> I'd say that if I invite friends to do "anything", it is because I am prepared to feed them if needed
Agreed! Though I think ordering is also perfectly fine, as are the other options you mentioned.
But what prompted me to respond in the first place was:
> but here in France if you invite some friends over, you are expected to cook. The only time its okay to order food its when people came for something else in the first place (moving, doing some handywork...)
I think the poster narrowed that to the typical invitation to meet and have lunch.
I wouldn't "invite" people to help me move or do some handywork, it would rather be called "asking for help". And I know there are other kinds of invitations: playing board games, video games or music, making arts, group sex or whatever other activities one can think of that can be done in groups and yes in that case you might not expect the host to cook necessarily. My experience is that in France people would generally bring something anyway or at the very least ask what they should bring, even if it is just a bag of crisps and a few beers when meeting someone at their place.
Agreed! Though I think ordering is also perfectly fine, as are the other options you mentioned.
But what prompted me to respond in the first place was:
> but here in France if you invite some friends over, you are expected to cook. The only time its okay to order food its when people came for something else in the first place (moving, doing some handywork...)
Which is just silly.