The Food Chain

Latest Episodes:

Alice Waters: My life in five dishes Feb 25, 2021

Show notes

Alice Waters is one of America’s most influential chefs and food writers. In the 1970s she led a food revolution that sparked a movement towards local, sustainable, organic food. Alice tells Emily Thomas about her life, from a suburban childhood in New Jersey to the radical politics of the University of California, Berkeley. She explains how she was inspired to set up a small French restaurant called Chez Panisse, after a trip to France as a student, and how it became a mecca for writers, chefs, musicians and artists.

After almost half a century of food activism, Alice tells us that she still has plenty of work to do. She talks about her mission to educate children through her Edible School Yard project, how lockdown has focused her mind on climate change, and what it has felt like to see her beloved restaurant forced to close its doors over the past year.

(Photo: Alice Waters. Credit: Amanda Marsalis/ BBC).

Sourdough love stories Feb 18, 2021

Show notes

A spongy collection of flour, water, wild yeasts and bacteria may seem an unlikely object of affection, but some sourdough starters are truly cherished, and can even become part of the family.

Emily Thomas hears how one starter has been used to bake bread in the same family since the Canadian gold rush more than 120 years ago, and speaks to a man trying to preserve sourdough diversity and heritage by running the world's only library dedicated to starter cultures.

And a German baker, whose starter has survived Nazism and communism, reveals the commercial demands of maintaining it and why old ‘mothers’ (as sourdough starters are known) hold a powerful lesson for us all in nurturing living things.

Producers: Simon Tulett and Sarah Stolarz

(Picture: A woman holding bread. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Contributors:

Ione Christensen; Karl de Smedt, Puratos; Christoph Hatscher, Bäckerei & Konditorei Hatscher

Has coronavirus changed school meals for ever? Feb 11, 2021

Show notes

In March 2020, as countries struggled to contain the coronavirus pandemic, 90% of the world’s school children were sent home. With all eyes - and headlines - on the spread of Covid-19, it took a while for many to see that another crisis had been unleashed - hundreds of millions of children around the world were now going hungry because they relied on free school meals as their main source of nutrition. Not every parent had the money to buy more food - and few governments had adequate plans in place to help them.

Emily Thomas hears extraordinary stories from Kenya and the US of how schools and charities fought to reach children throughout school closures. Could the coronavirus have changed school meals for good - and if so, why did it take a pandemic for the world to wake up to their importance?

(Picture: boy with school lunch. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk.

Contributors:

Wawira Njiru: Founder and Executive Director, Food for Education

Carmen Burbano: Director of the World Food Programme’s School Feeding Division

Dr. Gabriella McLoughlin: Research Associate, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri

Nigella Lawson: My life in five dishes Feb 04, 2021

Show notes

The internationally-acclaimed food writer and TV cook Nigella Lawson, tells her life story through five memorable dishes. Often filmed devouring food with a showy relish, she tells Emily Thomas how her mother’s bulimia sparked a life-long determination to enjoy eating.

Nigella explains how a series of bereavements has led her to memorialise her loved ones through recipes, and why she’s become more protective of her privacy in recent years.

Nigella’s books and TV shows often give the impression of a gregarious host, cooking for a multitude of family and friends, but her latest book ‘Cook, Eat, Repeat’ and its accompanying TV series, partly written and produced during lockdown, show her on her own. We find out how she’s coped.

(Picture: Nigella Lawson. Credit: Matt Holyoak/ BBC).

Divided by drink: A tale from dry America Jan 28, 2021

Show notes

Trump vs Biden isn’t the only issue that's been dividing communities in the USA in recent months - some have also been arguing over alcohol. Alongside November’s presidential vote, several counties and cities voted on whether to give up their ‘dry’ status and allow alcohol sales, many for the first time in 100 years. This week we hear from Bath County, Kentucky, which narrowly voted to go ‘wet’. Emily Thomas hears the story of this small rural community told by the people on opposite sides of the sometimes bitter argument - a pastor whose daughter was killed by a drunk driver, and a young metal worker convinced alcohol sales will bring prosperity.

Producers: Simon Tulett and Sarah Stolarz

Contributors:

The Reverend Lowell Rice, pastor at Owingsville First Church of God, Kentucky Dallas Whisman, Bath County Alcohol Beverage Control administrator, Kentucky

(Picture: A broken beer bottle on a US flag. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

The power of food emojis Jan 21, 2021

Show notes

Do you give food emojis much thought? If not, perhaps you should. Emily Thomas hears how these tiny digital images can have a big social and economic impact. We reveal who decides which emojis are accepted and how you can propose your very own. Two Venezuelans living in the US explain why their brand new ‘flatbread emoji’ could be one the most significant achievements of their lives, and the emoji artist responsible for everything from the ‘dumpling’ to ‘bubble tea’ tells us why she sees her work as a calling, and how it has made her an unexpected cultural ambassador.

(Picture: selection of food emojis. Credit: Lumen Bigott/Yiying Lu/BBC)

Contributors:

Sebastian Delmont, software developer Lumen Bigott, graphic designer Yiying Lu, artist and entrepreneur

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

The arctic eating adventure Jan 14, 2021

Show notes

When the only road into her town was blocked by a landslide, documentary filmmaker Suzanne Crocker was shocked by how quickly supermarket shelves went bare. It set her mind racing; would her remote Canadian town - just 300km from the Arctic circle - be capable of sustaining itself? She decided to undertake a radical experiment: an entire year of eating 100% local. Emily Thomas hears how she grew, hunted, foraged and negotiated her way through the seasons with a cupboard bare of salt, sugar and caffeine. How did she persuade three hungry teenagers to come on board, and what did a year of eating local do to family dynamics?

Suzanne’s film about the experience is available on FirstWeEat.ca until 1 February 2021.

If you would like to get in touch with The Food Chain please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

(Picture: The Crocker family: Credit: Suzanne Crocker/BBC)

Yotam Ottolenghi: My life in five dishes Jan 07, 2021

Show notes

The influential Israeli-born, UK-based chef tells his life story through some of his most memorable dishes.

Often credited with bringing Middle Eastern food into the mainstream in the UK, he now has a string of restaurants and delicatessens behind him, along with several best-selling cookbooks, but he was a late starter in the kitchen - almost pursuing a career in philosophy instead.

He tells Emily Thomas about his youth in the vibrant and diverse Jerusalem of the 1970s, coming out as gay in Tel Aviv, and the huge impact of his younger brother’s death.

Usually reluctant to delve into politics, Yotam also explains why he’s decided to speak out in support of his industry during the coronavirus pandemic.

Producers: Simon Tulett, Siobhan O'Connell and Sarah Stolarz

If you would like to get in touch with the show please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

(Picture: Yotam Ottolenghi. Credit: David Loftus/BBC)

Too many cookbooks? Dec 31, 2020

Show notes

Many of us love cookbooks. For some, they are a useful tool, and for others a source of inspiration. But then there are those for whom they are a whole lot more.

Emily Thomas meets two people who are obsessed with cookbooks, collecting thousands of copies, and building emotional connections with each of them.

Irish food writer Diana Henry explains how books can become soulmates, and Californian chef Cindy Pawlcyn describes how it feels to have a collection built over decades, destroyed overnight.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

(Picture: Pile of books. Credit: Getty/BBC)

What's food got to do with destiny? Dec 24, 2020

Show notes

What is it about garlic that wards off the evil eye? Why is rice sometimes thrown over the happy couple at a wedding?

The way we grow, eat and use certain foods is said to bring us luck - good or bad - but why do we imbue them with these mystical powers, and why do these beliefs persist?

Tamasin Ford explores some of the most common and also unusual food superstitions practiced around the world.

Producers: Simon Tulett and Sarah Stolarz

(Picture: Two hands pulling a wishbone. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Contributors:

Jayanti 'Jonty' Rajagopalan, owner of Detours India, Hyderabad; Mae Azango, journalist with FrontPage Africa, Liberia; Tasha Marks, food historian, London.

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