June 8, 2020
Two weeks ago, on May 24, the New York Times dedicated its front page to commemorating the nearly 100,000 American lives lost thus far to COVID-19; that number has continued to climb, albeit more slowly, since publication. The headline declared that these deaths amount to an “incalculable loss,” and the piece proceeded to offer an abbreviated obituary of sorts to show the diversity behind the headlines we’ve been watching, with horror, for nearly four months.
This was a monumental effort, and an important first step in acknowledging not only the immense losses the country with the world’s greatest caseload and death toll has faced, but also the intricacies and importance of each life. Shining a light on the large and small contributions each person, no longer just a number, made to society was both moving and powerful, even if it offered just a small glimpse into the lives they lived and addressed just a fraction of the people who have died in the pandemic internationally.
Americans are not alone in terms of struggling with how best to commemorate those who have died suddenly and even inexplicably during this life-altering event. Social inequalities, racism, ageism, and other deeply rooted structural problems offer insight into how the marginalized have been sacrificed so that the (white, settler) majority can survive. As scholars grounded in disciplines that enable us to tell stories about the past and the times in which we are living, we are well placed to move this conversation forward.
Through the sharing of food memories, we offer this blog as a space to honour our sick and deceased loved ones, as well as the myriad heightened challenges that people are navigating surrounding the pandemic. For some, it may be too soon to do this; the loss is still being processed and the grief is too great. For others, however, the acts of writing and remembering may be therapeutic, and essential, to mourning.
This week we begin to move in this direction by focusing on people in our lives whom we have loved and lost to tragedy, illness, and age. Our contributors draw on comforting and familiar sensory food memories to introduce us to some of the people who fundamentally shaped who they are, and altering their lives in incalculable ways. They demonstrate the power inherent in life stories and the ways we mourn over time and through experience.