The Food Chain

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The End of Eating Wild Fish? Jun 06, 2015

Show notes

Most of the food we eat - beef chicken, wheat, apples, corn - is farmed on the land, produced under controlled conditions and transported to market rather than gathered from its natural habitat. But one source of the world’s protein is still taken straight from the wild. Fish and other sea food. That's now changing, but should it? This week The Food Chain has a special programme about the ocean, and the meals we take from it. Tanya Beckett reports from Lisbon where world leaders are meeting to discuss the oceans' economic fate, while Audrey Tinline is in Norway asking whether fish can ever be a truly sustainable source of food.

How Do We Know What’s Good For Us? May 30, 2015

Show notes

Why is food advice so confusing? Up for debate is the role of fat in our diet. Adrian Golberg takes a look at the methods behind determining what food is good for us and what food is bad for us, and asking why is it so hard to be certain. He speaks to Nina Teicholz, who tells the story of Ancel Keys, the researcher whose work laid the foundation for many dietary guidelines today, as well as Gary Taubes, a journalist who wants to improve the way nutritional studies are carried out. Ayela Spiro of the British Nutrition Foundation says that nutrition, like all science, is ever evolving, and not always exact.

(Photo: Woman holds up a hamburger in one hand and an apple in the other. Credit: Thinstock)

Spice and Status May 23, 2015

Show notes

A deeper look at the global network of commerce that comes with the flavouring of our food. Marnie Chesterton visits the UK's Kew Gardens, and gets a better understanding of the horticulture behind many of the world’s most popular spice plants. Simon Jack tries to understand the appeal of competitive eating when it comes to heat, sampling some hot sauce made with the Naga Viper chilli.

Plus, we hear about the business behind growing the world’s hottest chilli pepper. And, Polly Russell of The British Library reads through one of the oldest recipe scrolls in modern English to show us how spices were used in the courts of kings.

Coffee: Globalisation’s Drink of Choice May 16, 2015

Show notes

How the coffee industry is changing for growers, sellers, and consumers around the world. This week's programme follows in pursuit of a widely traded commodity- meeting connoisseurs from every part of the coffee chain, from the picking of the coffee cherry to the very last sip.

Coffee is not an industry without its challenges. Small farmers are threatened by external factors like climate change and are subject to price volatility on the open markets. Maud Jullien reports from Burundi, a country trying to market itself towards niche coffee markets amidst political turmoil. Then in Colombia, Arturo Wallace meets a real life marketing mascot in the form of a farmer portraying Juan Valdez, the symbol of the Colombian coffee brand and speaks to the Colombian president, Juan Manuel Santos. And Shalu Yadav is in India exploring how an aspirational class is setting aside their tea in favour of something stronger.

Plus, how many cups a week is too much?

Fighting Food Crime Mar 27, 2015

Show notes

We meet some of the people fighting food fraud around the world. Manuela Saragosa asks what risks the consumer faces when they buy food that has reached super-market shelves via a complicated global supply chain, and speaks to some of the people working to improve the traceability of our food.

We meet the 'wine police' asked to investigate the origins of a $26,000 bottle of Petrus. Also, the leader of the 'flying squad' of the Danish Food Administration talks about what happens when the food company you are investigating only has a mailbox for an address. Plus, tracing food at an atomic level - how a new method for detecting food fraud has its origins in crime scene investigations.

(Photo: From left, a bottle 1990 Bordeaux's Chateau Petrus, a 1996 Le Montrachet Grand Cru, a 1989 Musigny Grand Cru, a 1985 La Romanee and a bottle of 1986 Chateau d'Yquem of 1986. Credit: Feferberg/AFP/Getty Images)

Picky Eaters Mar 20, 2015

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Why won’t your kid eat broccoli? And should you bother to force them? We ask whether children need a different diet, do their palates differ, and whether they should be given more say in what they eat.

This week, the BBC has been handing over microphones, recording equipment, studios and air time to children, as part of an annual event called School Report - where children take control. We hear from reporters at a school in Washington DC, about the tricky task of providing healthy meals, when the children do not like them.

Manuela Saragosa speaks to Dr Jackie Blissett about neophobia - and the evolutionary reason why children become picky eaters. And Amy Bentley, author of Inventing Baby Food gives us a potted history of potted baby food. Plus, a panel of teenagers takeover the studio, to share their food likes and dislikes

(Picture: Child eating vegetable soup Credit: Philippe Desmazes/AFP/Getty Images)

Eating For Two? Mar 13, 2015

Show notes

What do snails, tamarind and parsley all have in common? They are all foods that - according to World Service followers on twitter- pregnant women have been told to avoid around the world. We explore the prenatal diet, and ask whether the advice that pregnant women receive about what they should eat is based not only on medical understanding, but cultural understanding as well.

The Dutch Hunger Winter of 1944 was a famine that killed thousands. But this tragedy provided a study group - babies who were starved in the womb - who are studied for life long health changes. From them, we learn that what our grandmothers eat may have consequences for us. We discuss what happens if you go through pregnancy when you are living in a culture different to the one in which you were raised. We look at how personalised nutrition will customise pregnant mothers' diets in the future, and we hear how an Indian initiative is combatting maternal malnutrition by feeding mothers fortified samosas, not vitamins.

(Photo: Belarussian women attend an annual parade for pregnant women in central Minsk. Credit: Sergei Gapon/AFP/Getty Images)

Farm and Fortune? Mar 06, 2015

Show notes

The origins of our food can be scrutinised, analysed, inspected, and disrupted but the production of what we eat ultimately lies with the farmer. But is modern farming a viable career choice? And what happens when the youngest generation no longer wants to farm? Manuela Saragosa examines life on the farm, what it takes to be a farmer and the changing state of agriculture.

Journalist Jesse Hirsch joins in to offer his step-by-step guide to the trials and tribulations of working the land. And we hear from the Ugandan farmer who wants to entice young people away from cities and back onto the farm to make a living. Plus, comedian Colm O’Regan explains why there is a big difference between growing up on a farm and actually being a farmer.

Should the Government Pay for our Food? Feb 27, 2015

Show notes

Does the government have a duty to feed us? Or should we each look after our own table? Angela Saini looks at the controversies behind handing out to the world's hungry citizens. In Egypt, where the price and availability of bread is a political issue, the government has introduced a new smart card system to avoid long queues and fights outside bakeries. We hear from the remote region of Canada where shops charge residents $28 for a cabbage or $200 for a turkey. Plus, we look at both sides of the American food stamp debate, with politicians arguing over whether food welfare means vitality or dependency.

Tech at the Table Feb 20, 2015

Show notes

Is technology at mealtimes too disruptive? The BBC's Technology Correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones joins The Food Chain for dinner and talks about what happened the week he took his culinary habits to Twitter. We get some insight into how our eating behaviour changes once a gadget is placed in front of us. Angela Saini hears about a fork that can monitor when you've had enough, and asks whether a computer can come up with a better recipe than a human. Plus, we hear from you on whether it's rude to bring your phone to the table.

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