A minimal-effort meal trend that closely resembles a ploughman’s board or a low-cost charcuterie called “girl dinner” has been viral for months on TikTok, and it has people divided, including health experts.
Social media forecasts are correct. TikTok will take over the domain and be the number one social network, period. Its trends quickly influence other giant apps to innovate, and oftentimes, how most people carry their lifestyles.
For the past few months, women on TikTok have been sharing their versions of a ploughman’s board or a basic snack plate and then labeling it their “girl dinner”. It typically consists of bread, cheese, some fruit, crackers, and other favorite snacks that are prepared without too much effort. In fact, these ingredients could even be in their own cans and pouches and be nibbled on straight away.
What’s the catch?
Girl dinner is considered a meal rather than a snack. And as of this writing, this trend has about 1.3 billion views on TikTok, with content spread across the following top hashtags: #girldinner, #girlsdinner, #girl_dinner, and #girldinnerfilter.
While global-reach trends are difficult to track down their origin, girl dinner seemingly began with micro-creator Olivia Maher. She branded her bios in socials (Instagram and TikTok) as the CEO/creator of girl dinner.
Olivia Maher’s TikTok bio, with 11k followers as of this writing
“… a girl just came on here and said how, like, in medieval times peasants had to eat nothing but bread and cheese and how awful that was; and she was like, “That’s my ideal meal,” Maher recounted the origin of her inspiration in a video. “I call this ‘girl dinner’ or ‘medieval peasant’,” she concluded.
Maher shared with The New York Times that most women love eating the girl dinner because they don’t have to prepare or consume the contents of a typical dinner, which essentially are protein, vegetables, and starch. “We love eating that way, and it feels like such a girl dinner because we do it when our boyfriends aren’t around and we don’t have to have what’s a ‘typical dinner’ — essentially, with a protein and a veggie and a starch,” she said.
What do the experts say?
The girl dinner trend has people divided in opinions – some relate to it but others worry that normalizing it would lead to disordered eating.
Micro-creator Lexie Firment made it clear in her TikTok video that she doesn’t come from a nutrition dietetic background. But based on her experiences with an eating disorder, she felt that the meal trend is “breeding negative thoughts around food.” Snacking a few pieces of crackers, sliced ham, pickles, and olives lack substance and calories.
Onto the licensed experts, family physician Dr. LaTasha Perkins believes that girl dinner might have serious repercussions for the youth, regardless of gender, as it might mainstream disordered eating habits. This is especially the case for many people who share their versions of smorgasbords containing high saturated fats, salts, and sugars through packaged processed foods like chips, candy, burgers, and sodas.
Bari Stricoff, a registered dietitian at WellEasy, understands the quick popularity behind girl dinners because of their low-effort preparation and much more affordable ingredients. So, this meal concept really depends on what people are putting on their plates.
What’s the take?
The extreme convenience and prevalence of information due to social media are met with rather worrying side effects. Without attention to detail and fact-checking, people could be easily swayed (or “inspired” as others would deem) to follow trends and, if worse comes to worst, misinterpret dangerously.
That’s why here at NeedThat, we shed light on the benefits that social media can actually bring if users would prioritize strictly choosing credible content and figures to help feed their minds. This is not an easy task to do in the vastness of The Web but our team has narrowed down the list. Whether you’re looking for body-positive influencers or legit mental health professionals, you’re in for a good read.
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