





































Digest: A Journal of Foodways and Culture 9:2 (2022): 1-6 © American Folklore Society 2022 

 

Special Issue: Folkloristic Perspectives on Foodways and Comfort During the 
Covid-19 Pandemic  
 
Introduction 
 
By Guest Editor: Lucy M. Long (lucymlong@gmail.com) 
 
When the COVID-19 pandemic began being publicly acknowledged in the U.S. in 
early March of 2020, one of the responses was a turn to comfort food. At first glance, 
this seemed like a logical move that calls for little analysis or even introspection. Of 
course, people looked to food for comfort; they sought comfort wherever they 
could—relationships, pets (the “pandemic puppy” phenomenon), reading, working 
through lists of movies to watch, virtual gatherings, and so on.  

 
The idea of comfort food, however, is more than just dishes that bring physical 
warmth or positive feelings. Food in the U.S. is fraught with moral implications and 
judgments around one’s ability to control their appetite. Proponants of comfort food 
developed a rhetorical strategy to justify eating certain ingredients and dishes 
without shame (Jones 2017; Jones and Long 2017). It has also become a marketing 
category within the American food industry covering dishes or items laden with 
qualities considered detrimental to our health—large quantities of calories, fats, 
sugars, and salt—but that carry a nostalgic and idealized aura of home or childhood 
(Long 2017). The cookbook publishing industry and food news media similarly 
presented comfort food as a special genre of food, set apart from the usual 
evaluations of “good” food. These industries both reflected vernacular attitudes and 
shaped them. As the pandemic up-ended everyday life, our usual rules for behavior 
were suspended, including the norms by which we judged food and foodways 
activities. Comfort food thus became an acceptable and celebrated way of 
weathering the uncertainties and fears caused by COVID-19.  
 
Folklorists were not the only ones to notice this trend; the media frequently covered 
it,1 and nutritionists and other health professionals expressed concern.2 Scholars in 
food studies also noted it.3 Folklorists did have a history of scholarship on the 
subject, however, thanks largely to the inspiration of Michael Owen Jones who 
initiated a number of panels on the subject at annual conferences of the American 
Folklore Society. Those panels led a collection of essays published in 2017, Comfort 
Food Meanings and Memories, co-edited by Jones and myself. Our Introduction in 
that volume reviews the emergence of the concept of comfort food and summarizes 
the scholarship on it (Jones and Long 2017).  
 
In a way, the pandemic was an unexpected (and unwelcome!) opportunity to further 
explore the issues addressed in that volume. It at least made us aware of the 
constructed nature of this genre and that it was more complicated than what it 
seemed on the surface. It also suggested a lens for understanding the impact of the 
pandemic—and for narrowing down the massive upheavals it caused. At the same 
time, folklore emphasizes the connectedness of seemingly small details of everyday 

mailto:lucymlong@gmail.com


Long, Introduction, Digest: A Journal of Foodways and Culture 9:2 (2022) 2 

life, and the ways those details can be mediums for individuals to connect with other 
people as well as their pasts and places. This approach is evident in the attention to 
foodways—the total system of practices around food and eating—and to the role of 
aesthetics and power in choices made by individuals. Also fundamental to a 
folkloristic approach are ethnographic inquiries into the meanings attached to and 
interpreted through these foodways products and practices. 
 
Food-centric folklorists had a prior foundation, then, for their inquiries into comfort 
food during the pandemic and they were able to quickly develop projects4 as well as 
conference papers for the annual meetings of the American Folklore Society and of 
the Association for the Study of Food and Society5. This special issue draws from 
that work. It includes research articles and reflection essays, with the latter 
recounting personal experiences around comfort food during the pandemic. 
Significantly, some of these touch on international and “ethnic” data, raising 
questions about the universality of food as a medium for comfort, but the 
particularity of the genre as an American construct. Nader Mehravari offers an 
international perspective by examining how the pandemic seemed to highlight a 
specific dish, tahdig, as a comfort food in Persian communities around the world. 
Robert Smith similarly reflects on comfort food in Australia, concluding that the 
category lacks the morality attached to food in the U.S. Diane Tye also places her 
study outside the U.S., but focuses on pandemic foodways within her own family in 
Canada and how activities around preparing and sharing of food gave them an 
anchor for imagining the future, especially in light of her father’s experiences of food 
shortages during the 1930s pandemic. Theresa Vaughan offers a similar longer view 
by contrasting and comparing experiences during the current pandemic with those 
of her family in the equally devastating flu pandemic of 1918 and 1919. Hannah 
Santino and Lucy Long muse on an item in Ireland, that is a comfort food to them—
scones—and how they actually figure within a number of different liminal 
situations, not only the “twixt and between” condition of the pandemic.   
 
Family is closely connected to the idea of comfort food in general, and some of these 
articles emphasize that theme. Along with Tye’s article mentioned above, Rachelle 
Saltzman focuses on her family, recounting how the labor-intensive preparations of 
certain traditional Jewish recipes connects her metaphorically with her heritage as 
well as literally with various relatives, both through virtual communications and by 
the sharing of those dishes. Margot Finn reflects on how she established a tradition 
during the pandemic of making a type of “Dutch baby” pancake, Filipino bibingka, 
and hopes that it gives her children a grounding that they will carry with them 
beyond the pandemic. 
 
The American approach to comfort food tends to emphasize individuals achieving 
emotional support or fulfillment, but these foods can also mark people as outsiders 
or emphasize that they do not belong. Jerry Reed reflects on how dietary restrictions 
barred some people from finding comfort through food, emphasizing their 
differentness from the norm being experienced by others. Although the individuals 
he interviewed were able to resolve the barriers to comfort, Reed points out that 



                                                                              Digest: A Journal of Foodways and Culture 9:2 (2022) 3 

others were not, and we should be aware that not everyone has the ability to find 
comfort through food. Some individuals, on the other hand, intentionally use 
comfort food to inspire social change. Christine J. Widmayer describes a community 
group in Minnesota that bakes and gives sweet potato pies to address racial conflict.  
  
The pandemic brought comfort food to the forefront. In doing so, it has made people 
recognize the power of food in general to carry memories, forge and affirm 
connections, and create a more livable present. Although COVID-19 seems to now be 
under control with vaccines and masking, it seems to be with us to stay. It remains 
to be seen whether comfort food will also continue to play a role in our lives.  

 
1 For a comprehensive listing of articles in newspapers and food media, see articles by Long, et al, 2021 

and Long 2023. Long and Vaughan (2023) includes references specifically related to bread and baking. 
2 For example, one of my colleagues in the nutrition program at Bowling Green State University, Dr. Wan 

Shen, developed a study on pandemic-related “emotional eating,” the phrase used in dietetics and nutrition 

to refer to eating for emotional needs rather than biological or physical ones. After she conducted her 

survey, she asked me to assist in interpreting her data, leading to a co-published article in 2020 (Shen, et 

al.). 
3 Food studies journals all began running reflection pieces on food during the pandemic, and some of these 

essays touched on comfort food. For specific articles published, see Food, Culture, and Society; Food and 

Foodways; and Gastronomica. 
4 One of these projects was the Comfort-Discomfort Foodways Oral History that I developed through the 

independent, non-profit Center for Food and Culture. This project was funded by small grants from the 

Association for Food and Society, Ohio Humanities, and a private foundation. I was fortunate at the time to 

have then-Bowling Green State University Popular Culture graduate student Jerry Reed working with me 

on another project, and he agreed to stay on to work as assistant director of the project. Three other 

graduate students, John Broadwell, Quinlan Day Odum (both from Middle Tennessee State University’s 

Public History Program), and Hannah Santino (Sociology, University of Limerick) helped develop the 

questionnaire and resource materials for the website (http://www.foodandculture.org/) as well as conducted 

virtual interviews. An additional student, Minglei Zhang (American Studies, Penn State University), also 

assisted with the interviews, and another, Iris Teeuwen (Folklore, University of Oregon), designed and built 

the on-line exhibit presenting excerpts and photographs from the project 

(https://comfortfoodwaysexhibit.wordpress.com/). The project is described in more depth in Long, 2021 

and Long, et al, 2021.  
5 A number of publications resulted from these papers. See Long 2022; Long 2023; and Long and Vaughan 

2023. 

 
  

http://www.foodandculture.org/
https://comfortfoodwaysexhibit.wordpress.com/


Long, Introduction, Digest: A Journal of Foodways and Culture 9:2 (2022) 4 

FURTHER READING ON COMFORT FOOD AND THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC 
 
Brückner, Meike, Sandra Čajić and Christine Bauhardt. 2022. Reflection: Food as 
Pleasure or Pressure? The Care Politics of the Pandemic. Food and Foodways 29 (3):, 
289-298. DOI: 10.1080/07409710.2021.1943612 
 
Catela, Joana. 2021. Reflection: ‘It Opened Our Eyes’: Ethnographic Encounters 
During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Lisbon, Portugal.  Food and Foodways 29 (4): 378-
390. DOI: 10.1080/07409710.2021.1984558. 

Easterbrook-Smith, Gwyn. 2021. By Bread Alone: Baking as Leisure, Performance, 
Sustenance During the COVID-19 Crisis. Leisure Sciences 43 (1/2): 36-42. 
DOI: 10.1080/01490400.2020.1773980.  
 
Fourat, Estelle, Tristan Fournier and Olivier Lepiller. 2021. Reflection: Snatched 
Commensality: To Eat or Not to Eat Together in Times of Covid-19 in France. Food 
and Foodways 29 (2): 204-212. DOI: 10.1080/07409710.2021.1901383 
 
Hill-Tout, Kimberly, Claudia Hirtenfelder, Kiera E. B. McMaster, and Megan Herod. 
2022. Who Eats, Where, What, and How? COVID-19, Food Security, and Canadian 
Foodscapes. Gastronomica: The Journal for Food Studies 22 (1): 11–19.  
DOI: 10.1525/gfc.2022.22.1.11  
 
Jones, Michael Owen and Lucy M. Long. 2017. Introduction. In Comfort Food 
Meanings and Memories, ed. Michael Owen Jones and Lucy M. Long, 3-16. Jackson: 
University of Mississippi Press. 
 
Jones, Michael Owen and Lucy M. Long, eds. Comfort Food Meanings and Memories. 
Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 2017. 
 
Jones, Michael Owen. 2017. ‘Stressed’ Spelled Backwards is ‘Desserts’: Self 
Medicating Moods with Foods. In Comfort Food Meanings and Memories, ed. Michael 
Owen Jones and Lucy M. Long, 17-41. Jackson: University of Mississippi Press. 
 
Locher, Julie L. 2002. “Comfort Food.” In Encyclopedia of Food and Culture, ed. S. 
Katz. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.  
 
Locher, Julie L., William C. Yoels, Donna Maurer, and Jillian Van Ells. 2005. Comfort 
Foods: An Exploratory Journey into the Social and Emotional Significance of Food. 
Food & Foodways 13 (4): 273-297. DOI: 10.1080/07409710500334509 
 
Long, Lucy M. 2023. Refrigerators, Cupboards, and Canning Jars: Emergent 
Meanings and Subversive Practices in Food Preservation and Storage During the 
Covid-19 Pandemic. Cultural Analysis: An Interdisciplinary Forum on Folklore and 
Popular Culture 21 (1). 
 

https://doi.org/10.1080/07409710.2021.1943612
https://doi.org/10.1080/07409710.2021.1984558
https://doi.org/10.1080/01490400.2020.1773980
https://doi.org/10.1080/07409710.2021.1901383
https://doi.org/10.1080/07409710500334509


                                                                              Digest: A Journal of Foodways and Culture 9:2 (2022) 5 

Long, Lucy M. 2022. “How the Pandemic Redefined Comfort Food: American 
Individualism, Culinary Relativism, and Shifting Moralities.” Popular Culture Studies 
Journal 10 (1): 56-73. 
https://mpcaaca.org/the-popular-culture-studies-journal/current-issue/vol-10-no-
1/. 
 
Long, Lucy M. 2021. Finding Comfort: Foodways and the Pandemic. Pathways: Ohio 
Humanities Periodical (Feeding Ohio: The Agricultural Issue) 42 (2): 6-9. 
http://digitaleditions.glpublishing.com/pathwayssummer2021/ 

 
Long, Lucy M. 2017. Comfort Food in Culinary Tourism: Negotiating ‘Home’ as Exotic 
and Familiar. In Comfort Food Meanings and Memories, ed. Michael Owen Jones and 
Lucy M. Long, 126-149. Jackson: University of Mississippi Press.  
 
Long, Lucy M., ed. 2015. Food and Folklore: A Reader. New York: Bloomsbury Press. 
 
Long, Lucy M. and Theresa A. Vaughan. 2023. Kneading Comfort, Community, 
Craftsmanship: Home Baking in the Coroniverse. In Behind the Mask: Vernacular 
Culture in the Time of COVID, ed. Ben Bridges, Ross Brillhart, and Diane E. Goldstein. 
Logan: Utah State University Press. 

Long, Lucy L., Jerry Lee Reed, III, John Broadwell, Quinlan Day Odum, Hannah M. 
Santino, and Minglei Zhang. 2021. Finding Comfort and Discomfort Through 
Foodways Practices During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Public Folklore Project. 
Digest: A Journal of Foodways and Culture 8 (1/2): 5-25. 
(https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/digest/issue/view/2132) 
 
The New York Times. 2020. Comfort Food Recipes to Help You Feel Better: Send in 
the Carbs. The New York Times. November 2. 
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/02/dining/comfort-food-recipes-election-
day.html 
 
Ong, L.S., H. IJzerman, A.K. Leung. 2015. Is Comfort Food Really Good for the Soul?: A 
Replication of Troisi and Gabriel's (2011) Study 2. Frontiers in Psychology 6 (April): 
article 314. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00314. 
 
Romm, Cari. 2015. Why Comfort Food Comforts: A New Study Looks at the 
Intersection of Taste, Nostalgia, and Loneliness. The Atlantic, April 3. Accessed May 
15, 2015. http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/04/why-comfort-food-
comforts/389613/. 
 
Ruthfirst E. A. Ayande and Jedaidah Chilufya. 2021. Two African Immigrant 
Graduate Students Reflect on Food Access, Food (in)Security, and Community 
During the Pandemic. Food and Foodways 29 (4): 391-402. 
DOI: 10.1080/07409710.2021.1984531     

https://mpcaaca.org/the-popular-culture-studies-journal/current-issue/vol-10-no-1/
https://mpcaaca.org/the-popular-culture-studies-journal/current-issue/vol-10-no-1/
http://digitaleditions.glpublishing.com/pathwayssummer2021/
https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/digest/issue/view/2132
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/02/dining/comfort-food-recipes-election-day.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/02/dining/comfort-food-recipes-election-day.html
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00314
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/04/why-comfort-food-comforts/389613/
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/04/why-comfort-food-comforts/389613/
https://doi.org/10.1080/07409710.2021.1984531


Long, Introduction, Digest: A Journal of Foodways and Culture 9:2 (2022) 6 

 

Shen, Wan, Lucy M. Long, Chia-hao Shih, and Mary-Jon Ludy. 2020. A Humanities 
Based Explanation for the Effects of Emotional Eating and Perceived Stress on Food 
Choice Motives during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Nutrients 12 (9): 2712. DOI: 
10.3390/nu12092712. 
 
Severson, Kim and Julia Moskin. 2020. Food, a Basic Pleasure, Is Suddenly Fraught. 
The New York Times. March 17. https://nyti.ms/3b5mgBz. 
 
Siragusa, Laura. 2021. Reflection: Making Kin With Sourdough During a 
Pandemic. Food and Foodways 29 (1): 87-96.   
DOI: 10.1080/07409710.2021.1860336    
 
Wagner, Heather Scherschel, Britt Ahlstrom, Joseph P. Redden, Zata Vickers, and 
Traci Mann. 2014. The Myth of Comfort Food. Health Psychology 33 (12): 1552-
1557. Accessed May 15, 2015. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/hea0000068 
 

https://nyti.ms/3b5mgBz
https://doi.org/10.1080/07409710.2021.1860336
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/hea0000068

	Long, Lucy M. 2023. Refrigerators, Cupboards, and Canning Jars: Emergent Meanings and Subversive Practices in Food Preservation and Storage During the Covid-19 Pandemic. Cultural Analysis: An Interdisciplinary Forum on Folklore and Popular Culture 21 ...
	Long, Lucy M. 2022. “How the Pandemic Redefined Comfort Food: American Individualism, Culinary Relativism, and Shifting Moralities.” Popular Culture Studies Journal 10 (1): 56-73.
	https://mpcaaca.org/the-popular-culture-studies-journal/current-issue/vol-10-no-1/.
	Long, Lucy M. 2021. Finding Comfort: Foodways and the Pandemic. Pathways: Ohio Humanities Periodical (Feeding Ohio: The Agricultural Issue) 42 (2): 6-9. http://digitaleditions.glpublishing.com/pathwayssummer2021/
	Long, Lucy M. and Theresa A. Vaughan. 2023. Kneading Comfort, Community, Craftsmanship: Home Baking in the Coroniverse. In Behind the Mask: Vernacular Culture in the Time of COVID, ed. Ben Bridges, Ross Brillhart, and Diane E. Goldstein. Logan: Utah S...
	Romm, Cari. 2015. Why Comfort Food Comforts: A New Study Looks at the Intersection of Taste, Nostalgia, and Loneliness. The Atlantic, April 3. Accessed May 15, 2015. http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/04/why-comfort-food-comforts/389613/.
	Ruthfirst E. A. Ayande and Jedaidah Chilufya. 2021. Two African Immigrant Graduate Students Reflect on Food Access, Food (in)Security, and Community During the Pandemic. Food and Foodways 29 (4): 391-402. DOI: 10.1080/07409710.2021.1984531

