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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

How to eat more fibre (and why you should!)

The Food Chain ·

2026/04/15

Food Chain presenter Ruth Alexander was confident that she was eating a healthy diet, in particular, a diet that included enough fibre. But it turns out, like many of us, her fibre intake has been falling short of the recommended amount. In fact all over the world most of us are failing to eat enough, despite the growing trend for so called "fibremaxxing" where people try to maximise their daily intake. So how can we boost our fibre intake? And does it really have to involve chia seeds? Ruth

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26:29

So you think you can't cook?

The Food Chain ·

2026/04/08

Many people feel they can’t cook, or don’t know where to start. Studies suggest that in some countries, fewer people are preparing meals from scratch, and a lack of confidence in the kitchen can be a big part of the problem.Ruth Alexander explores what holds people back from cooking, and how to overcome it. Drawing on her own experience of learning later in life, she asks: can anyone become a confident cook?She’s joined by three guests who spend much of their lives in the kitchen, and who know that

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26:29

Is kitchen culture changing?

The Food Chain ·

2026/04/01

Is the culture of professional kitchens shifting?In recent weeks, one of the restaurant world’s most influential figures stepped down amid allegations about his conduct at work. It’s been widely reported that former employees accused René Redzepi, founder of Copenhagen’s Noma, of creating a toxic working environment involving verbal and physical abuse. Redzepi has since apologised publicly, saying he has worked to change.Ruth Alexander uses this moment as a starting point to explore a broader

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26:28

How to have a stress-free family meal

The Food Chain ·

2026/03/26

Are your family meals calm and connected? Or have they become dominated by battles with fussy kids or awkward teens?Mum-of-one Ruth Alexander gets advice from experts who share the secrets to taking the stress out of family dinner and how to cope with fussy eaters. She finds out how we can make the table a place everyone wants to be at, tots, teens and adults alike.Produced by Lexy O'Connor and Rumella Dasgupta.Image: A small angry boy with blonde hair is holding a bowl of food and threatening to

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26:28

What to eat to run a marathon

The Food Chain ·

2026/03/19

What should runners should eat to train for, and complete, a marathon? With major races like the London and Boston marathons approaching, more people than ever are taking on the 26.2-mile challenge. But what should you actually eat to fuel that distance? Ruth Alexander is joined by one of the most successful marathon runners in history, Paula Radcliffe, who held the women’s world record for 16 years. She shares what it takes to fuel months of marathon training, and what it feels like when

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26:29

Giving it all up for food

The Food Chain ·

2026/03/12

Ruth Alexander meets three people who gave up well-paid, high-flying careers to start all over again in the world of food. Nisha Katona left a career as a child protection barrister behind to start Mowgli, a chain of Indian restaurants in the UK, physically building her first restaurants herself. Judy Joo worked in finance on Wall Street but decided to give it up to go to culinary school. After starting at the bottom in various restaurant kitchens she founded the Korean restaurant chain Seoul Bird,

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26:29

The story of the sandwich

The Food Chain ·

2026/03/05

Shattering the myth of its aristocratic origins and exploring some of the boldest creations; Ruth Alexander finds out about the history, culture and family ties wrapped up in the sandwich. Josh Veasey, co-owner of Rack in North West England talks about his menu’s hits and misses and what it’s like to make a living out of making sandwiches. The fourth Earl of Sandwich John Montagu is popularly credited with coming up with the idea of putting a tasty filling between two slices of bread; food historian

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26:29

Small kitchens

The Food Chain ·

2026/02/26

From Michelin starred kitchens to Hong Kong’s high rise tower blocks, via informal settlements in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. Ruth Alexander hears from people making the best out of the cramped and tiny spaces they’re cooking in. Gina Lai shows her around the kitchen in her cramped Hong Kong high rise flat and Ruth visits chef Ryan Blackburn who has retained a Michelin star whilst cooking out of the tinest of professional kitchens in Northern England. Plus Leah and her daughter Janice explain how

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26:29

The risk takers

The Food Chain ·

2026/02/19

Every food company starts with a gamble - and not all of them pay off. In this episode Ruth Alexander speaks to business owners about the risks they’ve taken to get where they are today, from financial leaps to personal sacrifices, and the painful decisions that have shaped their journeys. Ruth hears from Kim Kiarie, chef-owner of Five Senses Nairobi in Kenya, about building a high-end restaurant in a challenging market. Adonis Norouznia, who runs Nomas Gastrobar in Macclesfield in North-West

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26:41

How to write a recipe

The Food Chain ·

2026/02/12

We all have recipes we turn to again and again, perhaps from the stained pages of our favourite cookbooks, or handed down through families. But have you ever wondered about the work that’s gone into writing that set of instructions? In this edition of The Food Chain, Ruth Alexander looks at the art and science of recipe writing. How does a cook turn what is often an instinctive and creative process into a list of instructions anyone can follow? How much detail is too much, and what are the

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26:29

Can you learn to love the foods you hate?

The Food Chain ·

2026/02/05

Most of us have foods we refuse to eat - think coriander, or maybe olives. But where do those strong dislikes come from, and is it possible to change them?In this episode of The Food Chain, Ruth Alexander sets out to find out whether you really can learn to love the foods you hate. From first encounters that go wrong to memories that linger, she explores why food preferences can feel so fixed, and whether anything might help shift them.Ruth speaks to neuroscientist Dr Dana Small, professor and

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30:47

Fermented foods: A beginner's guide

The Food Chain ·

2026/01/29

Fermented foods are fashionable – kimchi, kefir, kombucha – they're all having a moment, many thousands of years on from where they were first produced. But how much do you know about how they're made? Do you know your SCOBY from your kefir grain? In this episode, fermenting novice Ruth Alexander goes on a quest to find out more about this ancient way of preserving food; how to do it yourself, why you might want to, and what it's doing for our guts.Follow along as she experiments with making her own

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26:29

Dinner unboxed

The Food Chain ·

2026/01/22

Meal kits have become a familiar part of food shopping in many countries, offering pre-portioned ingredients and recipes delivered to the door. But how widespread are they, and what do they reveal about how people are eating today?Ruth Alexander hears from Philip Doran, CEO of HelloFresh UK and Ireland, and Sarah Hewitt, CEO of South African meal kit company UCOOK, about how these services operate in very different markets.She also speaks to Dr Rebecca Bennett, a food systems researcher, about what

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26:27

Should we all eat the Mediterranean way?

The Food Chain ·

2026/01/15

Thousands of studies back the health benefits of a Mediterranean diet. In fact, it's considered to be one of the most widely researched diets in the world. But why has this way of eating come to prominence over others? Marta Guasch-Ferre from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark explains what the Mediterranean diet is and how her Spanish roots have informed her work. Professor Sarah Tracy from the University of Oklahoma tells the story of the diet's roots, popularised by American scientist Ancel

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26:29

Tweaks for 2026: How to eat better

The Food Chain ·

2026/01/08

Ruth Alexander gathers the most useful, actionable nutrition advice from our episodes of 2025 to help set you up for 2026. Things like how to nourish your brain, keep an eye on portion sizes, and why it’s important to focus on fibre. Experts from around the world tell us about the small tweaks that can make a real difference to how we eat, think, and feel.Producer: Izzy GreenfieldSound mixing: Hal Haines(Photo: a person looks at a variety of foods, Credit: Getty Images)

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26:29

Family ties

The Food Chain ·

2025/12/25

Food is at the centre of family life – on ordinary days, in the everyday rush, during the dramas, and the quieter moments too. In this episode, Ruth Alexander looks back at some of The Food Chain's most moving and intimate moments of 2025, all revealing the power food has to bind people together. From the first meal taken by a foster child in an unfamiliar home to the couple cooking together for the first time in their lives after a dementia diagnosis, these stories show how food has the capacity

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26:28

What is the ultimate hangover cure?

The Food Chain ·

2025/12/18

With the festive season approaching in parts of the world, Ruth Alexander explores what’s actually happening in the body during a hangover, why some people suffer more than others, and whether common remedies make any real difference. How the body processes alcohol and why that can make you feel so bad is explained by Andrew Scholey, Professor of Human Psychopharmacology at Northumbria University in the UK and member of the Alcohol Hangover Research Group. Marisa Moll, a registered nutritionist from

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26:29

Food heroes and villains

The Food Chain ·

2025/12/11

Social media is awash with nutritional misinformation with foods often cast as superheroes or villains. So how can we separate fact from fiction? And how can we know what posts we can trust? Warning: this programme contains conversations about disordered eating which some listeners may find upsetting. Social media loves to portray some foods, like carbs, sugar and seed oils as villains, to be avoided at all costs.Other food groups like protein are often claimed to be food heroes and some social

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26:29

How to eat well in the cold

The Food Chain ·

2025/12/04

How do you eat well in freezing the cold? When you live in some of the coldest places on earth, what you eat, and how much, really matters. Ruth Alexander hears advice from a scientist, who goes on expeditions to study the body’s reaction to sub-zero temperatures, and talks to people living in the Arctic circle. What do they cook, and what is their favourite food and drink to keep them warm in the winter? She hears how they find fresh ingredients when all around the ground is frozen – and how

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26:29

To tip or not to tip?

The Food Chain ·

2025/11/27

Ruth Alexander explores the art and etiquette of tipping and how it varies around the world. She hears from staff and customers in countries where tipping is essential and in places where it can be taken as an insult. Ruth also talks to servers and bartenders about what your gratuity means to them and how tipping can sometimes bring out the best and worst in their customers. Producer: Lexy O’Connor Image: A jar full of coins and notes has the word “tips” written on it. It floats on a red

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