The Food Chain

Latest Episodes:

Widowed: Food after loss May 02, 2019

Show notes

In the second of two James Beard Award-winning episodes on food and grief, Emily Thomas explores the food experiences of the widowed.

In parts of the world where widowhood is seen as a source of shame, widows might be excluded from mealtimes, forbidden from eating nourishing food, and even forced to take part in degrading eating rituals. And even in some of the world's most developed countries, where widowhood elicits sympathy rather than suspicion, the bereaved are still more likely to suffer nutritional deprivation than those who are still married.

No matter where we are in the world, when we’re grieving, we need the nourishment and comfort that food can provide more than ever. But losing the person we eat with most can make mealtimes hard to face, and this can devastate our physical and mental well-being. We hear from widowers and widows about how they managed to find joy in food again.

(Photo: Single chair at an empty table. Credit: Getty Images).

Raw grief Apr 25, 2019

Show notes

Emily Thomas explores how food can help us navigate through the darkest of times - the days, weeks, and even years following the death of someone we loved. In times of loss, should we use food to remember the dead or to reconnect with them? A neurologist explains the science behind grief and appetite, and people who've been recently bereaved talk about the foods and eating rituals that have helped them through it.

This programme won the James Beard Award for Best Radio Show in 2019. It was first broadcast in September 2018.

(Photo: A raw onion. Credit: Getty Images)

The pot washers Apr 18, 2019

Show notes

Do you know who’s washing your dishes?

Emily Thomas talks to pot washers from around the world, about what they love and loathe about life at the sink.

A kitchen can’t survive without the pot washer, yet we rarely give them a second thought, lavishing all our attention instead on the chefs. But maybe we should. Being a pot washer, dishwasher or kitchen porter as it’s variably known, can be the first rung on the restaurant ladder, and many a great chef started out with a scourer in hand. But the job also attracts those who have very limited opportunities in life, and this means they may be more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.

(Photo: Man scrubbing a kitchen sink. Credit: BBC/ Getty Images)

An inspector calls Apr 11, 2019

Show notes

Restaurateurs with guns, chefs wielding knives, and severed heads in bin bags. Life as a food inspector is a lot more fraught than you might think.

Emily Thomas meets three food safety officers from around the globe who reveal what it’s like to be one of the most feared people in the industry.

They have the power to close a restaurant. Some can even make arrests. No wonder they’ve got some stories that seem to belong more in a mafia film than a food show. And the danger doesn’t end there. It’s not just their lives at risk – but yours too. We hear about some of the unsavoury things that happen to our food behind kitchen doors - and the sneaky tactics used to conceal them.

(Photo: A rat peers into a cup. Credit: Getty Images/ BBC)

How to tell a food story Apr 04, 2019

Show notes

What happens when food meets fiction? In this programme from the FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival, presenter Emily Thomas is joined by a panel of guests and an audience to find out how poems, plays and novels can help us better understand our food, and also how food can be used as a narrative device.

Poet and novelist Ben Okri, farmer and author Suzanna Crampton, and playwright and former script-writer for BBC radio drama The Archers, Graham Harvey, share some of their work. How do they balance food, fact and fiction in a world awash with misinformation?

This is a shorter version of the episode 'How to tell a food story' broadcast on 31 March 2019.

(Picture composite: Ben Okri, Suzanna Crampton and Graham Harvey. Credit: Roberto Ricciuti, Getty Images, Martha Faye and BBC)

Gut feelings Mar 28, 2019

Show notes

There are trillions of bacteria living in our guts and there's growing evidence that they can have a major impact on our mental well-being. So could we soon see a food supplement that can treat depression?

The science behind this so-called gut-brain axis and whether we can manipulate it isn't yet conclusive, but there are plenty of believers. We speak to a woman who says her irritable bowel syndrome and anxiety disappeared after she started taking kefir, a fermented milk drink. She was so convinced by its impact that she now runs a south London business making and selling it.

There are already food supplements out there targeting anxiety and depression, but are they getting ahead of the science? We speak to one of the major probiotics manufacturers and hear from a leading scientist who says unproven product claims could be dangerous for mental health patients and that they shouldn't be seen as a silver bullet.

Plus, how human are we really? We find out just how many strings our microbes are pulling.

(Image: Head outline with food representing the brain. Credit: Getty Images)

When breast isn't best Mar 21, 2019

Show notes

Breastfeeding is highly recommended for babies the world over and in many countries it's seen as a mother's duty. No wonder, then, that women who cannot or choose not to breastfeed can feel ashamed, inadequate, or even irresponsible.

But it turns out that these women are actually the majority. According to figures from the World Health Organisation only 41 per cent of babies are exclusively breastfed for their first 6 months.

Two mothers tell us what they put themselves through to try to exclusively breastfeed their children and what finally drove them to throw in the towel, and another mum explains why she never even started.

They tell us whether they were supported or vilified by friends, family and health professionals, and what their breastfeeding struggles did to their self-esteem.

Plus, we ask whether exclusive breastfeeding is the preserve of the world’s wealthier classes, and whether it’s possible for mums to earn a living without turning to the bottle.

(Picture: A child drinking a bottle of milk. Credit: Getty Images)

How to feed the Falklands Mar 14, 2019

Show notes

How does a tiny community living on a series of rugged, windswept islands in the south west Atlantic Ocean manage to eat a varied diet? The Falkland Islands have more sheep than people, and its waters are teaming with squid, but fresh fruit and vegetables are very hard to come by. And when it does arrive, almost all of it by sea, it’s not at all cheap – a pineapple, for example, can cost up to $20. But there are efforts to change that - food writer and chef Gerard Baker meets the islanders trying to be more self-sufficient and championing their own produce.

This is a rebroadcast of an episode of The Food Programme that first aired on BBC Radio 4 in January 2019.

(Image: Farm building on a remote shore on the Falkland Islands Image Credit: Bruce Wilson Photography/Getty Images)

When foods get famous Feb 28, 2019

Show notes

Why do some fruits and vegetables achieve superstar status, appearing on T-shirts worn by celebrities, or in tattoos adorning some of the biggest names in music? Who is behind the rise of avocados and kale, and who benefits most from their A-list status - savvy farmers, slick marketeers or health campaigners?

Emily Thomas explores whether fruit and vegetables should play the fame game: Is putting a single food on a pedestal good for consumers, producers, or the planet? Jess Loyer, from the University of Adelaide, and Lauren Westmore, from London PR firm Third City explain the potential pitfalls. Xavier Equihua, CEO of the World Avocado Organization explains how he promotes the fruit across the globe. And a small-town T-shirt maker, Bo Muller-Moore, reveals how he may have contributed to the rise and rise of kale.

Plus, why is it so much easier to create a buzz around one vegetable than an entire food group? Anna Taylor from UK healthy eating think-tank The Food Foundation, describes her uphill battle against public attitudes and the enormous advertising budgets of Big Food.

(Photo: Avocado being photographed. Credit: BBC)

A senseless generation? Feb 21, 2019

Show notes

Are processed foods and urbanisation numbing children’s sensory abilities, and should we teach them to smell, touch, taste and even listen to their food to improve their diets and self-awareness?

Emily Thomas meets three people from different parts of the world who work in ‘sensory food education’, which encourages children to explore all aspects of a food. They want young people to be taught these skills in schools, but is this really a job for teachers rather than parents? And could sensory food education really be as important as numeracy and literacy?

Our guests this week are Stina Algotson, president of Sapere International in Sweden; Dr Nicholas Wilkinson, co-founder of Flavour School in the UK; and Srimathi Kannan, a sensory food educator at the University of Michigan in the US.

(Photo: Infant smelling banana. Credit: Getty Images/ BBC)

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