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BBC Radio 4


Investigating every aspect of the food we eat


The Food Programme

It’s been nearly 50 years since invasive American Signal Crayfish were introduced to the UK, and we still haven’t figured out how to get rid of them. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall joins Sheila Dillon to meet a man who believes the way to control their spread is to get more people eating them — but not everyone’s convinced. These crustaceans are so invasive that ecologists worry encouraging consumption could lead to further spread. Meanwhile, in parts of the Southern US, crayfish are a beloved delicacy. Sheila heads to a crayfish boil in London to see how that tradition is being recreated here.

Presented by Sheila Dillon
Produced by Natalie Donovan for BBC Audio in Bristol

The Crayfish Question

Since the early 2000s, one type of shop has quietly become a regular feature on British high streets: the Polski sklep – or Polish shop.

Known for their smoked sausages, sour pickles, and wide selection of herbal teas, these shops offer more than just food. With Polish people now the largest non-British nationality in the UK, and Polish the next most spoken language after English and Welsh, they also reflect a broader story of migration and community. Jaega Wise explores what makes these stores worth visiting for everyone, not just Poles, and how they’re adapting to the challenges facing the high street.

To find out more, Jaega visits Peterborough – a city she once lived in and remembers for its vibrant Polish community. There, she explores the busy Europol supermarket and a popular home-style restaurant, Pierogarnia. 

In Walthamstow, she meets cultural historian and second-generation Pole Dr Kasia Tomasiewicz, who explains the background behind the herbal teas and how they connect her to her ancestors. And back in Hackney, Jaega makes pierogi at home with food writer Zuza Zak, using a mix of Polish and British ingredients. She also hears from Dr Kathy Burrell, Professor of Migration Geographies at the University of Liverpool. 

Producer: Eliza Lomas

Polski Sklep: A Recent History of the Polish Shop

Dan Saladino explores stories of food and 'the elements', the theme of this year's Oxford Food Symposium. 

Expect surprising insights on earth, fire, air, water and much more.

For more than forty years the Symposium has celebrated, explored and shared research by scholars, enthusiastic amateurs, writers, and chefs from around the world, all united in the belief that food deserves to be treated as a serious, as well as a joyful, subject. 

Hundreds of 'symposiasts' gather at St Catherine's College each year, to submit papers, deliver presentations, discuss ideas and to dine - all based around a theme. 

Dan talks to some of the presenters about their interpretation of 'food and the elements'. Some took inspiration from the classical world (earth, air, fire and water), others explored food and the periodic table or climate and weather. 

In this 'mix-tape edition', stories range from the use of fire and ashes in food cultures around the world to the Trump administration's plan to remove 'chemical elements' from the diets of Americans. 

For more information about the symposium and this year's papers, go to: https://www.oxfordsymposium.org.uk/ 

Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.

Food and the Elements

Sheila Dillon looks into claims that big food companies wield too much influence over government decisions and public health. The episode follows news from the youth-led campaign group BiteBack2030, which says its billboard campaign has been effectively silenced. The group recently organised a mock inquiry in Parliament, involving MPs, to share concerns about how junk food advertising and sponsorship are affecting the health of children in the UK.

Sheila also hears from a group of protesters who marched to Downing Street this month, shouting the message “Fight Fake Food.” Organiser Rosalind Rathouse, from the Cookery School on Portland Street, says the public needs to know how the food they’re eating is damaging their health. She is calling on everyone to learn to cook this summer. During the march, campaigners delivered a list of wishes to Downing Street, highlighting the changes they’d like to see in food policy.

Also featured are Jennifer Richardson from The BMJ, which has been investigating the impact of commercial influence on children’s health, and Cathy Cliff from the Soil Association, who submitted a Freedom of Information request to uncover the extent of food industry lobbying and its effect on government policy.

Presented by Sheila Dillon
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Natalie Donovan

Big Food, Big Power

The adventures of Barbara and Tom Good in Surbiton brought self-sufficiency to the small screens of the nation. Fifty years on from the airing of that first episode of The Good Life, Leyla Kazim is about to embark on her own sustainable living dream as she seeks to live off the land when she moves from London to Portugal. 

So what lessons can she learn from The Goods about food production – whether that’s animal husbandry or growing-your-own? And will she succeed when she can’t even speak the language? 

Leyla visits Groundswell, the Regenerative Agriculture Festival, in urgent search of advice. She speaks to Andy Cato from Wildfarmed, Rob Hopkins of the Transition Network and Helen Browning from the Soil Association. She also explores the forest garden of Martin Crawford in Devon as she plans her own food forest.

Produced by Robin Markwell for BBC Audio in Bristol.

Contains clips of The Good Life from Series 1, Episode 1 "Plough Your Own Furrow", Series 1 Episode 2 "Say Little Hen..." and Series 1 Episode 4 "Pig's Lib"

The New Good Life

Dan Saladino explores new science that's revealing the complexity hidden within our food.

In New York City he meets the team mapping previously unknown edible compounds in fruits and vegetables, many of which are thought to have health benefits. 

Will delving deeper into the 'dark matter' of food make it possible to produce food that's better for both us and the planet? Also in the programme is Franco Fubini, founder of the food businesses and author of In Search of The Perfect Peach, who for 20 years has been in search of ingredients with exceptional flavour. It's through flavour, Fubini believes, that we can create a food system that's better for us and also the planet. 

Dan also meets Dan Kitteridge, who, through the Bio-nutrient Association, is convinced that quality of food, and its nutrient density is dependent on the quality of the soil microbiome it grows in. 

Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.

The Periodic Table of Food

In this episode, social media chef and queen of potatoes, Poppy O'Toole, explores the world of her favourite ingredient, the Potato. 

Last year, Poppy appeared on Mastermind, choosing the history of the potato as her specialist subject. Let’s just say… it didn’t quite go to plan. So now, she’s joining the team at The Food Programme to fill in the gaps in her knowledge.

Along the way, she meets historian Professor Rebecca Earle from the University of Warwick, who explains how potatoes travelled from the Andes to Europe. She visits Lima, a Peruvian restaurant in London, where she speaks with sous chef William Coz about how potatoes remain central to Peruvian cuisine. Dr Stef de Haan from the International Potato Center shares how Peru continues to cultivate thousands of potato varieties.

In Suffolk, Poppy visits James Foskett’s farm to discover how he grows both organic and conventional potatoes. And she speaks with Dr Jean Beagle Ristaino—known by some as “the Sherlock of Spuds”—about her work investigating the pathogen behind the Irish Potato Famine.

The programme includes archive from Mastermind which is co-produced for BBC 2 by Hindsight and Hat Trick.

Presented by Poppy O'Toole
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Natalie Donovan

Potatoes with Poppy O'Toole

With the price of olive oil soaring in the shops after drought disrupted production in Spain, Leyla Kazim looks into the English farms planting olive groves in the hope of bottling their own oil. She meets a farmer in Essex who explains that English growing conditions are more suitable than you might think and discovers a producer in Cornwall who has already started pressing his own extra virgin olive oil. So will olive oil from Essex or Cornwall become the new English sparkling wine?

Dan Saladino reports from Sicily where hotter conditions due to climate change are presenting new challenges for growers. Food historian Dr Annie Gray debunks some of the myths around olive oil consumption in England and Leyla learns the correct way to approach an oil-tasting from one of the country’s biggest suppliers. 

Produced by Robin Markwell for BBC Audio in Bristol.

English Olive Oil

Dan Saladino meets pioneering thinkers to hear about future food ideas ranging from edible protein sourced from chicken feathers to crops inoculated with fungi capable of tolerating a hotter climate.

Produced and presented by Dan Saladino

A Food Revolution in Eight (More) Ideas

In this episode of 'A Life Through Food', Sheila Dillon meets one of the most provocative scientific minds of the last half-century: Professor Michael Crawford. Now in his 90s, Crawford’s pioneering research into the brain and nutrition has reshaped how we understand the essential role of food—especially Omega-3 fatty acids—in human development and health.

Long before Omega-3 became a buzzword on supermarket shelves, Crawford was uncovering its vital connection to brain function. His work, often at odds with mainstream science, has led to over 300 peer-reviewed papers and three books challenging conventional theories of human evolution and nutrition.

The programme also features chef and broadcaster Rick Stein, who reflects on Crawford’s influence and the importance of sustainable seafood. And we hear from Dr Anneli Löfstedt, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Oxford’s Smith School of Enterprise and Environment, who is building on Crawford’s legacy by exploring the links between nutrition, sustainability, and the future of food systems.

Presented by Sheila Dillon
Produced by Natalie Donovan for BBC Audio in Bristol.

Professor Michael Crawford: A Life through Food

Do you know how vanilla beans are hand pollinated? Do you know why harvested vanilla pods are wrapped in hot blankets? 

Sheila Dillon reveals all as she continues her exploration of the modern spice world by looking at vanilla. 

Reporter Vanessa Kimbell travels to Uganda to meet Lulu Sturdy, a British furniture designer who inherited a run down estate in Uganda, and within a decade has turned it into an influential source of quality vanilla beans. She follows this year's harvest and hears the incredible effort involved during the careful processing of the pods.

Chef Jeremy Lee and Niki Segnit, author of The Flavour Thesaurus provide a guide to flavour combinations and cooking techniques with vanilla.

A Guide to Spice, part 2: Vanilla

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