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BBC Radio 4


Investigating every aspect of the food we eat


The Food Programme

As sales of matcha continue to boom, Leyla Kazim traces the story of the powdered green tea from centuries-old Japanese tradition to global health trend phenomenon. We look behind the social media videos and headlines to find out more about the reported matcha shortage, how the matcha supply chain is reacting, and ask what might happen next. 

Also in the programme Leyla learns about some of the misconceptions we have about matcha, including the issues around the term 'ceremonial grade'; we have a report from Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms in Japan about how tea farmers are coping with the sudden boom; and Leyla digs into the health claims about matcha with dietician and scientist at King's College London, Dr Emily Leeming.

Presented by Leyla Kazim and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol.

The Rise of Matcha

Sheila Dillon investigates the growing number of food tours and trails in the UK as consumers show more and more interest in the provenance of what is on their plate. She heads to Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire – a town that boasts the title of Rural Capital Of Food - and joins a walking tour that spans pork pie producers, stilton sellers, a samosa wallah and a prizewinning brewery. 

Produced by Robin Markwell for BBC Audio in Bristol

Follow the Food: The Rise of Food Tourism

Jaega Wise heads to the Isle of Man to find out what’s driving a growing movement to produce more of the island’s own food, and why its approach might matter beyond its shores. She hears about the challenges facing producers, how the fishing industry is adapting, and what it means to work within a UNESCO biosphere. Just 6% of food bought in Manx shops is locally produced — a figure the Manx NFU is campaigning to change. Meanwhile, the Government has announced reforms to primary school meals after discovering half of the food served was ultra-processed, and very little was locally sourced. 

Contributors: 
Chris Waller, NOA Bakehouse
Sue King, author of "Ham & Eggs and Turtle Soup: A Slice of Manx Culinary History"
Jack Emmerson – Sea Fisheries Policy Manager, Isle of Man Government (DEFA)
Dr David Beard – Chief Executive, Manx Fish Producers Organisation
Elizabeth Townsend and Nick Scarffe, Kerroo Brewing Co
Helen Crosbie, Isle of Man Sea Salt
Jenny Shepherd and Rawdon Hayne – Isle of Man Charcuterie
Sarah Comish, Manx National Farmers’ Union (NFU)
Shirley Callow, Isle of Man Creamery
Daphne Caine, Minister for Education, Sport and Culture, Isle of Man Government
Pippa Lovell, Chef, The Laxey Glen. 

Presented by Jaega Wise
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Natalie Donovan

Manx Made

Historian Polly Russell and chef Pam Brunton explore Scotland's landscapes to answer the question, 'what is modern Scottish food?'. 
On a road trip through landscapes, old and new, they encounter deer stalkers, robot milking machines and a bean to bar chocolate maker. 

Why is it we end up with a fixed view of what a nation's food culture looks and tastes like and how easy is it to create a change? 

Produced by Dan Saladino.

Cooking From Landscape: Rethinking Scottish Food

Butter superfan Felicity Cloake asks whether the movement against ultra-processed foods is linked to a recent rise in popularity of her favourite kitchen staple. Her investigations take her to the rich grasslands of the West Country as she visits Wyke Farms, Quicke's and Ivy House Farm Dairy. She looks at how flavoured butter is taking off and finds out more about the tradition of cheesemakers making whey butter.

Professor Sarah Berry from King's College London gives advice on how much butter we should be eating as part of a healthy diet and food historian Regina Sexton looks at the relationship between butter and Ireland. Felicity also has a turn at making her own butter using an historic dash churn at The Butter Museum in Cork. 

Presented by Felicity Cloake
Produced in Bristol for BBC Audio by Robin Markwell
The programme features a short excerpt of the song "Please Leave My Butter Alone" by Elsie Carlisle.

Butter Is Back

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

Sheila Dillon finds out why the debate about the role of sugar in our lives is hotting up. Recent books and news stories have re-awoken a forty year debate about what makes us fat.

Robert H. Lustig is a paediatric endocrinologist at the University of California, San Francisco. A lecture he gave on sugar has attracted more than three million hits. He makes a case that sugar is problematic, not just because it contains calories, but because the fructose component of sucrose interacts with our bodies in a very specific way. 

His claim that sugar not only causes obesity but a wide range of other conditions including type 2 diabetes, is disputed, but he's succeeded in capturing public attention. Sheila Dillon speaks to Robert Lustig about his research, and she explores other reasons why sugar is back in the headlines.

Sugar: Pure, White and Deadly?

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