Widowed: Food after loss

In the second of two James Beard Award-winning episodes on food and grief, Emily Thomas explores the food experiences of the widowed.

In parts of the world where widowhood is seen as a source of shame, widows might be excluded from mealtimes, forbidden from eating nourishing food, and even forced to take part in degrading eating rituals. And even in some of the world's most developed countries, where widowhood elicits sympathy rather than suspicion, the bereaved are still more likely to suffer nutritional deprivation than those who are still married.

No matter where we are in the world, when we’re grieving, we need the nourishment and comfort that food can provide more than ever. But losing the person we eat with most can make mealtimes hard to face, and this can devastate our physical and mental well-being. We hear from widowers and widows about how they managed to find joy in food again.

(Photo: Single chair at an empty table. Credit: Getty Images).