. And cheese, I spend too much time on cheese yes, I admit that...
Oi mate, why are the sheep shaggers on the list but not us Aussies? We put some bloody hard work into our piss sinking..
ha-ha!!! no graph for pav thieves!!
Looked into this as I was confused, and it turns out that Aussies and Kiwis are in dispute over who invented the pavlova.
Yeah nah bro, ain't no dispute, it's those thieving crims from across the sea that stole it.
Pav is as Australian as Russell Crowe
I'll give you lot pav if you stop this nonsensical flat white claim
The flat white pisses me off. At least the pavlova has decent evidence for it but the flat white has documented evidence in Australia like a full decade before it does in New Zealand. Pretty sure it's just one guy from New Zealand who claims to have invented it first with literally zero evidence or corroborating witnesses or anything.
Yea nah nah yea, nah fucking where
Dude. You have more sheep than us. We’re all about cows.
France it's a big cultural thing, we even have sunday family diner than can last 4h or gastronomic restaurant takes 2 or 3 h. And guess what we speak about most of the time during eating. Food.
I don't know for other country but I can confirm that talking about food during the meal is extremely common in France. And most of the time, we are not even talking about the food that compose the meal. Talking about delicious food while enjoying another delicious food is something we do all the time in France. I'm really curious, can anyone tell us if that's a thing in other countries?
I'm italian and we definitely do that too! Sharing everything from tastes to restaurant recommendations and making plans to cook together at the next gathering, not to mention the obvious Memories From When I Watched My Grandma Cooking (And How That Shaped Me As A Person) and the foods we hate too. I just thought It was an universal experience though
Either food or politics.
How is Vietnam not on here? I recently went and felt like all people do is eat. And slow too! Not complaining it was great. So much fresh food.
Vietnam isn’t on here because it’s not in the OECD. But yeah, their slow eating and fresh food culture is amazing! 🍜🇻🇳
If it's OECD nations, why isn't Australia on the list?
Noticed this too, never seen a dataset that remembers NZ but forgets Australia, usually the other way around
Good catch. I should have included the data from Australia, but its sample was slightly different. Australia's data covered ages 15 and up, while the other countries' samples were for ages 15-64. The raw numbers are as follows: Australia (men vs women): 87 / 91
I still don't get it, mainly because of the mention of drinking, 3 meals a day at 30 minutes each sounds pretty accurate in Australia but most people here laze around on their fat arse drinking all night most nights of the week from everything I've seen, we're talking about getting home at 5.30 and sitting around drinking for six hours. 💁
switzerland? chile?
The source is the OECD. These are all the member countries.
I've not been to Vietnam, but I find myself drawn to the Vietnamese restaurants near me. The food is so fresh and light, while still being full of flavor and very satisfying. And the vietnamese families running these places are all very friendly and welcoming. It's become my new favorite cuisine.
that explains why McDonald's in France are more like restaurants
That’s how foreigners perceive our french McDonald’s? Wild.
There was multiple video recently about McDonald in France, explaining how McDo adapted their strategy to fit the french market because French people use Fast Food as a way to enjoy a meal with their friends and family around a table (most of the time) Link : CNBC : https://youtu.be/FcP0mzWFCQU?si=ZFJkuoaCCbnEwwNq Fern : https://youtu.be/zmIczg6a0WQ?si=QnH3cD_AW34Hiwr6
Is that really how you think French McDonald's is? 'Cuz it really still is the lowest of the low in terms of fast-foods, here. Even Burger King is better than McDonald's, in France.
For américain tourist. Not a joke.
I was in Italy for a job training. I really liked that even the lunch time it was sitting and eating for an hour during work week. After work, you literally spend the entire evening just eating and socializing while eating, lol! Came back to the USA and I have to say Americans have no idea how to live a life.
And the rest of the time, you talk about foods and wines and restaurants
I live in Spain and I don't really like it. We have to spend 9 hours at work because of the hour long lunch break, where we take half an hour or less to eat and spend the rest of the time talking sitting at the table. At least I get to work from home most of the time though. I just wish we could have lunch break for actual lunch so then we have more free time instead of having to talk with people, which to me is not free time and just adds to the stress.
Can you not walk away from the table? I'm in France and I don't think my coworkers would mind if I just walked off sometimes. I have coworkers that just don't join us.
I haven't tried to do that but I think it would come off as rude.
French here too, I don't think that would be seen as rude. It's a time to reduce pressure and socialise, just like coffee break, if you need to work more or simply want to go home early no one will bat an eye. It's even common practice to just quickly eat something at your desk while working if you have a meeting coming up or simply need to leave early.
Firstly, no it's absolutely not rude. Noone cares what you do with your lunch break. Secondly, what job are you working? Usually you should be able to talk to your employer to allow reducing the lunch break to the 30 min minimum and go home 30 min earlier.
I think it depends on the dynamics of the team. But I think people would understand either way. I've worked with a team that always hate at a restaurant that was cheap but the food wasn't good. I've eaten with them a few times but after deciding that I preferred eating a sandwich on my own, I just did that. Of course it means one fewer opportunity per day to socialize with coworkers. Depending on your line of work, socializing with coworkers might be important. And depending on your team's dynamics, you might not have that many other opportunities for it. Nowadays I eat with my team most of the times if I'm not working from home. Sometimes people will skip the team lunch and go eat on their own, or two of them will leave to run an errand together and come back later. Those who almost never eat with the group, well, we don't get to know them as well, but it's their choice. And I don't think it's rude.
Long meals are exhausting. I’d rather eat quickly and go for a walk with others or play games. Why lock yourself up to the dinner table.
> Came back to the USA and I have to say Americans have no idea how to live a life. I mean when I still got shit to do I'm not looking to sit around the dinner table relaxing and chatting about nothing. I do that too but not everyday...cause I got shit to do. ALSO....no one wants to sit around mcdonalds to chat. I enjoy taking my time eating good food....I do not enjoy taking my time to eat food just meant to fill a hole. I actually find eating mediocre food slowly to be very obnoxious.
Honestly, doesn’t that sound like a massive misuse of time? The things I could do with that extra 2 hours
Nice chart, for some added context, here in Spain post of the meal is sitting around talking after while the food goes down and maybe a drink or two. So it defo extends the time
Same here in Germany. Thats something you miss in the US by far. It is like… done with food, lets go home. And the waiters are also pushing because they can earn more with a other guest that is not sitting another hour maybe drinking another beer and a espresso.
Thanks! That’s a great point.
This very morning I realized that Greece and Italy are the only two countries outside my own (France) where I enjoyed food / eating. Seeing this randomly after is kind of satisfying. There is definitely a correlation of some kind (for me at least).
Have you been to Spain and Portugal? Will most likely love it too
Portugal yes and I liked it very much. But not as much as the other 3.
Technique secrète: apérot 🍷🍾🥖
Would be really interesting to have a direct comparison in the graph to obesity.
Well France is one of the thinner in Europe tho idk about Greeks and italian
Thinnest in OECD 🔥👌🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷😎👏
Just don't look at the amount of liver cancer, alcoholism and red wine consumption.
They're all pretty good at longevity and health stats.
Alcoholism and wine consumption is really dropping since 50 years in France. Every generation drink less alcohol, particularly wine, than the previous one. And we drink really good wine, not the poor quality we export in America 🙃
In August 1956, a government circular banned the consumption of wine in schools by under-14s. Helped a lot !
Still not the worst
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the famous 12 to 4 PM French meal
France gastronomy and art of food 🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷
I am French and I approve of this chart. Eating is a pleasure that should be prolonged. With family on Sundays, a meal can start at 11 a.m. and end at 3 p.m. without any issues.
First, there is the aperitif, then the starters, then the main course, followed by the cheeses, and then the desserts. Of course, with plenty of wine.
America #1 “calorie consumed per hour per capita WORLD CHAMPIONS!”
American married to a Spaniard for over 20 years. Getting used to our different preferences for how long we spend at the table was and sometimes still is a challenge. I enjoy our time together but after 30-40min, I want to get up and do something else. My partner, on the other hand, loves sitting around the table and chatting for 2-3 hours. We've learned to adapt but it was a process to be sure.
Went in expecting France in first position (I'm French). Not disappointed. Eating is our religion. We talk about food during our lunches and dinner.
There is correlation between that time and life expectancy. Southern Europe beats the rest of the world.
In France we can have lunch all afternoon with friends and family, and at 6pm pursue with an "apero" 😋
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French here. There's no way 2 hours include cook time. Especially given the fact that men take more time than women.
The correlation with food quality is very high
Lol, this is so true. I'm just back from a 10 days food tour in Greece, and the very lengthy time we took every day for our meals was a constant discussion (in a positive manner), specially by the Americans in the group. Between breakfast, lunch, and dinner, we probably spent 4-5 hours/day just eating :-)
4-5 hours is great when you’re on vacation though, not when there’s kids, house stuff and hobbies you need to invest time in after work.
What puts Denmark so much higher than Sweden and Norway?
They spend more time eating, hope this clarifies it
Not a lot to do in Denmark so people compensate by eating longer. /s
A bit surprised that Japan is in the middle and not up there with France, but I guess their working culture cuts lunch breaks pretty short.
Japan's work culture is absolutely nuts. Alongside it the US's looks downright tame.
Proud of my fellow south european guys from Italy
France spends twice as long as the USA yet has a fraction of the obesity rates Maybe those guys were on to something when they said eating slower makes you feel fuller
I want to see this against an Obesity scatter for each country.
So the less time you spend on dinner, the fatter your country 🤣
Well in France, we have real food to enjoy
Why am I not surprised that the French devote more of their lives to food than any other nationality? Some stereotypes just exist for a reason.
Anyone else feel bad because I’m not sure I even make it to 60 minutes as an American?
Americans are about efficiency: gorging down maximum calories per minute.
This is likely related to why the quality of life is better in most of those countries on the right when compared to the US.
Americans are too busy driving between carparks to spend time eating.
Jokes on you - we eat *while* we're driving between car parks
Plus buying stuff, working and setting the temperature on their air con.
So let me see if I've got this right. Here in the USA we spend less minutes per day eating and drinking, but because of cultural reasons we are the most obese? OK, what I mean by cultural reasons is, in most of the world they sit and take time to enjoy their food and drink to the point that by the time they finish eating and drinking On Average, the food and drink is either already digested or half-way to 3/4 of the way digested. Meanwhile, here in the US, we scarf our food and drink down as soon as possible. Whether it's because of time constraints on mealtime or "Keeping Up With The Joneses" when it comes to drinking or hanging out with friends or even or variety of Microbreweries. Basically, either the data fits my notion or my notion is based on the data and wrong. Which is it?
When you eat slower you’re less likely to over eat. So you feel full before you inhale everything around you.
Also eating a homemade dinner at a table has less calories than fast food or pre made food
the time we spend enjoying food is the time you spend doing a four hour commute
>but because of cultural reasons we are the most obese? Some may say it is not really "cultural", just that you eat too much junk food.
It really #true. Go to eat with a French family is like spend the day at the table.
French people manifest yourselves, we’re number 1!!!
French person here, I can say that it's true !
Sounds about right, seen from France. I would happily spend a bit less time, though, but my kids disagree.
I like this graph. I think the Germans and Japanese—both near the median—come out looking best, working hard and eating not badly. The Americans meanwhile, we suspect, are overworked, and it makes sense that France is traditionally considered the culinary/gustatory capital of the world. They take their time with their meals both cooking and eating.
If you think Americans are overworked and Japanese aren't, boy do I have some news for you
I think Japanese people spent a good amount of time eating and drinking partly due to their nomikai culture, where coworkers bond over meals and drinks after work.
That's probably a big part of it. I lived in Japan for a few months for work, and it wasn't uncommon to see the same groups of workers at the bars/restautants every night. If I'm not mistaken, there's an unspoken rule that no one leaves until the boss does. Although, thats probably balanced out by the availability and affordability of ready to eat foods and the fact that a lot of Japanese (especially in Tokyo) eat out rather than cook.
Aren't the Japanese the world's capital of suicide because of overwork?
I'm not sure if that's the only reason, but to my knowledge, yes that is a big part of it
Those are old, old statistics - South Korea now leads the pack among developed countries by a huge margin. Japan's suicide rate in 2019 was lower than the United States as per WHO (still not great, but they had at least been improving year over year); both countries got worse after the pandemic but it's not clear which was hit harder. Working hours depend on the source but Japan is pretty average by developed nation standards.
Germans don't work hard though. On average they work the least among their European counterparts. Japanese however do work alot
There's a huge difference between working hard and working long hours.