Why Are Some Chinese Social Media Users Roasting 'White People Food?' The Trend And Meme Behind The 'Lunch Of Suffering' Explained

Over the past month, Western social media has been peppered with headlines suggesting Chinese social media is absolutely destroying so-called White People Food. Some of the viral comments describe Tupperware cartons of carrots and spinach leaves as a "Lunch of Suffering" and "what death must feel like."

The trend echoes a micro-controversy from several months ago about British Chinese food, in which Americans roasted Brits' interpretation of Chinese food, only this time the sides appear to have flipped, and not all Westerners are taking the ribbing in good humor.

What Is 'White People Food?'

The trend of Chinese social media users mocking so-called "White People Food" spread on Chinese social media site Xiaohongshu. One of the earliest known posts came in early May from a Chinese social media user living in Denmark. They snapped a picture of their coworker's lunch which consisted of unprepared baby carrots and spinach leaves, joking that white people must be able to generate energy without eating.

Similar videos and images showcasing the bare workplace lunches of white people were posted on Chinese social media over the following several weeks. These included a video of a woman eating what appeared to be a raw head of lettuce on a train, while others on Chinese social media attempted to "try" such meals, such as a serving of crackers and deli meat or whole raw tomatoes.

How Did 'White People Food' Spread On Social Media?

In early June, hybrid Chinese-Western publications like Radii and The China Project took notice of Chinese social media's developing memeification of "white people lunches." The latter described such lunches as "sadly, devoid of joy or pleasure," but did note that some Chinese commenters defended the threadbare meals. They argued that traditional Chinese lunches take a long time to prep and are often carb-heavy, making them tiring. Thus, treating "lunch" as more of a snacktime with some raw vegetables was simpler and made it easier to get through a workday.

The trend appears to have particularly resonated with Western audiences when the publication NextShark highlighted comments that called these "white people lunches" the "Lunch of Suffering" and "What it feels like to be dead." On June 13th, Twitter user @TheCartelDel highlighted those comments and went viral, gaining tens of thousands of retweets.

From there, global publications such as The Guardian and Buzzfeed covered it.

Is 'White People Food' An Insult?

The general tenor of the posts on Chinese social media suggests they're gently ribbing a cultural difference between Chinese and some white cultural practices, sort of like how a standup comic can make a white audience say to itself, "Haha, it's true, we're so lame."

For more information, check out the entry for white people food on Know Your Meme.