Posted on Jun 8, 2022
#SwedenGate sparks food fight: Why some countries share meals more than others
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https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/06/07/ [login to see] /-swedengate-sparks-food-fight-why-some-countries-share-meals-more-than-others
If a friend was visiting your home and it was dinnertime, would you invite them to the table? Or would you ... chow down without sharing a bite?
These questions are the crux of a Twitter thread that went viral in May. It all began when a user on Reddit told how they once went to a Swedish friend's house "and while we were playing in his room, his mom yelled that dinner was ready. And check this. He told me to WAIT in his room while they ate."
Some Twitter users shared that this kind of non-hospitality was common in Sweden and other parts of Northern Europe. "As a Swede, I can confirm this," tweeted @CarlWilliamKul1. "I would find it weird to feed someone else's kid if they [were] just over to play."
But the anecdote stirred up a stew. There was a lot of criticism of the Swedes from the so-called Global South — shorthand for countries in the Southern Hemisphere. Many said they wouldn't dream of being so stingy in their culture. So the online conversation has expanded far beyond just feeding kids at a playdate.
If a friend was visiting your home and it was dinnertime, would you invite them to the table? Or would you ... chow down without sharing a bite?
These questions are the crux of a Twitter thread that went viral in May. It all began when a user on Reddit told how they once went to a Swedish friend's house "and while we were playing in his room, his mom yelled that dinner was ready. And check this. He told me to WAIT in his room while they ate."
Some Twitter users shared that this kind of non-hospitality was common in Sweden and other parts of Northern Europe. "As a Swede, I can confirm this," tweeted @CarlWilliamKul1. "I would find it weird to feed someone else's kid if they [were] just over to play."
But the anecdote stirred up a stew. There was a lot of criticism of the Swedes from the so-called Global South — shorthand for countries in the Southern Hemisphere. Many said they wouldn't dream of being so stingy in their culture. So the online conversation has expanded far beyond just feeding kids at a playdate.
#SwedenGate sparks food fight: Why some countries share meals more than others
Posted from npr.org
Food/Chow
Culture
Posted 2 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
...""Some scholars argue that [the culture's] competitive hospitality and gestures of abundance — over-ordering at a restaurant, offering too many dishes at a banquet, insisting that guests take more of the choicest pieces — are related to those memories of deprivation," he says.
"Societies often remember poverty, scarcity and abstinence by excessive generosity, gift-giving and hospitality as compensation."
Meanwhile, Ray finds the online controversy — dubbed #SwedenGate by some Twitter users — entertaining.
"People are just having fun piling on to the Swedes because the Swedes almost get everything else right," he says."...
...""Some scholars argue that [the culture's] competitive hospitality and gestures of abundance — over-ordering at a restaurant, offering too many dishes at a banquet, insisting that guests take more of the choicest pieces — are related to those memories of deprivation," he says.
"Societies often remember poverty, scarcity and abstinence by excessive generosity, gift-giving and hospitality as compensation."
Meanwhile, Ray finds the online controversy — dubbed #SwedenGate by some Twitter users — entertaining.
"People are just having fun piling on to the Swedes because the Swedes almost get everything else right," he says."...
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If you was at my house you ate if you wanted and if you left my place hungry or thirsty then you was the one that made it happen the kids in my neighborhood would sometimes walk in hit the refrigerator grab something and walk out they would say hi of course
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
SPC Michael Oles SR As a Sailor I Hung Out with Filipinos, Lots of Food, Lots of Sharing.
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