Widowed: Food After Loss
The difficult mix of food and widowhood.
In the second of two 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).
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Clips
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'The recipe I can't bring myself to make'
Duration: 02:14
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Fingernail and hair soup: A widow’s penance?
Duration: 01:14
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'Cooking made me feel a citizen again'
Duration: 02:08
Broadcasts
- Thu 13 Sep 2018 02:32GMT±«Óãtv World Service Online, Americas and the Caribbean, UK DAB/Freeview, Europe and the Middle East & West and Central Africa only
- Thu 13 Sep 2018 03:32GMT±«Óãtv World Service South Asia & East Asia only
- Thu 13 Sep 2018 04:32GMT±«Óãtv World Service Australasia
- Thu 13 Sep 2018 10:32GMT±«Óãtv World Service except News Internet & West and Central Africa
- Thu 13 Sep 2018 21:32GMT±«Óãtv World Service except News Internet
- Sun 16 Sep 2018 07:32GMT±«Óãtv World Service except News Internet
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