Common Malsharing Day in Finland

On 23 May 2018, some chefs, psychologists and health care staff gathered in Oslo to try to find a solution to a both national and international problem, namely, eating alone. The need to give lonely people a focal point in everyday life was considered great and therefore the issue of so-called "meal friends" for lonely and elderly people was raised as an alternative. A "meal friend" can be anyone who stands up for someone who is alone, a friend who comes to visit to maintain a social community and to break the loneliness during a meal. The meal's community day was instituted with inspiration from this meeting by kitchen manager Christian Tikkanen in 2020 and is celebrated every year on 23 May.

Source: måltidsakademin.fi