Where there is grief, there is food.
Writing about food and grief matters.
People’s relationship with food is a major, but under-examined, aspect of grief. The Food + Grief Project wants to remedy that. Our running list of food and grief writing is one way. Interviews and recipes are another.
In addition to our own recipes, essays, and other content exploring the relationship between loss and food, the Food + Grief Project happily celebrates and promotes others’ work on this topic.
To that end, here is:
The Food + Grief Project’s Running List of Food and Grief Writing and Media
- Crying in H Mart, Zauner, M. (Knopf 2021)
- The Storied Recipe podcast: “A Sacred Conversation With Diana Silva (Molé Mama),” Hadeed, Becky.
- “Butter, Sugar, and a Tablespoon of Grief,” Shapland, J., The New York Times (Dec. 24, 2020).
- “With Grief Comes Food,” Rapoport, A., Bon Appetit (Jan. 28, 2020).
- “For Many Widows, the Hardest Part Is Mealtime,” Nierenberg, A., The New York Times (Oct. 29, 2019).
- “To commemorate a loved one’s death, some turn to the comfort and memories of food,” Hartke, K. Washington Post (June 3, 2019).
- “Raw Grief,” Podcast, BBC’s The Food Chain (Sept. 9, 2018).
- “Widowed: Food After Loss,” Podcast, BBC’s The Food Chain (Sept. 9, 2018).
- “Crying in H Mart,” Zauner, M. The New Yorker (Aug. 20, 2018).
- “The Bread I Still Can’t Bear to Bake,” Kolb, L. Modern Loss (April 27, 2018).
- “A Widow’s Food Guide to Grief,” Kolb, L., The Washington Post (Mar. 27, 2018).
- “Turning Down the Nachos (aka Managing Grief and Comfort Eating),” What’s Your Grief? (Mar. 28, 2017).
- Culinary Grief Therapy, Nickrand, H. et al. (2017).
- “Food During Times of Grief,” Rhodes, J. Smithsonian.com (Nov. 1, 2012).
- “When Grief Strikes, Food Can Be a Gift From the Gods,” Ferguson, D., The Guardian (Jul. 16, 2016).
- “The Gift of Food: What to Give to Those Who Have Lost Loved Ones,” McWilliams, S., Cooking Light (Oct. 17, 2015).
- “Love, Loss, and Fruit Salad,” McWilliams, S., Cooking Light (Oct. 16, 2015).
- The Pleasures of Cooking for One, Jones, J. (2009).
Food and Grief Instagram Accounts of Note:
- https://www.instagram.com/griefeats/
- https://www.instagram.com/griefhungry/
- https://www.instagram.com/whatsyourgrief/
- https://www.instagram.com/thedinnerparty/
Additional resources related to food and grief:
- The Dinner Party: A potluck dinner group for 20- and 30-somethings who have experienced close loss.
- Processing: A podcast by chef and Life’s A Banquet podcast host Zahra Tangorra and her mother Bobbie, a bereavement therapist. The podcast explores a diverse set of topics around food and grief in a conversational but insightful way.
These lists are updated as often as possible, so check back now and again.
I just read a great book with this very theme running through out! It’s called The Mothers’ Arms Recipe Service by Cindy Roos Young, and it is loaded with heartwarming stories of loss and hope, followed by some really great recipes at the end of each chapter.
Personally, I will never forget the neighbor who came by with a pot of “gravy” many years ago when my mom died. I was thirteen years old and quite perplexed as to why someone would bring us that. “Where is the pot roast” I wondered silently. Later I learned that the pot contained some very delicious homemade spaghetti sauce that her Italian family referred to as simply “gravy”. I think about her, that kind gesture and my mistake just about every time I smell spaghetti sauce 🙂
Finding the stories on your website and those in this book remind me of the importance of community and that we are not alone. Thanks for what you do.
Hi and I am so happy to have just met you via Instagram! The beauty + meaning of what you have created speak to me…as well as the actual writing + recipes. All best to you and am glad to connect.
Hillary Marra
Hi, Hillary! Thank you so much and it is great to “meet” you, too! What a beautiful note. I am glad that it speaks to you, and look forward to hearing from you in the future. All best to you as well. xoxo