“For Many Widows, the Hardest Part Is Mealtime”

“It’s almost like the sixth stage of grief is cooking alone,” said Jill Cohen, a grief counselor in New York, referring to the now-disputed theory of the Five Stages of Grief, developed by the psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross.

Bereavement counselors said that only in the last decade have academics and nonprofit groups begun directly addressing the relationship between grieving and food. At meals hosted by The Dinner Party, an organization that has expanded in more than 100 cities worldwide since its founding in 2014, people in their 20s or 30s who have lost someone meet regularly to share. Ms. Cohen said many of her patients bring up eating issues in therapy.