Finding Comfort and Discomfort Through Foodways Practices During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Public Folklore Project pp. 5-25

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Lucy M. Long
Jerry Lee Reed, III
John Broadwell
Quinlan Day Odum
Hannah M. Santino
Minglei Zhang

Abstract




This article describes an international oral history project run by the nonprofit Center for Food and Culture on how individuals found both comfort and discomfort through foodways during the COVID-19 pandemic. The project expanded the concept of comfort food to include the range of activities included within foodways and also explored the variety ofmeanings attached to the concept, emphasizing that both “food” and “comfort” are culturally and socially constructed. The project resulted in an archive of documentation from over 65 interviews, a virtual symposium, and an on-line exhibit. The exhibit and resources on comfort food, folkloristic approaches to foodways, and oral history methods are posted on a free website (www.foodandculture.org). As such, the project is an example of public folklore presentations of folkloristic concepts and materials. It also illustrates public humanities in its exploration of the meanings of comfort foodways during the pandemic. 




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Lead Essays