The Food Programme

BBC

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FOOD
UPDATED WEEKLY

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Investigating every aspect of the food we eat

9 MAY • SUBSCRIBER EARLY ACCESS

Feeding the Nation

To access this episode early and ad-free, subscribe to BBC Podcast Premium on Apple Podcasts. The episode will be available for free with adverts on 9th May. With the Government pledging to overhaul the way food is sourced for public institutions like hospitals, schools, prisons, and army bases, Sheila Dillon explores how these changes could be implemented and why they are deemed essential by many. Sheila visits St Peter’s Hospital in Chertsey, Surrey, where chef Raouf Mansour has transformed the canteen for staff and visitors. After bringing the operation in-house post-Covid, the hospital began collaborating with local suppliers to provide fresh, seasonal produce. Raouf emphasises that retraining chefs to prepare nutritious, mezze-style meals has been crucial in encouraging staff to dine at the restaurant. The hospital is also working on plans to revamp patient meals, which are all prepared off-site, by working with smaller local caterers who can better meet some of the specific needs of patients there. Following her visit, Sheila returns to the studio to discuss whether the changes in Chertsey could signal a broader trend. She is joined by: Kevin Morgan, Professor of Governance and Development at Cardiff University and author of "Serving the Public: The Good Food Revolution in Schools, Hospitals, and Prisons" Kath Dalmeny, Chief Executive of Sustain Katie Palmer from Food Sense Wales, who is working on the Welsh Veg in Schools Project Derek Wright from Blackpool Catering Services, which has expanded its school meal provision over the past five years, with on-site chefs and locally sourced produce. Presented by Sheila Dillon Produced in Bristol for BBC Audio by Natalie Donovan

42 min
5 DAYS AGO

The World's Historic Restaurants

The restaurant trade is fickle and can be a "here today, gone tomorrow" business. But a very small number of restaurants seem to have been with us for ever. Dan Saladino explores the secrets of the world's oldest restaurants.

42 min
25 APR

Is our cheese heritage ancient history?

Sheila Dillon hears the first exclusive readings from a Tudor ‘pamphlet of cheese’ that details the cheesemaking traditions of the 16th century, and reveals how cheese was seen as a nutrient-rich health food - from digestion aid to wound cleaner. Fast-forward to today, and Sheila visits Yorkshire cheesemongers Andy and Kathy Swinscoe to help recreate one of these historic recipes by hand in their dairy, as they discuss the significance of cheese history and how milk and cheese have a ’terroir’ just like wine. While the Tudors believed cheese was inherently good for you, modern-day science is still exploring the evidence. Now, cheese scientists are producing ground-breaking research investigating links between cheese and the health of our hearts and gut microbiome. But making cheese today is a tough job, from complying with food safety rules to the challenges of setting up and maintaining a small business. Sheila speaks to renowned cheesemaker Martin Gott to hear the strange tale of how gave up his career in the UK to set up the first ever organic creamery in Oman. Are we losing our cheesemakers just at the point when we’re rediscovering more about its potential health benefits? Sheila’s journey to find out how our cheese heritage faltered takes her to the Middle East, Japan and finally back to Yorkshire, where a new raw milk cheesemaker sparks hope for the future. Presented by Sheila Dillon and produced by Nina Pullman for BBC Audio in Bristol.

43 min
18 APR

Darina Allen: A Life Through Food

Dan Saladino finds out how a family farm in west Cork became one of the world's most influential cookery schools. Featuring Darina and Rachel Allen, Rory O'Connell and JR Ryall. Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.

42 min
11 APR

Denmark's Food Revolution?

In this second episode from Copenhagen, Sheila Dillon explores why Denmark leads the way in organic food consumption. In 2023, nearly 12% of all food bought in Denmark was organic—one of the highest levels in the world. In the UK, that figure is just 1.5%. But how did Denmark get here? And can the organic movement keep growing as the conversation shifts toward climate concerns and plant-based eating? Sheila meets the people shaping Denmark’s food future, from organic farmers to chefs and researchers. She also asks how does this apparent national embrace of organic food sit alongside Denmark’s industrial farming, including its vast pork industry? Featuring conversations with: • Trine Hahnemann – Chef, writer, and campaigner • Trine Krebs – Organic farmer and Green Chef at The Food Organisation of Denmark • Prof. Ole Mouritsen – Gastrophysicist researching how to encourage more plant-based eating • Søren Buhl Steiniche – Head chef at EAT, a public kitchen serving Copenhagen’s schools • Heidi Svømmekjær – Copenhagen-based food writer and home cook Presented by Sheila Dillon Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Natalie Donovan

43 min
4 APR

When Saturday Comes

Restaurant critic and lifelong Charlton Athletic fan Jimi Famurewa finds out how football clubs are upping their game when it comes to serving food for their fans. He’ll taste the world at AFC Wimbledon’s Food Village, hear how Forest Green Rovers went vegan and discover the secret liquor behind Leyton Orient’s pie and mash. Food writers Jack Peat and Daniel Gray pitch in with their thoughts on a world that has moved far beyond Bovril and burnt burgers. Presented by Jimi Famurewa Produced in Bristol for BBC Audio by Robin Markwell The Bovril Song was composed by Roger Jackson and Phil Nicholl and performed by Sing! Cambridge in 2013 Football commentary courtesy of BBC Radio London and BBC Radio Nottingham

42 min
28 MAR

Are We Prepared? Could the UK Feed Itself in a Crisis?

Five years on from the first Covid lockdown Dan Saladino asks if our food supply can withstand more shock to the system? Is there resilience to face another pandemic or even war? Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.

42 min
21 MAR

Bradford: City of Food Culture

Bradford is this year’s UK City of Culture - but what does food have to do with it? Sheila Dillon visits the city to meet market traders, chefs and restaurateurs to find out how its industrial past has influenced the thriving food culture of today. She visits Bradford’s St James wholesale market to discover how the Asian restaurant trade has been integral to the market’s survival, before eating breakfast at The Sweet Centre, which serves the same Kashmiri breakfast speciality as it did for millworkers in the 60s. Two food projects are harnessing the vibrant multicultural nature of Bradford as part of its City of Culture celebrations. The Bradford Selection, orchestrated by artists Sonia Sandhu and Harry Jelley, tells the stories of Bradford communities through a series of biscuits. Meet My Mothers is a recipe book project representing the diverse food cultures in Bradford, as participant coordinator Aamta Waheed tells Sheila at the Women Zone community centre. Renowned Yorkshire food historian Peter Brears meets Sheila for a tea and some traditional pork ‘savoury duck’ to talk about pre-industrial food of the Bradford district. Meanwhile, on BBC One, Harry Virdee is the eponymous detective star of thriller series Virdee, written by Bradford native A.A.Dhand. Sheila speaks to the bestselling author to find out how he wrote specific south Asian food and drink traditions into the series and his own childhood food memories of growing up in the city. How important is the city’s food history, economics and culture to its hopes for regeneration? Shanaz Gulzar, creative director of Bradford 2025, summarises the city’s belief in food as social cohesion and the confidence that the city feels after winning the title. Presenter: Sheila Dillon Producer: Nina Pullman

43 min

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