The Food Programme

Jimi Famurewa meets the Hong Kongers who are serving, growing and eating the food of their home country to connect with their own food heritage and find a new sense of belonging.

Almost 200,000 Hong Kongers have arrived in the UK since a new government visa offered safe passage and the chance of a new life in January 2021. And, as they settle into communities across the UK, including in New Malden, Manchester and Reading, there’s be...

How much does what you choose to eat come from what social class you were born into, or identify with now? In this episode, Sheila Dillon takes on the often uncomfortable conversation about social class in the UK, British people's obsession with it, and what it's doing to our health via the way we choose to eat.

Sheila is joined at an east London pie and mash shop by the food historian Pen Vogler, whose book "Scoff: A History of Fo...

Amsterdam and Leeds are two of the only places in the world to have cut rates of childhood obesity — and they’ve not done it by focussing just on diet. Sheila Dillon finds out how these two locally-based policies worked, and why the political circumstances around them were just as important as the policies themselves. She speaks to parents, academics, policy experts and public health leaders to find out what we can learn from these...

From the explosion in sport food and drink, to the food diaries and routines of some of the UK’s top athletes, Leyla Kazim investigates food in the world of sport today.

How do elite sport nutritionists prep their athletes and what can we learn from them? What should we eat for energy? What’s the deal with protein? We hear from sport stars in rugby, netball, triathlon and football, to find out.

For an everyday athlete without a per...

Jaega Wise delves into the history, traditions and culture surrounding the birthday cake, meeting bespoke baker Adam Cox, and attending a traditional Mexican "cake smash" along the way. She'll also find out what happens when a cake historian takes on the task of baking a traditional roman-style cake, and pick up some tips for the best birthday bakes from none other than Dame Mary Berry. And there's a very special delivery for one 1...

Footballing legend, broadcaster and our host for lunch… Gary Lineker makes his famous 'gambas al ajillo' for Leyla Kazim at his home as she hears how he learnt to cook nine years ago and never looked back. They also discuss food memories from his professional football career, from playing and eating around the world to unorthodox pre-match lunches, Spanish-style. Along the way, she hears stories from Gary’s friends and family as a ...

Although chocolate eggs and Hot Cross buns take centre stage at Easter, millions of people also sit down to share a joint of lamb to celebrate. In this episode, Sheila Dillon finds out more about the tradition for eating lamb at Easter with Welsh food writer Carwyn Graves, and hears how despite its prominence on Easter tables, the timing of lamb production doesn't always fit with when the festival falls on the calendar. So should ...

Stouts and porters, dark malty beers maybe used to have a reputation of being a bit stuffy but there has been a recent trend of these drinks growing in popularity.

Guinness, the biggest player in the market, has seen a big increase in sales, for a period being the bests selling pint in pubs for the first time. There’s been a big interest in it from young people, there is a whole genre of social media influencers comparing pints and ...

The last decade has seen an explosion in the trend of plant-based eating, from the growth of plant-based products in supermarkets and vegan options on menus, to celebrities and diet influencers making plant-based cool on social media. In this programme, Leyla Kazim explores some of the cultural and social impacts from the plant-based diet trend, including the rise of the flexitarian way of eating, the impact on the vegan movement, ...

What’s really in your spice rack? In this exclusive investigation by The Food Programme, Jaega Wise investigates the authenticity of spices sold by a number of high street, online and health food chains. Using brand new technology outside of the lab for the first time, she will test herbs and spices from some of the biggest household names and retailers, including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Amazon and more. Plus, we hear from leadin...

A message from Delia Smith takes the Food Programme team to Norfolk to see how a network of social supermarkets is helping people out of food poverty.

Nourishing Norfolk, is a project linking a large number of smaller shops, or food hubs around the county. The shops use the "social supermarket" model, providing free fruit and vegetables and cut price food and many other essentials including cleaning and hygiene products, and smokele...

Getting people to engage with food and ideas for agricultural change can be really difficult - but that’s the hope of a major new arts project called We Feed The UK. Farmers, poets and photographers have collaborated to tell ten stories to celebrate custodians of land, seed, soil and sea from all corners of the country. The project is being coordinated by the charity The Gaia Foundation – with a mission to elevate stories of farms ...

Appetite suppressant, glucose control and inflammation antidote... The scientific research around the power of bitter foods may sound far-fetched. But new studies are continuing to add to our knowledge of what this food group, disliked by many, can do for our health. To find out more, Leyla Kazim speaks to Italian taste scientist and self-confessed ‘bitter enthusiast’, Gabriella Morini, who has been studying this area since the eig...

From warming aphrodisiacs in the early modern period, to date-night oysters and champagne or a loving dish of hot macaroni cheese, sharing food has always been a way for people to connect, and in some cases it can make us feel loved or even in the mood for romance..

In this programme, Jaega Wise seeks to uncover some of the reasons why this connection between food and love exists, and asks whether it's what's on the plate that is ...

Many of us are travel looking for food experiences and we often want to eat something that is authentically of that place. So we seek out the local delicacy which hopefully reflects the local landscape, history and people.

However many of the foods we think of as quintessential ‘destination’ foods are elevated in the 20th century with the rise of easier travel and more and more tourism. On the other hand, it’s easier than ever to a...

In the dark nights of January, celebrating the work of poet Robert Burns by feasting, toasting and speaking poetry has become a much-loved tradition in Scotland and around the world. Sheila Dillon joins Scottish-Malaysian chef Julie Lin in Glasgow as she hosts friends for Burns Night 2024 to share food and ways of celebrating. She also visits the Centre for Robert Burns Studies at the University of Glasgow to hear more about Rabbie...