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PODCAST

The Food Chain

BBC World Service

The Food Chain examines the business, science and cultural significance of food, and what it takes to put food on your plate.

arts food

All Episodes

26:28

Eating With Our Ears: The Sound of Food

The Food Chain ·

2022/11/12

How does sound influence the way we eat, drink and taste? We discover our hearing makes a bigger contribution to flavour than we think. Mike Johnson explores the concept of 'sonic seasoning' - the idea that different sounds can accentuate the sweetness, bitterness or spiciness of food. Chef Jozef Youssef, founder of the multi-sensory dining experience Kitchen Theory, serves up a musical food experiment, and Charles Spence, professor of experimental psychology at Oxford University, gives his track

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28:49

Island diets

The Food Chain ·

2022/11/10

In this programme we explore the realities of island diets. Ruth Alexander hears how diets are changing, and what this means for population health. Indigenous diets were limited to what grew in the native soil or could be raised or caught in the limited space available. Today imported, often processed foods are becoming increasingly popular. We start in the Faroe Islands, in the North Atlantic Ocean between Iceland and the United Kingdom. Traditionally the Faroese diet is protein heavy, fermented

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27:34

The buffet business

The Food Chain ·

2022/11/03

All-you-can-eat restaurants are popular, as are high-end buffets at big weddings and posh hotels. But what’s the trick to making money out of them, and what happens to the leftovers? Ruth Alexander finds out the tricks of the trade with John Wood of catering software company Kitchen Cut, Sandeep Sreedharan of Goa, and Michael Brown of Cosmo, in Manchester, UK. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk (Picture: Hands of someone serving out chicken at a

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30:40

Forbidden food: The Jews of Spain

The Food Chain ·

2022/10/26

Today’s Sephardic Jewish community has its roots in Spain and Portugal. The Hispanic Jews lived for many centuries in those countries but faced increasing persecution in the 13th and 15th Centuries. Many were forced to convert to Christianity, but some secretly continued their Jewish faith and practices. In 1478, the Spanish Christian royalty created the Inquisition, a series of trials aimed at identifying those who had not converted. Food and methods of food preparation are frequently cited as

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28:18

What do astronauts eat?

The Food Chain ·

2022/10/19

What are the nutritional challenges, and the highs and lows of food in space? As NASA looks at creating a lunar habitat, and even launching a mission to Mars, how can the right food be prepared and transported to keep astronauts both healthy, and happy? Marie Keyworth speaks to veteran astronaut Nicole Stott, and NASA’s top nutrition expert Scott Smith, who leads the Nutritional Biochemistry Laboratory at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, in Houston, Texas. Marie finds out what it’s really like to eat

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27:31

Can farmers influence food prices?

The Food Chain ·

2022/10/12

Global food prices reached record highs this year due to a combination of factors including the war in Ukraine, rising energy prices and poor harvests. Prices are now falling, but remain higher than last year. In this programme Ruth Alexander talks to three farmers on three different continents, to discuss if they’re profiting from these higher prices, the impact of higher costs, and whether farmers ultimately have any influence over the price we pay in the shops. Ruth is joined by Anne Gitau, a

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27:57

Inheriting grandma's pan

The Food Chain ·

2022/10/05

We may be living in a disposable age, but many of us probably own at least one hand-me-down pot, pan or kitchen utensil. They can be heavy and cumbersome to use but promise quality and reliability - a steadfast companion in the kitchen. They hold sentimental value too: memories of home, of loved ones who have passed, and ancestral traditions. In this programme, Ruth Alexander explores the history of some of these pieces, the sentimental and practical value to their owners, and the stories contained

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28:52

Who owns seeds?

The Food Chain ·

2022/09/28

Today’s seed industry is dominated by a handful of companies. Approximately 60% of the market is controlled by just four companies. Many of the seeds planted by farmers are controlled by international property rights or patents, that limit how they can be used. Court cases have centred around whether farmers have the right to save and reuse seeds for future harvests. In this programme we’ll chart the history of the seed industry, from the 19th century, when the United States government sent seeds

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30:33

Food for mood

The Food Chain ·

2022/09/21

Mental health is a hugely complex issue with many causes. There’s no simple answer, then, when it comes to therapies for conditions like anxiety and depression. But a growing body of research is now supporting a connection between nutrition and mental health - that what you eat can have a role to play in reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety. It’s an emerging field, but dietary recommendations for patients are already being made in clinical settings. Jordan Dunbar explores the scientific

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28:26

The flavourists

The Food Chain ·

2022/09/14

Meet the flavourists – the people who bring together art and science to create the flavours in our food. Each crisp, soft drink, or toothpaste flavour has been concocted by someone in a lab who has spent years studying why things taste good. In this programme, Ruth Alexander visits the International Flavour Research Centre at the University of Nottingham in the UK, where flavour chemist Professor Ian Fisk demonstrates machines that can act as an artificial nose and tongue. Historian Dr Nadia

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29:40

Inside food safety scares

The Food Chain ·

2022/09/07

Food contamination is a serious public health problem around the world. The World Health Organisation estimates that 600 million – almost 1 in 10 people in the world – fall ill after eating contaminated food and 420,000 die every year. In this episode, Ruth Alexander speaks to some of the people whose lives have been shaped by serious food safety breaches and how they are working to ensure food safety and strengthen our food systems. She speaks to US food policy campaigner, Darin Detwiler, whose son

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29:01

Tomorrow’s food crops

The Food Chain ·

2022/08/31

Climate change means that, in many parts of the world, the way we farm is no longer working. We need a larger, more diverse range of crops that perform even when the rains don’t come or, as can also be the case, when too much rain comes. Currently, just 15 crops make up 90% of our energy intake, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization. In this programme, we’re meeting people who are trying to develop food crops that might thrive in our changing world. Ruth Alexander

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28:13

Running a restaurant with your relatives

The Food Chain ·

2022/08/24

Running a restaurant is hard enough, but what if there’s family involved? In this episode, Felicity Hannah explores the highs and the lows of family-run eateries; their history, food culture, family dynamics and how they deal with the cut and thrust of business. She heads to Liverpool in the UK, to Europe’s oldest Chinatown, where she meets Terry and Theresa Lim, the owners of the city’s oldest Chinese restaurant. And she pays a visit to a local Italian establishment, to meet brother and sister

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27:06

Liquid gold: The price of cooking oil

The Food Chain ·

2022/08/17

Vegetable oil is one of many foods that has seen big price rises in the last year. Not only is it used for cooking and frying, but it’s also in many processed foods such as ready meals, sauces and even desserts. Ukraine and Russia represent the majority of the world’s sunflower oil production, whilst unpredictable weather, poor harvests and lack of labour have led to higher prices in palm, soybean and rape seed oil at the same time. In this programme we hear from food businesses struggling with the

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26:16

What can we do about drought?

The Food Chain ·

2022/08/10

Water shortages are getting worse with climate change. In the Horn of Africa, long periods without a rainy season have created a dire situation. The World Food Programme says up to 20 million people in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia could be pushed into hunger by the end of the year. Somalia, which has already witnessed decades of conflict, extreme weather and disease outbreaks, is being particularly hard-hit. Experts believe droughts will become more frequent, longer and more intense, so what can be

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28:15

The food illustrators

The Food Chain ·

2022/08/03

Meet the artists tasked with creating pictures that look good enough to eat. If it wasn’t for them, you might not have bought that particular tin of tomatoes or that bottle of wine. Enya Todd, a Chinese illustrator living in the UK, and Rocío Egío, a Spanish illustrator living in Switzerland tell Ruth Alexander how they translate a love of food into irresistible images on a page; while award-winning British botanical illustrator Bridget Gillespie reveals the ups and downs of capturing every exact

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28:26

Fuelling a female footballer

The Food Chain ·

2022/07/27

Good quality nutrition is key to sporting success. But while plenty of research exists on the impact of nutrition on performance, most of it has been done on male athletes. That’s despite female athletes now making up nearly 50% of participants in professional sport. In the case of female footballers, research shows they could be consuming only half the carbohydrates they need. Not eating enough – or under-fuelling – as it’s known in footballing circles – is thought to be endemic in the women’s

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29:22

Why use food for fuel?

The Food Chain ·

2022/07/20

Biofuels are a way to make our cars, lorries and even planes run on renewable fuel. They’re often made from food crops. Globally 7% of cereal crops and 15% of vegetable oil crops are used to make biofuel – according to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). As pressure on food prices and supply chains increase, some people are questioning why we turn food into fuel. In this programme we’ll be

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27:13

In search of a food champion

The Food Chain ·

2022/07/14

From tackling poverty and hunger, to maggot farming, to harnessing the power of seaweed - since 2017, The Food Chain has been celebrating and rewarding innovation in food. This year, as part of the BBC Food and Farming Awards, we're looking for a new champion who is trying to change the way we deal with our food. With the launch of our 2022 award, Ruth Alexander catches up with two previous winners, school meals project the Akshaya Patra Foundation, and Gabriella D’Cruz, marine conservationist, to

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30:05

The fungi kingdom

The Food Chain ·

2022/07/06

It’s not just fauna and flora, there’s a third, much overlooked kingdom of life – fungi. Fungi are essential for plant and soil health, and therefore our own survival. It’s not just the mushrooms that we eat, in this programme we celebrate fungi in all its forms. Fungi already play important roles in our food production and medicine, scientists are now investigating fungi based solutions for environmental pollution and waste disposal. We’re joined by biologist Merlin Sheldrake in the United

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