Linked closely to the sense of smell, taste is another thing that can be lost to long covid sufferers. ‘It tastes just like cardboard.’ I’m told, but I wonder which of us has eaten cardboard! Or ‘it tastes of rotten eggs.’ Have they tried eating them? Nevertheless, the loss of taste is an unstableing experience. When we see how many programmes on the television are linked to baking, we see how important food is to us. In this country we are blessed in having enough food on the whole, but a rise in the number of food banks illustrate the poverty that exists here.
Eating is often a social thing. We read of the many meals Jesus had with His friends. Meals where he was able to teach them and where they enjoyed fellowship together. We are losing something when we have more meals on our laps watching television or when families don’t even eat at the same time.