The Food Programme

Latest Episodes:

Bonus Podcast: More from Sheffield's Pete McKee and Richard Hawley May 03, 2020

Show notes

Hear an extended version of the interview with artist Pete McKee and musician Richard Hawley from the programme Sheffield: A Story of a City Through It's Food. Picture: Meat 'N' Tater by Pete McKee

Covid-19: The Food Waste Dimension. Apr 26, 2020

Show notes

Dan Saladino investigates how the coronavirus crisis has not only resulted in vast amounts of food being wasted but also saved and redirected to feed people in need.

The global food system has been exposed to levels of disruption not seen since World War II. According to Andre Laperriere, of the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) Covid-19 has led to levels of food waste in developed economies increasing from around 30 per cent to 40 per cent of everything that's produced, distributed and consumed. Many farmers in Europe and north America have been unable to harvest their crops, supplies of food inside restaurants have been left uneaten and dairy farmers have had to dispose of millions of litres of milk.

However, Covid-19 is also leading many people to rethink supply chains, reinvent national food systems and innovate. Dan hears about some of these ideas now being put into practice. He finds out how 'Disco Soups', online events that are taking place around the world combining cooking, music and dance is saving tonnes of food going to waste (and providing fun and social interaction).

Meanwhile, specialist cheesemakers around the UK are exploring new ways of selling their cheese after restaurants, pubs and cafes were closed for the lockdown. One solution is a forthcoming British Cheese Weekender. This free online event will see cheese makers and experts present tastings and tutorials. The nation is being encouraged to buy cheese from small scale producers and eat along. This way it's hoped hundreds of cheesemakers at risk of going out of business can be saved.

Dan also speaks to Tristram Stuart, the food campaigner and author of Waste: Uncovering The Global Food Scandal, about his efforts over two decades to stop good food being wasted and hears how some of the ideas and networks created during that time could provide answers to how we can create a more sustainable food system in the post Covid-19 world.

Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.

For more information on the British Cheese Weekender go to the Academy of Cheese website: https://academyofcheese.org/british-cheese-weekender/ and for information on setting up your own Disco Soup find out more from the Slow Food Youth Network: https://www.slowfood.com/what-we-do/international-events/world-disco-soup-day/ and look for the Step-by-Step guide.

Love In The Time Of Corona: Stories of community support through food Apr 19, 2020

Show notes

Every day, with the UK on 'lock-down' as part of government measures to halt the spread of Covid-19, we're hearing inspirational tales of community groups and volunteer services springing up to help others - very often, through food.

Over the course of this programme, Sheila Dillon and Dan Saladino - chatting remotely from their respective lock-down locations - hear from just a small selection of the incredible community efforts going on across the country, supporting the most vulnerable during the outbreak: from delivering essentials to the ill and the elderly, confined to their homes; to providing meals for hospital staff working long shifts in Intensive Care Units; to supporting children missing out on their regular free school dinners.

This episode is not only a recognition of the ingenious solutions being found - but also looks at how these local strategies, developed in response to a national crisis, could help change our food system for the better in future.

Presented by Sheila Dillon and Dan Saladino, and produced in Bristol by Lucy Taylor.

Takeaway transformed: Inside the food delivery revolution Apr 12, 2020

Show notes

Stepping into a 'dark kitchen', Sheila Dillon explores why takeaway apps are changing food culture and explores how delivery is offering a lifeline under lockdown and diversifying to help people in need. She hears stories from restaurants turning to delivery to stay in business and the people dropping groceries at people's doors and getting food to those who don't have a home.

Presenter: Sheila Dillon Producer: Tom Bonnett

05/04/2020 Apr 05, 2020

Show notes

In a special programme - recorded online from self-isolation - Sheila Dillon explores the new art of cooking in lockdown.

As we all get used to spending more time at home, what better opportunity for an expedition into our kitchen cupboards? What lurks at the back behind the mountains of stockpiled pasta and tinned tomatoes? And how to feel confident using only the absolute basics - from a tin of beans to a bag of flour. Sheila masters Skype, Zoom and WhatsApp to join some of our favourite chefs and home cooks in their own kitchens, to see how they're passing the time in quarantine.

Mary Berry is keeping herself busy with gardening and jigsaws. Baker Richard Bertinet is getting used to making loaves at home after closing his beloved cookery school (luckily, he's got plenty of flour to keep him going). Food writer Felicity Cloake is taking the opportunity to sort out her freezer - and makes a dramatic discovery. And author Lola Milne is embracing the creepily perfect timing of her new book, 'Take One Tin: 80 delicious meals from the storecupboard'.

Sheila talks to Dr Rupy Aujla about the importance of maintaining a healthy diet during this challenging time. And we share recipes from the kitchens of Britain as Food Programme listeners send in tips for simple, back-of-the-cupboard cuisine.

Presented by Sheila Dillon and produced by Anna Jones.

Eating After Cancer: Can rebuilding relationships with food help cancer patients with their recovery? Mar 29, 2020

Show notes

One of the unexpected side-effects of dealing with cancer can be how it impacts relationships with food and eating.

The various treatments can take away both appetite, and the ability to eat and enjoy food - which has a knock-on effect on the patient's health, social life and wider wellbeing...

Sheila Dillon knows this better than most: eight years ago, she was diagnosed with a type of blood cancer called multiple myeloma, and has experienced firsthand what it's like to lose the ability to enjoy a good meal, because of illness.

This is an issue that hasn’t always been given due attention, by medics or patients – but a shift is underway: there’s growing recognition that people with cancer not only need nutritious food, but also that the pleasure of eating can actually aid their wellbeing and recovery.

Under self-isolation in the coronavirus outbreak because of her 'immuno-compromised’ status from being on maintenance chemo, Sheila delves into the stories of people recovering from or living with cancer, who have been forced to readdress their relationship with what and how they eat; as well as the researchers and cooks pioneering new, food-based solutions.

Presented by Sheila Dillon and produced in Bristol by Lucy Taylor.

Coronavirus and Food: Your Questions Answered Mar 22, 2020

Show notes

As the government updates its plans for coronavirus, Dan Saladino answers your food questions.

Covid-19: The Food Dimension. Mar 15, 2020

Show notes

Dan Saladino tracks the origins and impact of coronavirus within the global food supply chain. Where are pressures being felt and who's making decisions about feeding Britain? The spead of Covid-19 around the world isn't just proving to be a challenge for public health and economies, it is also proving to be one of the biggest tests faced by the global food system.

With around fifty per cent of the UK's food supplies coming from overseas and our dependence on a complex and interconnected food system Dan investigates where the pressures are being exerted and how the government and retailers are responding. Concerns are growing for food banks, charities dependent on surplus food and the most vulnerable in society.

Dan also hears from people who have had to feed themselves during the lockdowns in China and Italy. He also speaks to Professor Andrew Cunningham, an expert in zoonotic diseases, about the origins of coronavirus within the food supply chain.

Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.

Is the Pasty Really Cornish? Mar 08, 2020

Show notes

In the week that Cornish people celebrated their Patron Saint St Piran, Dr Polly Russell & Sheila Dillon ask why the pasty remains an emblem of Cornishness for people around the world.

There would have been a time when pasties were eaten all over the UK, but the PGI protected Cornish pasty has persevered in Cornwall. Today the Cornish Pasty Association estimate that on it's own, production of Cornish pasties is worth around 20 per cent of the value of the county's food and drink industry.

In this programme we hear what the pasty means to people in Cornwall, and all over the world; Because when Cornish miners emigrated away from the UK in the 19th century, they took their pasties with them.

At 2020's World Pasty Championships, we meet pasty makers from as far as the USA, Argentina, Jamaica, and closer, from Kent, Sheffield and Bristol. We hear from Bridget Galsworthy de Estavillo, who has helped to reconnect Mexican paste (pasty) makers with their Cornish heritage in the mountain communities of Hidalgo. And we ask what the Cornish pasty says about a new generation's sense of regional/national identity.

Presented by Sheila Dillon. Produced in Bristol by Clare Salisbury.

Lights, Camera, Reaction: Life after Great British Bake Off with David Atherton Mar 01, 2020

Show notes

What's it like becoming a celebrity overnight? Bake Off Winner David Atherton talks fame, food and post-GBBO freak outs with presenter Leyla Kazim and shares stories and gets some advice from Masterchef winner and Wahaca co-founder Thomasina Miers.

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