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The Food Programme: Daily Summaries Delivered
by BBC Radio 4
Investigating every aspect of the food we eat
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- 2 days ago42 min
The Cost of Food
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 system? Who is under pressure? Are we paying too much for food, or in some cases not enough? And what would a fairer, more sustainable food economy actually look like?Joining Sheila Dillon are Food Programme presenter and award-winning journalist Dan Saladino; Vicki Hird, one of the UK's leading food policy experts and Strategic Lead on Agriculture at The Wildlife Trusts; and Welsh food writer, broadcaster and food strategist Simon Wright, who is currently developing a National Food Strategy for Wales.Produced by Natalie Donovan for BBC Audio in Bristol.
- 1 weeks ago41 min
The BBC Food and Farming Awards 2026: The Food Producers
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.
- 2 weeks ago41 min
Stories of Food and Poverty
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 an ongoing cost of living crisis and the prospect of further food price inflation, 'poverty food' is an increasingly urgent and topical theme. Are there lessons we can learn from history?Produced and presented by Dan Saladino. Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.
- 3 weeks ago42 min
What the Normans did for our diet
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 Pont-l'Évêque – and learns about their history with cheese expert David Raguet. She visits cider-makers Christian Drouin and Jean Olivier Petrich to understand why Normandy excels in the drink and finds out about the production of calvados and pommeau. Back in England, Annie also goes on the hunt for rabbits in Thetford Forest where you can still see evidence of the extensive Norman warrens. Dr Millie Horton-Insch from the British Museum explains how food is depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry and Professor Ben Jervis considers what archaeology can teach us about the way our diets changed after 1066.Produced by Robin Markwell for BBC Audio in Bristol.
- Sep 4, 202642 min
A Day in the Life of a School Catering Manager
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 Organic North, which supplies organic fruit and vegetables to Bury's schools, and The Organic Pantry, a prospective supplier hoping to be part of the council's network of local food producers. Produced in Bristol for BBC Audio by Natalie Donovan
- Aug 28, 202641 min
Fork and Knife
"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 we eat shapes ideas of identity, belonging and culture. From the arrival of the fork in Europe to the Nigerian tradition of eating with your hands, and from Cantonese chopstick culture to the formal rituals of the British dinner table, he uncovers surprising stories about the many different ways in which we consume our food.Part social history, part personal journey, this is a story about the rules we inherit, the traditions we hold on to, and what something as simple as a knife, fork, pair of chopsticks or even our own hands can reveal about who we are.Produced by Ishmael Soriano for BBC Audio Bristol
- Aug 21, 202641 min
Taste the World: The Origins of Our Food
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.
- Aug 14, 202642 min
The Dark Arts of Affinage
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 hears from practitioners who regularly wash and turn their cheeses. Some have buried cheeses in coal holes, encased them in clay pots or even played them music to find new ways of making traditional cheeses taste differently. Experimentation with these techniques has led to new cheeses entering the market. In this programme the dark arts of affinage will be revealed.Presented by Sheila Dillon and produced in Bristol for BBC Audio by Robin Markwell
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