The Food Programme

42:29

The Cost of Food

The Food Programme ·

2026/10/02

Sheila Dillon is joined by a panel at Abergavenny Food Festival to ask - why is food costing so much more than it used to, and what would it take to build a food system that works better for everyone?Food prices in the UK have risen dramatically in recent years, while healthier food remains out of reach for many families. At the same time, farmers, growers and food businesses say they are struggling with rising costs, squeezed margins and growing uncertainty.So who is benefiting from the current

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41:27

The BBC Food and Farming Awards 2026: The Food Producers

The Food Programme ·

2026/09/25

Each year The BBC Food & Farming Awards celebrates food producers who are going above and beyond to create delicious and sustainable food. They are examples of how food can be a force for good, improving our local areas, health and environment. In this programme judges Sheila Dillon and Paula McIntyre meet the three finalists and announce the whole of this year's Awards shortlist.

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41:34

Stories of Food and Poverty

The Food Programme ·

2026/09/18

Dan Saladino visits the annual Oxford Food Symposium and explores its theme of 'poverty food'.Stories told at the event ranged from the historic links between breadfruit and the slave trade and the cooking demos organised for the poorest families in Edwardian London. We also hear about the oldest known cookbook to feature recipes for people in poverty, dating back to 14th century Persia.How has poverty has shaped food cultures over the centuries? The symposium set out to provide answers.As we face

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42:21

What the Normans did for our diet

The Food Programme ·

2026/09/10

On BBC Radio 4 we’re marking the arrival of the Bayeux Tapestry in London by exploring the impact of the Norman invasion. In this programme, food historian Dr Annie Gray travels to Normandy to investigate how the Norman Conquest changed what we eat and drink.The Normans crossed the English Channel with new cheeses, different varieties of apple to make cider and introduced rabbits to our table. Annie samples the “Fantastic Four” of Norman soft cheeses – Livarot, Camembert, Neufchâtel and

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42:24

A Day in the Life of a School Catering Manager

The Food Programme ·

2026/09/04

School food is back in the spotlight, and as governments across the UK look to improve what children eat, what does it actually take to change a school meals service?Jaega Wise spends a day with Andrew Cowan, Catering Manager at Bury Council, whose team serves around 10,000 meals a day across more than 50 schools. From Manchester's wholesale produce market to Elton High School, she follows the people working to put more freshly prepared, seasonal food on pupils' plates.Along the way, Jaega visits

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41:37

Fork and Knife

The Food Programme ·

2026/08/28

"One day we will eat with a knife and fork."As they were growing up, it's a phrase Ify Adenuga repeated to her children, including the grime artists Skepta and JME. The saying would later inspire the title of Skepta's 2026 album Fork & Knife, which he has described as being rooted in the immigrant mindset, aspiration and the belief that hard work might one day deliver a better life.In this edition of The Food Programme, Jimi Famurewa takes that phrase as a starting point to explore how the way

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41:31

Taste the World: The Origins of Our Food

The Food Programme ·

2026/08/21

Dan Saladino meets this year's collection of musicians from around the world who are cooking as they perform at the WOMAD festival. What do their dishes reveal about global food history?Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.

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42:41

The Dark Arts of Affinage

The Food Programme ·

2026/08/14

There are many ways to age a cheese so how best to refine its flavours over time? Welcome to the art of affinage - a French term that translates as "refining" a cheese - and a practice that is starting to take off in the UK. Sheila Dillon attends a competition to find the Affineur of the Year and discovers that the way you age a cheese can dramatically change its taste and texture. A cheddar can become more like a comté by changing the temperature, humidity and length of the ripening process. She

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42:20

Eating Octopus

The Food Programme ·

2026/08/07

Since January 2025, thousands of tonnes of common octopus, usually found in the Mediterranean, have been landed by fisherman off the south coast of England. But it’s still not a regular feature on UK menus. In this episode of the Food Programme, Jaega Wise heads to Brixham fish market to find out more about what’s happening, and visits seafood restaurants taking alternative approaches to the challenge. Rockfish owner and chef Mitch Tonks talks her through the difficulties of cooking octopus, and

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42:36

What Happened Next?

The Food Programme ·

2026/07/31

Leyla Kazim revisits some of The Food Programme's most memorable stories to ask: what happened next? From 500kg of eels stranded in a holding tank in Gloucestershire and English olive oil being pressed in Lincolnshire, to the future of halloumi in Cyprus following an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease, and the impact of global politics on vegetables grown in Africa for UK consumers. Leyla returns to the people behind these stories to hear what happened after the programmes were broadcast. Listen to

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41:34

Inside the Chocolate Crisis

The Food Programme ·

2026/07/24

Soaring cacao prices broke all records and then they crashed. Dan Saladino explores the fallout, the impact on farmers, their communities, industry players and chocolate lovers.Produced and presented by Dan Saladino

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43:01

How Pistachios Took Over

The Food Programme ·

2026/07/17

They’re in your chocolate, your gelato, even your coffee - pistachios seem to be everywhere at the moment - bolstered by the craze for Dubai Chocolate. In this episode Leyla Kazim asks what happens when the world seems to fall in love with one ingredient. She explores how the United States came to overtake traditional producers in the Middle East to become the world's largest pistachio grower, and hears about the nut's long history in countries such as Iran from Iranian-American food writer Anna

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42:28

Howzat? The Story of the Cricket Tea

The Food Programme ·

2026/07/10

Chef and broadcaster Romy Gill heads to the pavilion to explore cricket's relationship with food. She discovers that the supposedly British institution of the cricket tea was in fact a tradition imported from Australia in the 1880s. She visits Lord's - the Home of Cricket - and is given access to the kitchens to watch tea being prepared as well as receiving a tour of the Lord's museum to look through their culinary archives. She's made to feel welcome by the BBC Test Match Special team and

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41:36

The Weight of the World

The Food Programme ·

2026/07/03

Why did obesity become a global problem? Professor of Diet and Population Health Susan Jebb explores a heavy history, our changing relationship with food and reasons for optimism. She believes we live in an 'ultra-processed food system' which drives more of the world's population towards health harming diets and a lifetime of being overweight or obese. But she also believes change is possible, and the conditions are right for a food systems change.Also featuring Hannah Ritchie of Our World in Data,

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43:42

Could Food Do More in Cancer Care and Prevention?

The Food Programme ·

2026/06/26

Fifteen years after her cancer diagnosis, Sheila Dillon asks what role food could play in cancer treatment, prevention and recovery - and why it is still so often overlooked.Earlier this year, the Government published a new 10-year National Cancer Plan for England, aiming to save 320,000 lives and ensure three in four people survive at least five years after diagnosis by 2035. It’s been welcomed as an ambitious strategy, yet some say it has little to say about diet. References to food focus largely

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42:56

Food on the Move

The Food Programme ·

2026/06/19

Sheila Dillon heads out on the highway to investigate the world of food at motorway service stations. Historically they have been a place viewed as a functional stop-off for a "tea and a pee" and often maligned for the quality of their food. Motorway services enthusiast Dr David Lawrence from Kingston University talks through a short history of the Great British service station from Watford Gap and Newport Pagnell in 1959 through to present day.AA President Edmund King briefs Sheila on how his

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42:02

Inside England’s School Food Shake‑Up

The Food Programme ·

2026/06/12

Sheila Dillon looks at the plans to overhaul England’s school food standards, from cutting back on fried food, puddings and processed meat to serving more fruit and veg. She hears from pupils, caterers and campaigners who all want better school meals, but don’t always agree on how to get there. With concerns about cost and practicality, she asks what these changes might really mean for schools trying to make them work, and what the School Food System in Japan might tell us about the nations health

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41:35

The Price of Food

The Food Programme ·

2026/06/05

The food industry is predicting double digit inflation and are calling on the Government to act. Dan Saladino asks what lies behind the gloomy forecast, who will be most affected by price increases and if anything can be done to avoid the worst case scenario?Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.

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42:20

The BBC Food & Farming Awards 2026 Launch: Belfast...

The Food Programme ·

2026/05/29

The BBC Food & Farming Awards come from Belfast this year. Jaega Wise heads to the Balmoral Show, the largest agri-food show in Northern Ireland, to find out what makes this such an amazing place for food and farming. Jaega will be meeting head judge Paula McIntyre to talk about why Northern Ireland is home to some of the UK's most exciting food and drink businesses. She also meets Eve Blair, presenter of Your Place and Mine on BBC Radio Ulster and the judge of this year's Northern Ireland

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42:37

The future of our fruit and veg

The Food Programme ·

2026/05/22

Sheila Dillon visits fruit and veg growers across the country to ask what should the government put in its landmark plan to grow more in the UK. With war in the Middle East driving up fertiliser and energy prices and a growing health crisis at home, more homegrown fruit and veg could hold the answers to many of our problems. But those on the ground tell a different story, as businesses prepare to invest more in farms overseas, increase imports or face an ongoing struggle to cover rising costs and

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