The Belgians in my town are so sweet and nice.
When I take my kids to school we usually eat breakfast on the way. I’ll make hash-browns (fried breakfast potatoes), a breakfast sandwich, or fruit.
People seem surprised to see us eating on the go. Then will give a kind greeting like lekker, smaklic, or bon appetit.
So am I weird? Should I stop eating on the go? Is it okay to bring lunch to a park and eat it outside?
Edit: for clarification I’m walking and the kids are sitting in a wagon that has a food tray in the middle. It looks like this: https://imgur.com/a/zvWKXEU so the mess is minimal
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Of course it is OK. But is it unpractical. I mean walking and eating ends usually up in a mess for most people. Plus, you wan to have your attention on where you walk not where to bite next.
Idk I don’t go outside often.
But I’ve seen people eat sandwiches while driving so I don’t see why eating while walking is frowned upon
Hey if it’s comfortable for you I don’t see why there would be an issue with it. If people look at you sideways, it’s their problem not yours.
it’s totally ok to eat on the go, it’s probably just uncommon in your town/village. In cities it will be much more common. In general we think you need to spend your time when eating by just eating and maybe chatting, a lot of people think it’s unhealthy to eat on the go/in front of the tv/while doing something else, because then you probably don’t chew properly/enough and you are not actually mindfull of what/how/how much you eat. But thats just habits and a cultural thing .
Don’t let that stop you, if it works for you and your family, who are we (strangers) to tell you how to live your life.
and yes, you can absolutely bring a packed lunch to a park and eat it outside, just be mindfull of leaving the place as you found it, or even cleaning it up a little so it’s better than before.
I usually have a proteinbar with me when I go on late night walks or early morning walks. In my opinion it’s totally normal.
We don’t have the “eat on the go” culture as much. Belgians still very much prefer to have sit down meals.
But you do you.
I just find it more practical to eat sitting down.
Is it common? No. Is it ok? Yes.
When people do eat on the go it is often a snack or in a rare occasion a sandwich for lunch, mostly when they are running out of time. Meals tend to be eaten when sitting down.
But there is no reason to change something that works for you, just because it isn’t common. And the rules and exceptions to the rules aren’t always clear. For example, when buying a bratwurst or a hot dog at a farmers market, nobody will really comment on it. Or shouldn’t.
Perfectly normal in big cities where they often ask the question if you want to eat it now or take away.
Some people, like myself, find it easier to eat at a table, close to a place where I can get more coffee. That’s for me personally. But in your case, don’t be ashamed of this.
I take my kids to school every day and I hardly ever see kids eating on the way there. I live in a bigger diverse city so I guess it’s not a cultural thing, but people that have lived abroad might be more able to answer that better than I.
While in your case this seems just part of your routine, I feel this may be frowned upon by others as bad time management or even associated with problematic situations.
What others might think, should in no way keep you from doing this of course. To each their own.
Eating outside is no problem at all though it’s more common practice for kids to eat breakfast at home in peace before leaving to school, so people are probably assuming you overslept and are now in a rush to eat and bring your kids to school at the same time. But like I said if this is how you guys do it there’s no problem with it as long as you don’t leave trash anywhere.
People like to eat in a park occasionally so also nothing wrong with that, Belgians just don’t seem to eat often on the go, I do this often at noon with a sandwich as well and often get weird stares as well, but you’ll learn to ignore it after a while. Though the people here aren’t as friendly to say smakelijk so you’re kinda lucky with the people in your neighborhood.
I think I would be more upset seeing a breakfast waffle made out of potatoes.
When I leave for work at noon, I always see this one lady speed walking while eating. It doesn’t bother me of course, people do what they want. But it really doesn’t look enjoyable to eat like that
You do whatever you want. Culturally, we don’t like to rush eating. But if you gotta stop doing everything that shocks ‘de goegemjinte’, we might as well stop doing anything.
I recently saw this video comparing EU/US lifestyles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWkhuCacm54
it also mentions this, so I guess it’s an actual cultural difference.
Eating on the go should not be seen as such a weird thing in Belgium, but maybe it is stranger to walk the kids to school, instead of the “mainstream” cycling or driving.
What interested me is that sometimes we are more concerned about the weirdness or social acceptation rather than thinking if this or that could be more or less healthy.
Most Belgians eat a fast sandwich at work, and eating on the go is just another step to improve the “feeding productivity” of the ones that see eating as a loss of time… you know, why would you chew when you can swallow, why would I invest 30min if I can do it in 5, why would you make your own meal when you can order it, or why would you stop watching telly when everybody is at the table… and, yes, all of that has not good consequences for your health.
At least you are not part of the *”smart guys”* of the class, that will have breakfast while cycling or driving, disregarding the risks not only for them but for everybody else…
For whats you want eating ?
Know that, eating while moving increases the hearth rate and blood pressure significantly, which in turn gives you health benefits! So, it is definitely better than eating when you are just sitting.
Every day when I have to work at the office, I take a “walking lunch”. I buy something to eat and walk outside around the building (it’s right in the middle of the city). By the time I’m back at the entrance, I’m done eating and had sunlight, fresh air and I’ve had some excercise.
So in my opinion, that’s not weird, that’s efficient!
Eating while walking/driving is very American. (I’m American.)
Holy fuck that’s genius. Bone apple tea as they say.
I think it’s just the novelty of the wagon that grabs people’s attention.
I always do it in the car. It’s not common but I know others doing it and it’s not considered strange.
Most Belgians don’t do it as they consider the meal as a sort of small ritual where the family sits together.