How takeaway coffee came to save our lockdown walks

Sign up to IndyEat's free newsletter for weekly recipes, foodie features and cookbook releases Get our food and drink newsletter for free Get our food and drink newsletter for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “Shall we get a coffee and have a wander instead?” A colleague who lives locally also pitched a work meeting on foot: “Let’s meet and grab a cuppa.” Then came a message from an old school friend who asked if we could meet for a stroll and… you guessed it, a coffee. Recommended Why we need to stop telling women to smile more Dr Helen Coulthard, a reader in lifespan eating behaviour at De MontFort University, tells me that, as walking has become the only form of socialisation permitted, “a hot drink may act as a lure, taking us from the warmth inside to the outside.” Those who adopt adaptive coping strategies, she explains, “make the most of environmental adversity and find new ways of coping that are activity driven and positive.” Therefore, perhaps the addition of a coffee to a walk is a sign that we are adapting, in ways however small. “The purchase of coffee makes a walk not only a special occasion,” she says, “but also has physiological properties that aid this new type of socialisation.” Of course, there is a practical element to the addition of a hot vessel in our hands. “In this way, a take-out coffee is a route to maximise socialisation within the current rules of the lockdown,” Dr Coulthard adds.