Step inside the chocolate factory to hear the secrets of what it’s like to invent sweet treats for a living. Find out why chocolatiers think the raw material is like a “needy child”, but can also bring great joy to people’s lives. And hear the family story of the invention of one of the best-known British chocolate bars, with a trip to an archive of hidden stories from the confectionary industry – and some well-preserved sweets. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk Presenter: Ruth Alexander Producer: Hannah Bewley (Image: Chocolate bars on a colourful background. Credit: Getty)

The real Willy Wonkas

The Food Chain examines the business, science and cultural significance of food, and what it takes to put food on your plate.

These are tough times for restaurants. If the pandemic's rolling lockdowns were not bad enough, independent eateries now find themselves caught on a conveyor belt of crises: inflation, labour shortages and high rents. That is without mentioning the post-Covid agoraphobic “hermit consumer", who prefers to hunker down indoors than splash the cash on going out. If the stats are to be believed 60% of restaurants fail in the first year, 80% after five. And yet despite the long odds many are still seduced by TV dramas like The Bear into turning their passion for cooking into a business. We hear from some of the best in the business for a steer on how to keep this labour of love alive. David Reid speaks to leading restaurant critic Jay Rayner, culinary specialist Ashley Godfrey, top chef Joseph Otway and restaurant operations manager, Sam Wheatley as they lift the lid on the trade secrets they have accumulated from years on the restaurant front-line. The programme also asks what a world without independent restaurants would be like and what we as strapped consumers can do to save the flagging middle of the restaurant market from going under. Presenter/producer: David Reid (Image: A waitress lays a table in a restaurant. Credit: Getty Images)

How to run a restaurant

Fasting has been a religious and cultural practice for thousands of years, why do people do it? What happens to your body when you fast? The Food Chain speaks to a British family breaking their fast during Ramadan, a woman in India completing a day long fast for Mahashivratri and explores why the practices around Lent have changed over the years. An expert on intermittent fasting talks us through what is happening to our bodies, and why it might have hidden benefits. In this programme, Rumella Dasgupta explores the tradition of religious fasting with what to eat and what not to eat in three major faiths. If you would like to get in touch with the programme, email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk. Presented by Rumella Dasgupta. (Image: a family in Manchester breaks their fast together with dishes spread out on a cloth on the floor. Credit: BBC)

Fasting and feasting

Dumplings feature prominently in cuisines around the world. Some, like the Ghanaian kenkey, or the Irish dumpling, are balls of dough. But in many countries they’re filled with other ingredients. From the Russian pelmeni, to the Japanese gyoza, for centuries we’ve been putting meat, vegetables or cheese in small pouches of pastry, and making delicious snacks. So where did this idea originate? And are all these differently named dumplings connected?Ruth Alexander explores the history of this humble comfort food and hears how different dumplings are made. If you would like to get in touch with the programme, email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk. Presenter: Ruth Alexander. 
Producers: Julia Paul and Rumella Dasgupta
(Image: Dumplings and bowls of dipping sauce. Credit: BBC)

Why we love dumplings

Sweet, sour, salty, bitter and... umami. Have you heard of the fifth taste? Umami, meaning ‘delicious flavour’ in Japanese, was discovered by a chemist in Japan in 1908 but it took nearly 100 years for it to be recognised as a fifth distinct taste. It is described by many as a savoury or meaty taste. In this programme Ruth Alexander learns about the chemist who first discovered umami, and the industrially produced version he created – monosodium glutamate, or MSG. It’s a food additive that’s been the subject of health scares, but today it’s one of the most tested additives in our food and considered to be safe for consumption. Yukari Sakamoto, trained chef and food tour leader in Tokyo explains how umami features in Japanese cuisine; she says miso soup is one of the best examples of maximum umami flavour. Professor Barry Smith, Director of the Centre for the Study of the Senses in the UK, explains the science behind umami and MSG. Calvin Eng, chef and owner of Bonnie’s restaurant in Brooklyn New York, is one of a number of chefs trying to rehabilitate MSG’s reputation – he uses it not just in savoury dishes, but also desserts and drinks. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup. (Image: a bowl of miso soup, containing tofu and spring onions. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

The fifth taste

Three school chefs tell Ruth Alexander what it’s like serving up canteen food every day. Find out how they manage hundreds of hungry child customers, what pro tips they have for making vegetables seem delicious, and why they all find the job so satisfying. We hear from the USA, Liverpool in the UK and a school chef in the far north of Finland about the challenges of cooking mountains of meatballs, how to cope when the vegetable biriyani goes all over the ceiling, and why it’s one of the most rewarding – but probably overlooked – professions. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk Producers: Hannah Bewley and Rumella Dasgupta (Image: a plastic lunch tray with meat, vegetables and gravy, fruit and a plastic cup. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

The school cooks

Have you heard of ultra processed food? In 2010 a group of Brazilian scientists said we should be focusing less on the nutritional content of food, and more on the form of processing it undergoes. They created the Nova system, a way of categorising foods based on how processed they are. It identifies ultra processed foods as generally industrially manufactured, containing ingredients such as emulsifiers, stabilisers and other additives that would not be found in an average home kitchen. A growing body of scientific research suggests a link between this category of ultra processed foods and ill health, although there’s still some uncertainty around why this could be. In this programme we look at what ultra processed food is, how you spot it, and how practical it is to avoid it, should you wish to. Ruth Alexander speaks to listener Jen Sherman in California who is trying to reduce the amount of ultra processed food her family eats. Ruth also hears from one of the public health scientists behind the Nova classification, Jean-Claude Moubarac at the University of Montreal in Canada, and from Pierre Slamich, co-founder of the Open Food Facts app and website, a database of foods that can help you identify products that are ultra processed. Kate Halliwell, Chief Scientific Officer at the Food and Drink Federation in the UK, which represents manufacturers, says evidence of harm from ultra processed foods is not yet strong enough. If you’d like to contact the programme you can email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk. Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup. Additional reporting by Jane Chambers in Chile.

Is this ultra processed?

What do you and your family chat about at dinner? We eavesdrop on conversations over food all over the world, hearing about poetry, politics, what is on TV and how Morag’s leg is recovering. Whether you gossip or have more philosophical debates find out how integral good communication is while we are eating, often marking the only point in the day or week when a family gathers together. We learn why a matchmaker thinks a dinner date might not be such a good idea after all if you want the conversation to flow. And, psychotherapist Philippa Perry tells us how to keep the peace with the family over Sunday lunch. Presenter: Ruth Alexander 
Producer: Hannah Bewley and Rumella Dasgupta If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk (Image: Family and friends sit around the dinner table. Credit: BBC)

Table talk

The city of Detroit in the United States has a lot of vacant space – as much as a quarter of residential, commercial and industrial sites lie unused today. In this programme Ruth Alexander meets the people who are growing food in their neighbourhoods, creating urban farms and community gardens where houses once stood. Mark Covington is the founder of Georgia Street Community Collective, and Tyson Gersh is the co-founder of the Michigan Urban Farming Initiative. Ruth learns why so much land stands empty from the city’s official historian Jamon Jordan. Jamon explains the role of the automobile industry in bringing jobs and people to Detroit in the early 1900s, and the circumstances that led to decades of population decline, job losses and debt for the city government, culminating in bankruptcy in 2013. Tepfirah Rushdan is the newly appointed, first Director of Urban Agriculture for the city of Detroit. She explains how she hopes to bring urban farmers and politicians together to find a way for food to be grown alongside new developments as investment returns to the city. If you’d like to contact the programme you can email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup. (Image: the Michigan Urban Farming Initiative a farm in downtown Detroit, surrounded by roads and buildings. Credit: Michelle and Chris Gerard/BBC)

Detroit's urban farmers

In February 2023, two earthquakes devastated parts of Turkey. The disaster claimed the lives of nearly 60,000 people in southern Turkey and northern Syria. In this programme Victoria Craig travels to the city of Antakya, part of Hatay Province, close to the border with Syria. It’s a region long famed for its cuisine, and even has special UNESCO recognition for its gastronomy. Since the earthquake a year ago much of the local population has left the badly damaged area, and food businesses in the historic bazaar are waiting for rebuilding work to begin. Victoria hears from the people of Antakya why food is such an important part of their culture and community. Produced and presented by Victoria Craig. If you'd like to contact the programme, you can email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk.(Image: tray kebab from the bazaar in Antakya. Credit: Victoria Craig/BBC)

Rebuilding Turkey’s food culture

Chinese food is popular and successful around the world. But is it afforded the respect it deserves? In some countries Chinese food has been seen as something tasty, but ultimately cheap and not very healthy, despite it being a cuisine with a focus on health, seasonality and gastronomic skill for centuries. In this programme Ruth Alexander meets Fuchsia Dunlop, a British food writer who has spent a career studying Chinese cuisine. She argues that the food has long been undervalued in the West, and it’s time for that to change. Ruth also meets chef Andrew Wong, whose restaurant A.Wong in London holds two Michelin stars, the first Chinese restaurant outside of Asia to receive that accolade. A.Wong operates on the same site as Andrew’s parents’ Chinese restaurant in the 1980s and he talks about how the business, and Chinese food in the UK, has evolved. And she hears from Rica Leon, CEO of ‘Chifa’, a restaurant in LA that celebrates her family’s Chinese and Peruvian heritage. Rica explains how Chinese flavours and ingredients have influenced Peruvian food. If you’d like to contact the programme, you can email the foodchain@bbc.co.uk Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup. (Image: A table of tofu dishes prepared by Fuchsia Dunlop, including mapo tofu, smoked tofu salad, shredded tofu leather, silken tofu with avocado, an imitation roast duck dish made from layers of tofu, and deep fried tofu served in a soup. Credit: Fuchsia Dunlop/BBC)

Is Chinese food the best in the world?

Have you ever wondered why the apple you bite in to is so crisp and juicy? And why it’s available all year round? Apples originated in the mountains of Central Asia, and made their way along trade routes to Europe and then on to the rest of the world. They are now one of the most widely consumed fruit worldwide. An apple seed will produce a completely different fruit to the tree it came from – so new varieties have to be bred and cultivated. In this week’s episode Ruth Alexander finds out about the science behind finding that perfect crunch, how long it takes to be able to taste an apple you’ve spent years planning and how to grab consumers’ attention with a new breed. Ruth also visits a wassail near Manchester in England to experience an ancient tradition involving cider, hanging toast on a tree and lots of singing to encourage a good apple harvest for the year ahead. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.ukPresenter: Ruth AlexanderProducer: Hannah Bewley(Image: A bright red apple on a green background. Credit: Getty Images)

How to invent an apple

Humans have preserved food to make it last longer for thousands of years. In this programme Ruth Alexander learns about different methods of food preservation used around the world, including pickling, dehydrating and canning. Food historian and writer Darra Goldstein in the US explains the history of this art. Yukari Sakamoto is a trained chef and sommelier who leads food tours in Tokyo, she explains why people in Japan take the idea of a well stocked pantry seriously. And Usha Prabakaran in Chennai, India talks about her love of the Indian pickle and its role in Indian cuisine. There are some important safety considerations if you want food to last longer, particularly if you want to store it at room temperature. There is a risk of botulism if food is not heated to the correct temperature for the correct amount of time, particularly for foods that are low in acid. Ruth hears about the laboratory testing done by Carla Schwan, Director at the National Home Food Preservation Centre based in Georgia, United States which tests recipes that can be used safely for home preserves. Canning – storing food in glass jars and heating it – has seen a resurgence recently. Some enthusiasts refer to themselves as ‘rebel canners’, which in general refers to people wanting to use recipes other than those that have been lab tested and approved. The ‘Canning Diva’, Diane Devereaux a food preservation educator and blogger in the United States explains what motivates rebel canners, and the recipes she thinks are missing for consumers. If you’d like to contact the programme, you can email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk. Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup. (Image: a selection of foods preserved in jars of different shapes and sizes. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

The preservers

Ruth Alexander talks to two families displaced by the war in Ukraine, as they reflect on their second year away from home. They discuss the difficulties of being away from loved ones and the solace home cooking can provide. Ruth speaks to Natalia Lomonosova, who’d had to flee her home in Kyiv with her teenage daughter and has set up a new life in Berlin, Germany; and she visits Mariya Dmytrenko and her family, who are living with their hosts Brian and Julie Lamb, in Blackburn, England. If you’d like to contact the programme, please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk. Producer: Beatrice Pickup (Image: Mariya Dmytrenko and family with their hosts Brian and Julie Lamb. Credit: BBC)

Another year away from home

We take a trip around the world with BBC World Service presenters and listeners, finding out which are their favourite foods when a celebration is in order. A porridge which is hidden around the house to ward off spirits, sweet and delicious pilau shared with neighbours and an ornate box filled with as many as 50 types of food in Japan – we hear about what’s on the menu at this time of year. Ruth Alexander has help from her enthusiastic three-year-old son to make a traditional Christmas cake for the first time and BBC World Service business presenter Devina Gupta gets stuck washing up after a delicious Diwali feast with her family in Delhi. Producers: Hannah Bewley, Beatrice Pickup and Rumella Dasgupta Image: Ruth and her son making Christmas cake, Credit: BBC If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

Festive food stories

Our brains require 20% of our body’s energy intake, despite making up, on average, only 2% of our body weight. There are nutrients that are needed for brain health and development, yet many of us don’t think about specifically eating for our brains. In this programme Ruth Alexander learns about the relationship between our gut and our brain, and the impact food can have on your alertness, mood and memory. And just why oily fish, and other foods containing omega 3 fatty acids are so good for your brain. Ruth speaks to Dr Reeta Achari, a neurologist specialising in nutrition in Texas, United States and Dr Uma Naidoo a nutritional psychiatrist and author of ‘Calm Your Mind With Food’, in Massachusetts, United States. They are joined by Michelle Munt in the United Kingdom, whose blog ‘Jumbled Brain’ talks about recovering from a brain injury following a car accident in 2014. Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Julia Paul and Beatrice Pickup. (Image: a selection of foods collected in the shape of a brain. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Feed your brain

It’s estimated that more than 2 billion people use polluting stoves - with severe consequences for their health. The World Health Organisation says 3.2 million people die each year as a result of the household air pollution they cause. Ruth Alexander finds out why this problem – which also harms the environment – is so difficult to solve. She speaks to Dr Fatih Birol of the International Energy Agency in Paris; Sophie Odupoy from Koko Networks in Kenya; Naramath Lucas Kariongi from the Rural Communities Support Organisation in Tanzania; and Dr Mike Clifford of Nottingham University’s engineering department in the UK. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk. Producers: Hannah Bewley and Rumella Dasgupta.(Picture: a clay stove with a wood fire lit. Credit: BBC)

How to stop cooking killing

Many countries allow the manufacture and export of pesticides that are banned for use in their own countries. Recently France and Belgium have introduced laws preventing the export of such agrochemicals if their use is banned in the European Union. The European Commission is currently considering whether to introduce similar laws. Grace Livingstone reports from Paraguay where some small farmers living near soya plantations say heavy pesticide spraying is affecting their health and livelihoods. We hear from the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Toxics, Marcos Orellana, who says that global pesticide regulations should be tougher. And we speak to Emily Rees of CropLife International, which represents the agrochemical industry, who says different climates and soil conditions require different pesticides. Produced and presented by Grace Livingstone. (Image: a tractor spraying soybean crops. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Pesticide exports

Seaweed soup, aniseed sprinkles on toast, pig trotter soup and fried chicken. In this episode Ruth Alexander learns about what your body needs postpartum, and hears different food traditions for that time, from around the world. Chinese-American author Heng Ou tells us about her differing experiences after the birth of her three children, and how an auntie making dumplings non-stop helped her. Allison Oman Lawi from the World Food Programme explains the nutritional needs for the body in the weeks after giving birth and talks about how cultural traditions often get it just right. Mengqi Wang in China tells us about her experience in a postpartum clinic and how she managed to break the strict dietary rules a few times. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.ukPresented by Ruth Alexander.
Produced by Hannah Bewley and Rumella Dasgupta. (Image: A woman holds her new baby. Credit: Getty Images)

Food for new mums

The European Union wants to introduce one system for scoring the sustainability of food products. The new requirements are likely to be introduced in 2024. Currently there are a number of different labels and symbols used on food packaging across Europe, and there is concern that this can lead to confusion for consumers and can be open to exploitation. Russell Padmore travels across Ireland, hearing about the pros and cons from farmers, food producers, restaurants and consumers. If you’d like to contact the programme you can email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk Produced and presented by Russell Padmore. (Image: a woman looking at the label on a can of food, holding a shopping basket. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Eco scores on food labels

Pan fried, artisanal, gourmet: there's a fashion for foodie words. Why? In this episode, Ruth Alexander finds out how restaurants use language, psychology and behavioural economics to whet your appetite and increase their profits. Linguist Dr Keri Matwick of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore explains the research that shows the longer the description of a dish, the more expensive on average it is. Chef Caroline Martins of Sampa at Blossom Street Social Wine Bar in Manchester, England talks about the mistakes she made when she first designed her menus. Sean Willard of Menu Engineers in California gives us an insight into the power of using a box on the menu.And thanks to listener Simon in London who emailed thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk with the idea for the programme. Neither he nor we will look at a menu in the same way again.Presented by Ruth Alexander.
Produced by Beatrice Pickup.(Image: a woman holding a menu in front of her face. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

How to read a menu

Wherever humans go, whatever we do, we need to eat. In this programme, we meet the people cooking at the extremes. We hear about the chefs serving up three-course meals on Africa’s highest peak; the elaborate puddings created on stormy seas with a cruise ship pastry chef; the art of cramming enough food to feed 100 hungry sailors on board a nuclear submarine with a US Navy submarine culinary specialist, and tapas nights in the Antarctic with the chef at Rothera research station. Presenter: Ruth Alexander Producers: Rumella Dasgupta and Izzy Greenfield (Image: Mount Lister in Antarctica, covered in snow and ice. Credit: Getty Images/BBC) If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

Cooking in extreme places

Ghana’s inflation rate is one of the highest in the world, much of it driven by rising food prices. In this programme Ruth Alexander asks how Ghana went from being the world’s fastest growing economy in 2019, to financial crisis today. Economist John Asafu-Adjaye, at the African Center for Economic Transformation based in Ghana, explains why much of the country’s food is imported. Lydia Amenyaglo explains why historically cocoa has not been made into chocolate in Ghana, instead shipped elsewhere to be manufactured. Her family has farmed cocoa for decades, but she’s struggled to start a new business creating cocoa products at home in Ghana. Ruth hears about the impact of rising food prices on school meals in Ghana. Might Kojo Abreh, at the Institute for Educational Planning and Administration in Ghana, explains the findings from a survey of caterers, schools and students which found that some children are going hungry. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk Presenter: Ruth Alexander 
Producer: Beatrice Pickup(Image: A woman with a child on her back purchasing food. Credit: Getty Images)

Why is food so expensive in Ghana?

This week, Ruth Alexander is exploring the growing market for professional home cooking and asking whether you’re guaranteed the luxury experience you’re paying for. She speaks to private chef Juliana White, also known as Plate in Progress, about what it's like to cook for the rich and famous in The Hamptons, a summer destination for affluent New York residents.Kate Emery, founder of Amandine International Chef Placement in the south of France, tells Ruth how she handles the big personalities of chef and client, and discusses the demand for private chefs from the middle classes.We talk to one of the newer types of customers, John Holt, about why he's happy to spend handsomely to hire a private chef for an evening, and why it isn't always a success.Italian-born Marcello Ghiretti treats Ruth to some breakfast, and explains the issues surrounding private chefs and professional standards.

The rise of private chefs

More than half of us globally now live in cities. The United Nations estimates that by 2050, that number will be closer to seven out of ten of us. How can growing cities feed their populations? In this programme Ruth Alexander finds out about the history of how cities grew to their current scale, and some potential solutions to meeting their food needs. Carolyn Steel, architect and author of ‘Hungry City’ meets Ruth in London, United Kingdom, to talk about the role of transport and markets in making London the city it is today. Ruth hears about Tokyo, Japan, a city that has spread around ancient farmland rather than build on it. She speaks to Yu Tominaga and Mayumi Kawaguchi who own Hasune farm in central Tokyo, and Professor Makoto Yokohari who studies urban farming at the University of Tokyo. In Namibia, our reporter Frauke Jensen Röschlau reports on the role of informal food vendors on the streets of Windhoek, she interviews Professor Ndeyapo Nickanor, an expert in food security at the University of Namibia. If you’d like to contact the programme you can email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk. Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup. Additional reporting by Frauke Jensen Röschlau. (Image: commuters walking on a street in Tokyo. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

How to feed a city

What if you could reach a great age through your dietary choices? Imagine – that the food you eat has a direct effect on how long you live. An appealing concept, but can it be backed up by research? In this programme, Ruth Alexander explores the dietary habits of centenarians, to find out if there are any similarities in what they eat and whether their diets have had a bearing on their longevity. She speaks to 100-year-old Betty Webb, to find out how much food has played a role in reaching a century, and discovers more about “Blue Zones” – geographical areas where some researchers claim people live longer than average lifespans. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk (Picture: An older woman holding a slice of watermelon. Credit: Getty Images/BBC) Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

Can you eat your way to 100?

Bonnie Garmus, author of the bestselling novel Lessons in Chemistry, shares the story of her life through five dishes. Ruth Alexander meets Bonnie in her London home, to talk about the food influences in her debut novel about a female chemist turned TV cookery show host in the 1950s and 60s. She’ll hear about Bonnie’s childhood growing up in California, her own personal experiences of sexism in the workplace, the adoption of her Chinese daughters and her relationship with her husband David. Bonnie will bake a dish that features in her novel, ‘desperation brownies’. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup. (Image: Bonnie Garmus in her London home with a brownie that she has baked. Credit: BBC)

Bonnie Garmus: My life in five dishes

Many dishes have become famous national symbols both at home and abroad, for example Italian pizza, or British fish and chips. Whilst such dishes can create a sense of unity and identity, they can also be used to fuel nationalism, or to push a political agenda. In this edition of The Food Chain, Izzy Greenfield hears the stories behind some of the most famous national foods, some based more on myth or marketing than historical fact. She speaks to Anya Von Bremzen, author of 'National Dish', in which Anya investigates the origins of foods such as Italian pizza, Japanese noodles, Spanish tapas and Mexican tortillas. The Secretary of the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage at UNESCO, Tim Curtis, explains why some dishes are recognised for the community practices that surround them. Andrew Crook, President of the National Federation of Fish Fryers in the UK, and food historian Professor Panikos Panayi from DeMontfort University in Leicester, England, explain the complex history behind fish and chips.If you would like to get in touch with the programme, email thefoodchain@bbc.co.ukPresented by Izzy Greenfield.
Produced by Beatrice Pickup.(Image:takeaway fish and chips with a union jack flag on a cocktail stick. Credit: BBC)

What's in a national dish?

Consumers have the buying power but how much are they considered when a brand decides to make a change? In this edition of The Food Chain Ruth Alexander takes a look at what goes into developing some of the products we know and love. We travel to the northwest of England to a consumer taste testing facility, Wirral Sensory Services. Such businesses would have been few and far between just decades ago but now they’re a big part of the research process when brands look to launch new products or make changes to existing ones. Consumer expert Dr Sara Jaeger tells us about the benefits and the limitations of these tests and business consultant Samuel West talks us through some of the most well know failures in food. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk Presenter: Ruth Alexander Producer: Hannah Mullane (Image: a woman blindfolded, sat in front of a pizza. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

The taste test

As India welcomes the world’s biggest economies for the G20 meeting this September, we look at the role that food might play in top level discussions. Food diplomacy is increasingly seen as a form of ‘soft power’ that can help build bridges and find common ground. In this programme Devina Gupta speaks to chef Arun Sundaraj, who is leading the catering teams at the Taj Palace Hotel in Delhi which is hosting many of the G20 delegates. She visits the Colombian embassy in London to hear from the country’s ambassador about the role food played during vital peace negotiations between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC. Devina also travels to Glasgow in Scotland to share a plate of haggis with Scotland’s national chef, Gary Maclean and Lauren Bernstein, founder and CEO of The Culinary Diplomacy Project in the United States, explains why governments are looking to hire culinary experts to aid in diplomacy. Presented by Devina Gupta. Produced by Rumella Dasgupta. (Image: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden raise two wine glasses in a toast. Credit: Getty Images/ The Washington Post/ BBC).

The art of food diplomacy

Weaning refers to the process of introducing your baby to solid foods, alongside breast milk or formula. In the UK, the NHS suggests this normally happens at around six months old. In this programme Rick Kelsey starts the weaning journey with his baby boy Albie, and finds out about some of the different approaches including ‘spoon fed’ and ‘baby led’ weaning. He also gets advice on how to deal with allergies and choking. Rick Kelsey is joined by Katie Shelton from ‘Scrummy Tummies’, Dr Sarika Kapoor who posts online as ‘The Weaning GP’, and Rachel Childs, nutritionist at First Steps Nutrition Trust, a public health charity in the UK. Produced and presented by Rick Kelsey. You can contact the programme by emailing thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk (Image: a baby being spoon fed, with food around its mouth. Credit: Getty Images/ BBC)This edition was updated on 02/10/2023.

Feeding baby

Imagine not being able to sit and eat at the dinner table with your family without feeling furious. The little-known condition of Misophonia, often called “sound rage”, is a lower tolerance to certain sounds. Although sufferers can react to several types of repetitive noises, many are particularly triggered by eating sounds. Misophonia has not been classified as a clinical disorder, and there have only been a few studies into it, which means many doctors have never heard of the condition. In this programme, Ruth Alexander meets three people with Misophonia who are trying to raise awareness: Dr Jane Gregory, a doctoral research fellow at Oxford University; Adeel Ahmad, the host of a misophonia-themed podcast in the US, and Olana Tansley-Hancock, a clinical researcher based in the UK.If you would like to get in touch with the programme, email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk(Image: Young man and woman next to each other, woman biting into apple. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)Produced by Julia Paul

Stop chewing like that!

The banh mi is a staple street food in Vietnam and increasingly popular around the world. But how did it come to be a global sensation? In this edition of The Food Chain, Ruth Alexander discovers how the signature sandwich - invented during the French occupation of Vietnam in the 1950s - went on to become popular around the world after the end of the Vietnam war. Ruth explores the traces of French history and politics found in the sandwich ingredients with former French diplomat to Vietnam Dr Bertrand Hartingh; and she discovers how it’s made at Manchester restaurant, Pho Cue. And as Dr Quan Tran of Yale University explains, it's a tale of ingenuity, adaptation and family love. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk (Picture: A banh mi sandwich)Presenter: Ruth Alexander 
Producers: Sam Clack and Rumella Dasgupta

Banh mi: A sandwich with a story

Italian food is one of the most popular cuisines in the world, but how did it first make its way out of Italy? In this edition of The Food Chain, Ruth Alexander uncovers stories of migration, food culture and legacy in the Italian diaspora. Academic Donna Gabaccia explains why millions of Italians left their home country in the 1800s, creating new communities around the world that came to be known as ‘Little Italy’. Ruth visits one of them, in London’s Clerkenwell, to discover its history and how a delicatessen founded in the late 1800s – still busy today – sparked a love for Italian cuisine. We hear from an Italian restaurant owner in Buenos Aires, whose Genoese ancestors put their stamp on the local food scene more than 90 years ago.And reporter Kizzy Cox takes a trip around some eateries in the world-famous Little Italy in New York City to see how the local community is moving with the times. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk (Picture: Five contributors in the programme, from left to right: Lou di Palo, Luca Fadda, Hugo Banchero, Giorgia Fadda and Nico Paganelli, in front of a Little Italy sign. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)Presenter: Ruth Alexander 
Producer: Elisabeth Mahy 
Reporter: Kizzy Cox 
Additional production: Veronica Smink and Matías Zibell Garcia

The Little Italy story

At what age should you start teaching children to cook, and why should you? In this programme, Ruth Alexander meets children and young people who are talented in the kitchen, making the case for why it might be worth the time and the mess to trust them to make dinner. We travel to the north-west of England to Sefton Carers Centre to meet Paige Jones, aged nine, who cares and cooks for her mum, Rachel, who has a health condition. Food writer Jenny Chandler, who has authored two cookbooks for children, gives Ruth some tips about how she can get her three-year-old son engaged in the kitchen. And Ruth meets the young cooking enthusiasts sharing their skills with others: Keffa Liona in Nairobi, Kenya, makes cooking videos with his younger brother, Kisali, which they post online; and Julian Frederick in Texas, United States, is - aged 15 - the CEO of Stepstool Chef, which provides video tutorials presented by children for children. Presented by Ruth Alexander
Produced by Beatrice Pickup(Image: Child stood on a stool in a kitchen, making houmous.)

This kid cooks

Immersive dining has become something of a culinary craze in recent years. 
 
As well as serving food, restaurants are providing multi-sensory experiences for customers; transforming their dining spaces into places where people can escape. 
 
In this edition of The Food Chain, we take a look at immersive dining establishments around the world, exploring why customers are increasingly choosing to be entertained while they eat, and asking – is this dining trend a bit of a fad, or is it the future of eating out? If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk (Picture: Diners eating at tables surrounded by flowing water, at Labassin Waterfall restaurant in the Philippines) Presenter: Izzy Greenfield 
Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

Immersive dining

The African continent is seeing one of the fastest rates of urbanisation in the world. As people move to cities, and lifestyles change, so do diets. Many indigenous ingredients and dishes become hard to source and prepare. Others become associated with rural or village ways of life and are no longer seen as sufficiently aspirational. In this programme, Michael Kaloki finds out about traditional dishes at risk of being forgotten. He cooks with his Aunty Naomi to learn about dishes from his own Kamba tribe in Kenya. He also visits Dr Kathleen Anangwe, Lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Social Work and African Women Studies at the University of Nairobi, as she prepares a traditional dish from her own tribe, the Luhya in Western Kenya. He speaks to chef Selassie Atadika, who is showcasing indigenous ingredients and methods of cooking in her pop-up nomadic dinners in Accra, Ghana. If you'd like to contact the programme email - thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk Presented by Michael Kaloki. Produced by Beatrice Pickup. (Image: women transporting millet in baskets on their head. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Africa's forgotten foods

Going to a wedding this year? Spare a thought for the caterers - expected to put on ever-more elaborate feasts in ever-more challenging conditions. In this episode, three wedding caterers - in India, the US and the UK - share anecdotes about demanding guests, make-shift hillside kitchens and emergency trips to hospital. Warning: if you’re a bride- or groom-to-be, this programme might just give you a case of the jitters. You can share your tales of wedding banquet triumphs and disasters by emailing thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk (Picture: Bride and groom blowing out a candle on a cake. Credit: Getty Images/BBC) 
Presenter: Ruth Alexander 
Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

What the wedding caterer is really thinking

Out of necessity, in adversity, or for the fun of it - how, and why did you learn to cook? Ruth Alexander hears the stories behind people’s kitchen skills - the highs, the lows, the challenges overcome, and the connections made – and discovers there’s often more than just dinner at stake. Growing up in Germany to Japanese parents, chef Nina Matsunaga remembers having to step up to the stove when her mother was taken ill; the eldest of three boys in Cameroon, Timah Julius Nyambod made breakfast and dinner for his brothers while his mother worked as a food vendor; Janet Pollock describes teaching herself to cook as a young child inspired by cookery shows in Nashville, USA; and Rahul Raina is holding on to his Kashmiri heritage in Oxford, England, thanks to the recipes and know-how of his mother and grandmother. You can contact the programme by emailing – thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk Presented by Ruth Alexander Produced by Beatrice Pickup and Rumella Dasgupta (Image: Rahul Raina cooking chicken yakhni, a Kashmiri dish, with his mother Sunanda Dhar. Credit: BBC)

How I learnt to cook

Salt has been a staple ingredient in cooking and preserving food for thousands of years. It adds flavour to food, preserves it, and keeps our bodies functioning. In recent years, gourmet brands have emerged and some consumers have been willing to pay higher prices for rock and sea salts. Ruth Alexander finds out how this trend started and asks whether there’s anything special about speciality salts. She speaks to Jess Lea-Wilson, Ronan Burns and Rob Jardine about how Halen Mon seasalt is made in Anglesey, Wales; Craig Cormack, ‘The Salt Chef’, about the salt tasting sessions he runs in South Africa; and Rajesh Shah of Vikas Center for Development about how technology is improving conditions and profits for salt workers in the Indian state of Gujarat.If you would like to get in touch with the programme, email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk. Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Julia Paul.(Image: a spoonful of salt. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

How did salt get so gourmet?

Could our office, apartment and public buildings also be farms? In this programme, Ruth Alexander meets the pioneers of rooftop farming, turning concrete into green spaces where fruit and vegetables are grown. We find out about the logistics, the challenges, and whether it has the potential to feed city populations. In Barcelona, Spain, she meets Joan Carulla, who recently celebrated his 100th birthday. Joan has been tending his private rooftop vegetable garden for fifty years with the help of his son, Toni. They’re joined by friend and fellow rooftop gardener, Robert Strauss. Ruth speaks to Kotchakorn Voraakhom, a landscape architect in Bangkok, Thailand. She designed a farm on the roof of a university in 2019, the largest in Asia at that time. And Mohamed Hage, co-founder and CEO of Lufa Farms in Montreal, Canada explains how they are farming rooftops on a commercial scale. To date the company has four rooftop greenhouses and an indoor farm, which produces enough food to feed about 2 per cent of the city’s population. Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup. (Image: Joan Carulla sat on a bench in his rooftop garden in Barcelona, Spain. Credit: BBC)

Can you feed a city from its rooftops?

Tabasco sauce, Lea and Perrins, Angostura Bitters. Those are a few of a very select number of sauces, condiments and tipples that have weathered changing tastes and trends over the years, even outliving their founders.How do some brands manage to survive for 100, 150 or 200 years?In this programme, David Reid lifts the lid on some of these store cupboard stalwarts to reveal the secrets of their longevity, heritage appeal, and what happens when a company tries to ‘tweak’ a winning recipe.If you’d like to contact the programme you can email – thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk(Picture: Tabasco sauce bottles) Presented and produced by David Reid

The power of heritage brands

Television cookery competitions are big business – drawing audiences in their millions over multiple series. How did they become such a successful format? In this programme we go behind the scenes with competitors and judges. Ruth Alexander speaks to chef Simon Wood, who won the BBC’s 'Masterchef' in 2015 and today runs two restaurants of his own in the United Kingdom; New York based chef Marcus Samuelsson, who has both competed in and appeared as a judge in multiple different shows including 'Top Chef', 'Iron Chef' and 'Chopped'; and food writer Gail Simmons, judge on 'Top Chef' in the United States for all twenty seasons to date. Tasha Oren is Associate Professor and Director of the Film and Media Studies Programe at Tufts University in Massachusetts, United States. She describes how food television has evolved over decades. And Ruth speaks to World Service listeners Mutinkhe Kaunda in Zambia and Andrew Laverghetta in the US about what they look for in a TV cooking competition. Clips from 'Iron Chef Japan' used courtesy of Fuji Television Network, Inc. If you’d like to contact the programme you can email – thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup. (Image: a hand holding up a trophy. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

How did TV cooking competitions get so big?

A lunch break can tell you quite a lot about a country’s work culture; ranging from two-hour, luxuriant pauses in some parts of the world, to a couple of minutes, snack-in-hand at a desk, in others. For decades, people have built up camaraderie by meeting informally and in person, but technology and the pandemic have changed that. In this programme, Ruth Alexander goes in search of the meaning and purpose of the lunch break; from power lunches in the heady world of international finance, to a simple snack and a chat with a colleague, and asks, what do we stand to lose if we don’t take a proper break? If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk (Picture: Two female colleagues, laughing over a meal. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

Let’s take a lunch break!

Why go to culinary school when you could learn on the job? Three trained chefs-turned teachers make the case for learning the basics and getting a qualification that could open doors in a competitive world. In this programme Ruth Alexander hears what it takes to be a great culinary teacher. She speaks to Gary Maclean, Executive Chef at City of Glasgow College in the UK, he’s Scotland’s national chef and won the BBC’s Masterchef the Professionals in 2016; Suzanne Storms, Assistant Professor at the Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong where she manages the culinary arts and management degree; and Alexandra Didier, Chef Instructor at Le Cordon Bleu Paris. If you’d like to contact the programme you can email us – thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup. (Image: a chef instructs a student in a kitchen classroom. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Teaching tomorrow's chefs

How can you be sure you’re eating what you think you’re eating? In most cases, food fraud won’t make you ill, but you won’t be getting quite what you’re paying for. 
 
In this programme, Ruth Alexander hears why high food prices and the war in Ukraine mean food fraud is more likely to happen. She visits a laboratory in Belfast in Northern Ireland, where food products are analysed to sort what’s real and what’s fake, and she speaks to a food fraud investigator who tells us just how difficult it is to stop the criminals.
 
And we hear from a spice market in Delhi where vendors and shoppers tell us how they try to avoid fake products. 
 If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk Producer: Elisabeth Mahy(Image: A row of jars of spices, but the one in the middle is highlighted. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Is the food you’re eating what you think it is?

The world’s first octopus farm is being planned by a Spanish seafood multinational. The intelligent creatures are difficult to rear in captivity, but numerous companies around the world have been trying and Nueva Pescanova has announced it’s close to making an octopus farm a reality. Scientists and animal welfare groups have objected to the plans. Nueva Pescanova says the company’s priority is to guarantee animal welfare by applying to the cultivation process the conditions of the species in the wild. Ruth Alexander finds out more about both sides of the debate with the BBC’s Environment and Rural Affairs correspondent, Claire Marshall, who has been closely following the story from the beginning. She speaks to Dr Heather Browning, Lecturer in Philosophy at Southampton University in the UK and former zoo-keeper, about the capacity of octopuses to experience feelings; and how we form our opinions about what we should and shouldn’t farm. And she finds out why octopus is central to Japanese cuisine with food writer and host of Japan Eats! podcast, Akiko Katayama. Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup. (Image: an octopus with curling tentacles. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Should we farm octopus?

The crowning of a British monarch calls for an official dish. In 1953, for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, it was a curry and mayonnaise chicken dish. This time around, King Charles III has selected a quiche - the principle of the shareable tart being to inspire the public to join in a celebratory lunch. It may sound fairly simple, but as Ruth Alexander discovers in this programme, a lot lies behind the commemorative dish. Ruth asks why the new King wants his crowning moment to be marked with home-baking, what opportunities royal-inspired food offers, and what the monarch’s culinary choice might tell us about this moment in time. She visits a farm shop in Warwickshire, in the British Midlands, where owner Michelle Edkins has been baking and serving up a spread of dishes to mark the big occasion. Muhammed Ali, the owner of an Indian restaurant in the neighbouring county of Staffordshire, tells Ruth about a new Coronation-themed curry he’s put on his menu to capture the moment. Food historian, Dr Rachel Rich, puts the official quiche into historical context. And Dame Prue Leith, South African-British celebrity cook and judge, gives her verdict on the dish and considers whether its simplicity and choice of ingredients signal something about the new monarch. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk (Picture: King Charles III having tea. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

A dish fit for the King

Genetically-modified food has long been a subject of debate. It was first introduced to market in the United States in the mid 90s. Since then, some governments have approved the cultivation and sale of GM food, whilst others have had bans in place. In this programme, we look at attempts by India and Kenya to approve genetically-modified food crops, and ask if lessons can be learnt from the United States where GM foods have been consumed for decades. Today there are lots of different genetic-engineering techniques in use. Generally, genetic modification refers to organisms created with particular characteristics, using some genetic material from a different organism. Ruth Alexander is joined by Devina Gupta, from Business Daily on the BBC World Service, who can explain the latest developments in India, where the government wants farmers to plant genetically-modified mustard. Ruth also speaks to Roy Mugiira, chief executive of the National Bio Safety Authority Kenya, the government appointed regulator for GM products. In Kenya, the government has lifted a 10-year ban on GM, and approved the use of GM maize, a staple crop. And Professor Jennifer Kuzma, co-director of the Genetic Engineering and Society Center at North Carolina State University, talks about how labelling can help give consumers choice over whether they eat GM. Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup. (Image: field of corn. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

The growth of GM food

Every day, humans make multiple choices about what to eat. Some of those decisions will be better for our health than others - but what if we allowed a machine to decide for us? In this programme, Adam Shaw explores what would happen if we let artificial intelligence (AI) design our diets and whether that might improve our health. Adam visits a laboratory in the UK to meet AI researcher Dr James Neil, from the Centre for Nutrition Education &#38; Lifestyle Management, whose company is developing machine-learning systems to create personalised diets. He speaks to dietician Pennie McCoy, to find out how a digital therapist called ‘Hope’ is learning to help Australians stay on track with their weight-loss goals. Dr Mariette Abrahams, dietician and CEO of Qina, a company in Portugal which offers strategic advice on the personalised nutritional market, tells Adam about the potential and the pitfalls of the new tools. And Dr Eric Topol, professor of molecular medicine and executive vice president of Scripps Research in the US, considers whether AI-driven diets will be used for a small group of people, or whether the technology could fundamentally change everyone’s approach to food. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk (Picture: A robot hand and a human hand both reaching out to grab an apple. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)Presenter: Adam Shaw 
Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

How AI could design our diets

The British "caff" - slang for café, and home of the breakfast fry up, or "full english" - is under threat. Many have closed, struggling to compete with changing tastes and the success of chains. Many of Britain’s historic caffs opened in the 1940s and 50s, run by Italian migrants. Some of these original caffs are still trading, run by second and third generation Italian families. In this programme Ruth Alexander hears stories of the famous caffs that have closed for good, and goes in search of caffs still going. She’s joined by actor Michael Simkins, who has relied on hearty caff fare during a 40-year career in the theatres of London’s West End, and meets actor and director Mark Gatiss, who is finding it increasingly hard to find a good cup of tea in the capital. Ruth visits cafes that have been operating for decades – Bar Bruno in Soho, and Dino’s Café in east London, to learn exactly what their customers love so much about the traditional British caff. Restaurant sector consultant James Hacon describes the changes seen in the hospitality industry in the last twenty years, and why caffs now face such stiff competition.If you would like to get in touch with the programme, email - thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk. Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup. (Image: Ernie Fiori proprietor of Dino’s Café at New Spitalfields Market, East London, holding up his tea pot. Credit: BBC)

Is this the end of the British caff?

What’s the best way to produce affordable food, that’s good for the planet, and can feed us all? Is it even possible to have all three? In this programme, Grace Livingstone visits small and large farms in England and Argentina. She hears the case made for organic farming, and asks if it’s feasible for organic farms to produce enough food to feed a country. At a larger farm, she hears about why farmers rely on fertilisers and herbicides to produce large volumes of affordable food. Is it possible to farm in a way that increases biodiversity and protects the environment, whilst also remaining competitive? And what can we do as consumers to encourage and support greener farming? (Picture: Farmers Lizzie and Rob Walrond standing by a farm gate)Presented and produced by Grace Livingstone

Can small farms feed the world?

Dark kitchens are the multi-block commercial units allowing virtual brands and events companies to prepare and deliver food. They’ve got a mysterious reputation, sometimes also called ghost kitchens, so The Food Chain wanted to see how they have expanded since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. In this episode, presenter Rick Kelsey speaks to chefs who buy a place in them, and to the owners who build them. Gini and Eccie Newton run Karma Kitchen, one of the fastest growing dark kitchens in Europe. They describe how much it costs to move in, how the model has changed, and respond to the restrictions put in by local governments on the kitchens in Barcelona, France and the Netherlands. Peter Cook is someone who knows the owners of the biggest dark kitchens in the world. He has recently returned from Amsterdam where he ran the Ghost Kitchen conference, and explains how PR around the kitchens is improving as they become more open spaces. And Yousif Kurdi runs Your Kitchen across the Netherlands, including in Amsterdam. He tells Rick how working with the locals is always good for business.(Picture: A woman packing a paper delivery bag. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)Presented and produced by Rick Kelsey

Bringing dark kitchens into the light

Long days, unsociable hours, a hectic and pressurised workload – the working environment for health care staff is full of challenges. Maintaining a healthy diet in those conditions is tough. Two shift workers talk honestly about what they eat on the job, and get advice from a dietician. Ruth Alexander speaks to Scott Christmas, who’s on his eighth year of overnight shifts, to Tom Gibbons, a paramedic, and to Dr Linia Patel, dietician and performance nutritionist. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk(Picture: A pair of hands holding a stethoscope and an apple. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

What do medics really eat?

Anyone who has taken a photo of their plate in a restaurant knows how hard it is to make food look good on camera. An industry is dedicated to advertising food products on TV, online and in print. What does it take to make a burger look delicious, desirable and realistic? And, most importantly, is any of the food in adverts real? In this programme, Ruth Alexander meets a food stylist, a food photographer, and a director of food commercials, who share their industry’s tips and tricks. She’s joined by stylist Claire Ferrandi Smythe in Johannesburg, South Africa, photographer Sue Atkinson in London, United Kingdom and food commercials director Steve Giralt in New York, United States, who has made a name for himself with flying food and robots. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup. (Image: A hand lifting a slice from a pizza with cheese, peppers, mushrooms and meat. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

How to photograph food

Facing the trauma of having to abandon your home because of war or climate change, how do you find solace in food that is no longer your own? There are 10 million registered refugees in the world – probably many more - who are living this reality. In this episode, Ruth Alexander speaks to two families – one Afghan, one Ukrainian - who know what it’s like to lose their food; and to Allison Oman Lawi, deputy director of nutrition at the World Food Programme. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Rumella Dasgupta. (Image: a selection of dishes enjoyed by an Afghan family living in the UK. Credit: BBC)

A taste of home

Humans have been accidentally feeding wild birds for millennia; any leftover food scraps to be scooped up by opportunistic, feathered friends. The deliberate feeding of birds, however - placing seeds out on a feeder in the garden, taking crumbs to a nearby park or lake – is a more recent, cultural phenomenon. In some countries, it has deep significance and one of the most popular ways humans interact with wild animals – and it’s big business. In other places, it’s practically unheard of. So, why do humans feed wild birds? In this programme, Ruth Alexander delves into the many aspects of this human-animal interaction and asks the question; who’s benefiting more, the birds or us? Ruth speaks to urban ecologist, Dr Darryl Jones, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and to keen bird feeders Dan DeBaun, in Minnesota, US; Fung Sing Wong in Singapore; Bylgja Valtýsdóttir in Reykjavík, Iceland; and Antony Tiernan, in Surrey, UK. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk (Picture: Blue tit on garden feeder. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

The joy of feeding birds

How do you make Michelin Star-level food, for hundreds of people, in a kitchen you just built in someone’s garden, and with no access to cooking gas? That’s just a typical scenario facing chefs in the world of high end mass catering. In this episode, we hear from John Downey, the Catering Manager at the Web Summit tech conference, on the pressures of feeding high profile figures, and VIPs who've spent $26,000 on a ticket. We also hear from Matt and Ted Lee, authors of the book Hot Box: Inside catering, the food world's riskiest business. They tell us about the stresses and often extraordinary challenges of providing high end food, at scale, at some of the USA’s most fancy weddings and galas.Presenter: Marie Keyworth
Producer: Sarah Treanor(Picture: A chef's hand, putting the final touches to some dishes. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Feeding the VIPs

Food banks have operated for decades in North America and Europe. They are generally operated as non profits, connecting food businesses that have waste with individuals, families and charities that need food. In 2006 there was just one African food bank in Egypt. A second opened in South Africa in 2009. Today there are around twenty five across the continent. In this programme we look at how African countries have adapted food banks to their needs, and hear how they address criticisms that the food bank model itself is flawed when it comes to addressing food poverty. We ask Nairobi based reporter Michael Kaloki to spend a day with Food Banking Kenya, and its founder and CEO John Gathungu. Michael visits their warehouse storage, meets small holder farmers donating surplus food, and speaks to women living in some of Nairobi’s informal settlements that rely on food donations. Ruth Alexander speaks to Elijah Addo, who founded one of Africa’s first food banks in 2015, Food for All Africa in Ghana. Gaby Kafarhire at The Global FoodBanking Network, based in Chicago in the United States, talks about the particular challenges African food banks face. And researcher Gareth Haysom at the African Centre for Cities at the University of Cape Town shares his concerns about the current system. Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup. Additional reporting by Michael Kaloki in Nairobi. (Image: a food bank worker lifting a crate of vegetables onto a truck. Credit: BBC)

The growth of food banks in Africa

Spaghetti, penne, farfalle, gnocchi, lasagna – just a few of the 300-plus shapes of pasta in existence. And there are some very strong opinions about them. This Italian staple is one of the world’s most popular foods and one of the most versatile. In this programme, Ruth Alexander delves into the history, culture and passions of pasta-making to ask a controversial question – what is the best pasta shape? She speaks to restaurateur Elisa Cavigliasso and chef Giulia Martinelli, from The Pasta Factory in Manchester, UK; pasta historian Luca Cesari, in Bologna, Italy; pasta shape inventor and host of the Sporkful podcast, Dan Pashman, in New York; and Andrea Butti, co-owner of Dominioni Pasta, a pasta machine manufacturer near Como, Italy. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk(Picture: Nine small piles of different pasta shapes. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

What's the best pasta shape?

Noma – considered by some to be the ‘world’s best restaurant’ - has announced it will close in 2024. The news has prompted headlines around the world and a renewed discussion about the culture of fine dining, and whether it is sustainable as a business model. In this programme, Ruth Alexander asks ‘what’s the big deal about fine dining?’. Is it an industry that exists only for the very wealthy, or do its innovations and trends affect how we all eat? Ruth is joined by Pete Wells, restaurant critic for The New York Times, who ate at Noma in Copenhagen in 2018. Food historian Dr Rachel Rich at Leeds Beckett University in the UK talks about the history of fine dining, and the celebrity chefs of the 19th century. Chef Sarah Francis knows what it is like to be at the top of your game but want to do something different – in 2018 she and her partner gave back the Michelin star awarded to their restaurant The Checkers in Wales. And BBC World Service listeners and self-confessed ‘foodies’, Casey Griffiths in the UK and Pamela Garelick in Greece, tell Ruth about their best and worst fine dining experiences. Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup.

What's the big deal about fine dining?

To feed a child is fundamental to a parent, it’s instinct. But what if your baby can’t swallow?After receiving lots of emails to a programme we made on dysphagia – or swallowing difficulties – we were asked to explore the condition as it affects children.In this edition, Ruth Alexander speaks to parents Kelly Rose, in the UK, and Melanie and Sean Hoffman in Canada, about how they manage their children's conditions and their relationship with food; and to a doctor, Professor Hamdy El-Hakim, who is on a mission to ensure dysphagia is better understood. And we hear from the children themselves. Three-year-old Bodhi and five-year-old Ophelia share their thoughts about food.If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk(Picture: Bodhi and his mother Kelly Rose. Credit: Kelly Rose/BBC)Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

Why can’t my child swallow?

Who wrote the cook books on your kitchen shelves? For many celebrity chefs, a cook book, or several, is an obvious way to extend their brand. But if they don’t have the time or the skills to write one, they may hire a ghost writer or co-author to work with them. It’s not just writing, the work can involve project management, recipe testing, meeting deadlines and handling some big egos. Sometimes writers are credited on the cover of the book, sometimes in the introduction, sometimes not at all. In this programme Ruth Alexander meets two people who have worked as ghost writers on cookbooks. JJ Goode lives in New York in the United States; he’s credited on the cover of many celeb chef cookbooks, and recently won a prestigious James Beard award for the book he wrote with Gregory Gourdet, ‘Everyone’s Table: Global Recipes for Modern Health’. Signe Johansen is a Norwegian American trained chef and food writer living in London; she worked as a ghost writer on cookbooks early in her career before publishing her own, such as ‘Solo: The Joy of Cooking for One’. Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup. (Image: ghostly-looking open book. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

The ghost writers

Opera is viewed as something of an endurance sport in the musical world. Hours spent on stage, in costume, doing a very physical job far away from home comforts can take its toll on the body if it’s not adequately fuelled. As Ruth Alexander discovers in this programme, diet is of paramount importance to a professional singer. Sopranos Rachel Nicholls and Lucy Schaufer, and Fred Plotkin - opera and food writer and friend of Luciano Pavarotti – share the secrets of the relationship between singing and sustenance, and what foods can help achieve a star performance. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.ukThe piece of music at the start and end of this programme is If Music be the Food of Love, by Henry Purcell. Performed by Rachel Nicholls.(Picture: Pavarotti eating from a spoon. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

The opera singer's diet

Working as a chef can be creative and rewarding when people love your food, but it can also be demanding, requiring long and antisocial hours. In this programme we hear about the highs and lows of working in some of the world’s best kitchens, and why it ultimately isn’t right for everyone. Ruth Alexander speaks to three chefs who chose to leave the profession. Former head chef Philip Barantini in the UK is now a TV and film director, his film Boiling Point, released in 2021 is about a chef struggling to run a successful restaurant. Genevieve Yam left behind Michelin starred restaurants in New York to become a food writer, she’s currently culinary editor at the website Serious Eats. Riley Redfern was a pastry chef in Michelin starred restaurants in San Francisco and New York, having lost her job in the pandemic, today she has a new career as a software developer. If you’ve been affected by any of the issues raised in this programme, such as alcohol and drug dependance, you can access support via the BBC Action Line page - https://www.bbc.co.uk/actionline/ Excerpts from Boiling Point used courtesy of Vertigo Releasing. Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup. (Image: chef cooking with open flame in frying pan in a professional kitchen. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Chefs who changed course

Why hold on to an old clay pot, a worn-out metal spoon, or a plain glass bowl? Earlier this year, we made a programme celebrating old and cherished cookware and received a huge response from World Service listeners. So, in this edition, Ruth Alexander hears your stories of the poignance that can be found in the most unassuming kitchen utensil, and explores a few other tales we’ve uncovered of cooking with love. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.ukProducer: Elisabeth Mahy
Researcher: Siobhan O'Connell

Cooking with love

Ukrainian cookbook writer Olia Hercules reflects on why it's important to mark this festive season, and the traditional dishes she’ll be serving at the Christmas table in London this year. 
Ruth Alexander speaks to Olia and her Russian born friend and fellow food writer, Alissa Timoshkina, to discuss how these food traditions have developed and how relatives and friends will be marking Christmas in the war-torn country, ten months on from Russia’s invasion. 
Ruth also sits down with a Ukrainian family of refugees and their British hosts in Blackburn in the North of England to find out what will be on their Christmas table this year, and what it’s like to be separated from loved ones at this time. For Mariya Dmytrenko and her children, Krystina and Artem, and their hosts Brian and Julie Lamb, food has provided opportunities to bond and learn about each other’s cultures as they share a home. 
If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk 
Presented by Ruth Alexander 
Produced by Beatrice Pickup 
(Image: Mariya Dmytrenko and her children Krystina and Artem in Brian and Julie Lamb’s kitchen in Blackburn England. Credit: BBC)

A Ukrainian table at Christmas

Can you imagine what you would miss if you lost the ability to eat? Swallowing is something most of us take for granted, but around 8% of the general population are believed to experience some difficulty swallowing – known as dysphagia. In this programme, Ruth Alexander talks to one of the estimated hundreds of millions of people who have struggled with swallowing food and drink, and to those who are trying to make the condition better understood. She speaks to California-based Sonia Blue, who lost the ability to swallow after having surgery; chef Niamh Condon, in Cork, Ireland; and Professor Bronwyn Hemsley, head of speech pathology at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia. Always seek advice from a qualified health care professional with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk(Picture: Pureed apple on a spoon. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

Hard to swallow

2022 has seen record food prices. Many African countries have been badly hit because they import their staples – wheat, rice and oil. A lack of infrastructure and capacity in some countries means that food grown in Africa is often not processed into packaged food products, instead those items are imported from outside of the continent. In this programme we speak to two women who run food businesses in Zambia and Ghana, to talk about the impact of rising food costs, and whether this year’s food crisis could be the impetus for Africa to be more self-sufficient. Ruth Alexander is joined by Monica Musonda, founder and CEO of Java Foods, which manufactures fortified noodles and cereal products in Zambia and Yvette Ansah who owns two restaurants, Café Kwae and Kwae Terrace in Accra, Ghana, BBC West Africa business reporter Nkechi Ogbonna joins from Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy by gross domestic product to talk about the impact of rising food costs there. Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup. (Image: aerial view of a large ship transporting rice, unloading cargo onto smaller ships. Credit: Getty/BBC)

Why does Africa import a lot of food?

Eggs – a nutritious and affordable source of protein. Or they were. The cost of a box of eggs has been rocketing around the world. And in some places, where it’s long been common to start the day on an egg – supplies are under pressure. In this programme, Ruth Alexander explores the challenges egg producers are facing - including what can be done about the seemingly ever-present threat of avian influenza. She speaks to Amanda Mdodana, a poultry farmer in Mpumalanga, South Africa; Phillip Crawley, a poultry farmer in Leicestershire, UK; Mark Jacob, poultry and egg economist in Arkansas, US; and Professor Munir Iqbal, head of the Avian Influenza Virus group at the Pirbright Institute, UK. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk(Picture: A chicken standing next to an egg. Credit: Getty/BBC)Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

Eggonomics

Samuel Ikua is championing urban farming in his city, Nairobi in Kenya. Samuel undertook an urban farming course in 2015, run by a local NGO called the Mazingira Institute. Seven years later Samuel is the project coordinator at the institute, training other members of his community in urban farming skills. In this programme Ruth Alexander hears about the challenges Samuel faces, a lack of space and land, and local attitudes to farming in a big city. Samuel’s commitment to food security in Nairobi saw him chosen by a panel of international judges as the winner of The Food Chain Global Youth Champion Award 2022. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup. Additional reporting by Michael Kaloki in Nairobi.(Image: Sameul Ikua. Credit: Timothy Ivusah/ BBC)

Samuel Ikua: Global Youth Champion 2022

Food behind bars is not intended to be a Michelin-starred affair. But prison food reformers claim some of it is so bad that it could be hampering the rehabilitation of inmates. Nutritious and tasty meals, they argue, can improve the physical and mental health of those serving prison sentences and therefore cut reoffending rates. And food skills; like cookery, baking and farming, could help in the rehabilitation process too. In this programme, Ruth Alexander speaks to three people with detailed knowledge of food in prison environments to explore the good, the bad and the ugly of eating in incarceration, and the power of food. Ruth speaks to Alex Busansky, head of research centre Impact Justice; Lucy Vincent, founder of the charity Food Behind Bars; and ex-offender, now consultant on prison reform, Sophie Barton-Hawkins. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk (Picture: Prisoner harvests a cabbage grown on prison land. Credit: Getty/BBC)Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

Food as rehabilitation

How does sound influence the way we eat, drink and taste? We discover our hearing makes a bigger contribution to flavour than we think. Mike Johnson explores the concept of 'sonic seasoning' - the idea that different sounds can accentuate the sweetness, bitterness or spiciness of food. Chef Jozef Youssef, founder of the multi-sensory dining experience Kitchen Theory, serves up a musical food experiment, and Charles Spence, professor of experimental psychology at Oxford University, gives his track recommendations.From the crunch of a crisp to the background music in a restaurant, we examine the science that links our ears and taste buds with a journey into the brain flavour network.Plus, how the food and drink industry is cashing in on the selling power of sound - we speak to branding expert Martin Lindstrom about his painstaking work with some of the world's biggest fizzy drink manufacturers.Also, could the concept of sonic seasoning be used in the battle against diabetes and obesity?(Photo: Apple and headphones. Credit: LdF, Thinkstock. 
Soundscapes credit: Condiment Junkie)

Eating With Our Ears: The Sound of Food

In this programme we explore the realities of island diets. Ruth Alexander hears how diets are changing, and what this means for population health. Indigenous diets were limited to what grew in the native soil or could be raised or caught in the limited space available. Today imported, often processed foods are becoming increasingly popular. We start in the Faroe Islands, in the North Atlantic Ocean between Iceland and the United Kingdom. Traditionally the Faroese diet is protein heavy, fermented wind dried lamb is a staple and the poor soil makes growing a wide range of vegetables challenging. Reporter Tim Ecott travelled to the Faroe Islands for this programme to report on how diets there have changed. We then look South to the Pacific Islands, starting with the coral atoll nation of Kiribati. The coral ground makes it difficult to grow food to supplement the diet of seafood. Ruth speaks to dietitian and public health nutritionist Dr Libby Swanepoel from the Australian Centre for Pacific Islands Research based at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Libby makes the case for seaweed cultivation to supplement diets and incomes. In contrast the nation of Fiji in the Pacific Ocean has volcanic soils, and an array of fruit and vegetables can be grown. Despite this communities have increasingly turned to imported processed foods, contributing to a health crisis. Sashi Kiran, founder of FRIEND Fiji - the Foundation for Rural Integrated Enterprises and Development – talks about how this can be addressed. Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup. (Image: part of the Kiribati island nation, palm tree covered island surrounded by blue sea. Credit: Getty/BBC)

Island diets

All-you-can-eat restaurants are popular, as are high-end buffets at big weddings and posh hotels. But what’s the trick to making money out of them, and what happens to the leftovers? Ruth Alexander finds out the tricks of the trade with John Wood of catering software company Kitchen Cut, Sandeep Sreedharan of Goa, and Michael Brown of Cosmo, in Manchester, UK. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk (Picture: Hands of someone serving out chicken at a buffet. Credit: Getty/BBC)Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

The buffet business

Today’s Sephardic Jewish community has its roots in Spain and Portugal. The Hispanic Jews lived for many centuries in those countries but faced increasing persecution in the 13th and 15th Centuries. Many were forced to convert to Christianity, but some secretly continued their Jewish faith and practices. In 1478, the Spanish Christian royalty created the Inquisition, a series of trials aimed at identifying those who had not converted. Food and methods of food preparation are frequently cited as evidence against Jewish people in Spanish Inquisition trial records. Ultimately the Jews were expelled from Spain and they fled to other countries. This was the beginning of a diaspora which carried its Spanish food traditions with it. Ruth Alexander meets three women who have published Sephardic cookbooks reflecting on this turbulent past. Hélène Jawhara Piñer is a French historian and chef, she studied Spanish Inquisition trial records for her book Sephardi: Cooking the History. Stella Hanan Cohen lives in Zimbabwe; in her book Stella’s Sephardic Table she records the cuisine of the Sephardic community that settled on the island of Rhodes, now part of Greece. Genie Milgrom was born in Cuba and lives in Florida in the United States, she found handwritten recipes that had been passed down by generations of women in her family, which she published as ‘The Recipes of My 15 Grandmothers’. Presenter: Ruth Alexander 
Producer: Beatrice Pickup (Photo: A dish of swiss chard and chickpeas cooked by Ruth Alexander. Credit: BBC)

Forbidden food: The Jews of Spain

What are the nutritional challenges, and the highs and lows of food in space? As NASA looks at creating a lunar habitat, and even launching a mission to Mars, how can the right food be prepared and transported to keep astronauts both healthy, and happy? Marie Keyworth speaks to veteran astronaut Nicole Stott, and NASA’s top nutrition expert Scott Smith, who leads the Nutritional Biochemistry Laboratory at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, in Houston, Texas. Marie finds out what it’s really like to eat in zero gravity, and how nutrition is being used to counteract the extreme health impacts of spaceflight on the human body. Studying astronaut diets in space might even help our understanding of nutrition here on earth. Presented by Marie Keyworth. 
Produced by Sarah Treanor.(Image: astronaut in space holding a burger. Credit: Getty / BBC)

What do astronauts eat?

Global food prices reached record highs this year due to a combination of factors including the war in Ukraine, rising energy prices and poor harvests. Prices are now falling, but remain higher than last year. In this programme Ruth Alexander talks to three farmers on three different continents, to discuss if they’re profiting from these higher prices, the impact of higher costs, and whether farmers ultimately have any influence over the price we pay in the shops. Ruth is joined by Anne Gitau, a poultry farmer in Nairobi Kenya; John Kelly, a dairy farmer in Country Wicklow Ireland; and Bob Lowe, a beef and barley farmer in Alberta, Canada. The BBC’s Global Trade Correspondent Dharshini David joins the discussion to explain what is happening in global feed and fertiliser markets. Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup. (Image: trays of meat on a butcher’s counter with prices. Credit: Getty/BBC)

Can farmers influence food prices?

We may be living in a disposable age, but many of us probably own at least one hand-me-down pot, pan or kitchen utensil. They can be heavy and cumbersome to use but promise quality and reliability - a steadfast companion in the kitchen. They hold sentimental value too: memories of home, of loved ones who have passed, and ancestral traditions. In this programme, Ruth Alexander explores the history of some of these pieces, the sentimental and practical value to their owners, and the stories contained within. She speaks to three amateur cooks: Steven Hopper from Mississippi in the US, Alice Smith from South Wales in the UK, and Amrita Amesur in Hyderabad, India. We would love to hear about your precious pots and pans - please email your stories and pictures to thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk(Picture: An old saucepan. Credit: Getty/BBC)Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

Inheriting grandma's pan

Today’s seed industry is dominated by a handful of companies. Approximately 60% of the market is controlled by just four companies. Many of the seeds planted by farmers are controlled by international property rights or patents, that limit how they can be used. Court cases have centred around whether farmers have the right to save and reuse seeds for future harvests. In this programme we’ll chart the history of the seed industry, from the 19th century, when the United States government sent seeds in the post to farmers for free, to the growth of genetics in the 20th century which set the foundations for today’s market. Ruth Alexander is joined by Courtney Fullilove, Associate Professor of History at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, United States, and author of ‘Profit of the Earth: the global seeds of American Agriculture'; Frank Terhorst, Head of Strategy and Sustainability in the Crop Sciences Division of Bayer Global, the biggest seed company in the world; Michael Fakhri, the United Nation’s Special Rapporteur on the right to food, and Professor at the Oregon University School of Law in the United States; and Dr Tamene Yohannes, from the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute in Ethiopia, which works with community seed banks around the country. Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup. (Image: a man holding a pile of seeds in two hands. Credit: Getty/BBC)

Who owns seeds?

Mental health is a hugely complex issue with many causes. There’s no simple answer, then, when it comes to therapies for conditions like anxiety and depression. But a growing body of research is now supporting a connection between nutrition and mental health - that what you eat can have a role to play in reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety. It’s an emerging field, but dietary recommendations for patients are already being made in clinical settings. Jordan Dunbar explores the scientific evidence for this, and what a ‘happier diet’ might look like. He speaks to Professor Felice Jacka, Director of the Food and Mood Centre at Deakin University in Australia; US psychiatrist Dr Emily Deans; UK-based chef, Daniel Edwards, and nutritionist Dr Nada Benajiba, who’s based in Saudi Arabia. If you've been affected by the content of this programme, information and support is available via the BBC Action Line. Go to https://www.bbc.co.uk/actionline If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk (Picture: Woman holding a pot of mixed berries. Credit: Getty/BBC)Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

Food for mood

Meet the flavourists – the people who bring together art and science to create the flavours in our food. Each crisp, soft drink, or toothpaste flavour has been concocted by someone in a lab who has spent years studying why things taste good. In this programme, Ruth Alexander visits the International Flavour Research Centre at the University of Nottingham in the UK, where flavour chemist Professor Ian Fisk demonstrates machines that can act as an artificial nose and tongue. Historian Dr Nadia Berenstein explains how this profession began and evolved alongside the boom in consumer goods in the 20th century. And we meet a master flavourist at the top of their field – Yukiko Ando Ovesen from Japan, who works for the international flavour and fragrance firm, Firmenich. Presented by Ruth Alexander Produced by Beatrice Pickup (Image: girl eating doughnut with brightly coloured sprinkles. Credit: Getty/BBC)

The flavourists

Food contamination is a serious public health problem around the world. The World Health Organisation estimates that 600 million – almost 1 in 10 people in the world – fall ill after eating contaminated food and 420,000 die every year. In this episode, Ruth Alexander speaks to some of the people whose lives have been shaped by serious food safety breaches and how they are working to ensure food safety and strengthen our food systems. She speaks to US food policy campaigner, Darin Detwiler, whose son Riley died following an E. coli outbreak in 1993, food safety consultant Lone Jespersen, and Tina Potter, head of incidents at the Food Standards Agency for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk(Picture: Scientist inspecting meat sample in laboratory. Credit: Getty/BBC)Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

Inside food safety scares

Climate change means that, in many parts of the world, the way we farm is no longer working. We need a larger, more diverse range of crops that perform even when the rains don’t come or, as can also be the case, when too much rain comes. Currently, just 15 crops make up 90% of our energy intake, according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization. In this programme, we’re meeting people who are trying to develop food crops that might thrive in our changing world. Ruth Alexander visits the Millennium Seed Bank ran by the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew in the UK, where Dr Chris Cockel explains their work collecting and storing seeds from the wild relatives of our staple crops. Tessa Peters, Director of Crop Stewardship at The Land Institute in Kansas, US, makes the case for creating perennial versions of our crops, in order to preserve soil health. And Dr Rebbie Harawa, regional director, Eastern and Southern Africa at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi Arid-Tropics talks about why a currently underutilised crop – millet – could be help struggling farmers in dry areas.
Picture: Close up of millet growing in a field; Credit: BBC/Getty

Tomorrow’s food crops

Running a restaurant is hard enough, but what if there’s family involved? In this episode, Felicity Hannah explores the highs and the lows of family-run eateries; their history, food culture, family dynamics and how they deal with the cut and thrust of business. She heads to Liverpool in the UK, to Europe’s oldest Chinatown, where she meets Terry and Theresa Lim, the owners of the city’s oldest Chinese restaurant. And she pays a visit to a local Italian establishment, to meet brother and sister Paolo and Maria Cillo who, with their other siblings and extended family, are building a burgeoning family food empire in the city. It’s an interesting time for these two restaurants. Italian and Chinese are two of the most exported cuisines in the world, but with growing competition from other popular food cultures, as well as global economic challenges, how are they adapting to changing times? If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk(Picture: Paolo and Maria Cillo, and Terry and Theresa Lim with their daughter and two grandchildren. Credit: BBC)

Running a restaurant with your relatives

Vegetable oil is one of many foods that has seen big price rises in the last year. Not only is it used for cooking and frying, but it’s also in many processed foods such as ready meals, sauces and even desserts. Ukraine and Russia represent the majority of the world’s sunflower oil production, whilst unpredictable weather, poor harvests and lack of labour have led to higher prices in palm, soybean and rape seed oil at the same time. In this programme we hear from food businesses struggling with the price of oil, starting with street food traders in Delhi, India. Felicity Hannah is joined by Kathryn Robinson, Head of Development at FBDC, a UK based company that helps food businesses reformulate their recipes; David Laborde, a French analyst at the International Food Policy Research Institute based in Washington DC, and David Wagner, Executive Chef at the City Line Bar and Grill Restaurant in Albany, New York. Presented by Felicity Hannah. Produced by Beatrice Pickup. Additional reporting by Anish Ahluwalia. (Image: chips cooking in oil in a deep fat fryer. Credit: Getty)

Liquid gold: The price of cooking oil

Water shortages are getting worse with climate change. In the Horn of Africa, long periods without a rainy season have created a dire situation. The World Food Programme says up to 20 million people in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia could be pushed into hunger by the end of the year. Somalia, which has already witnessed decades of conflict, extreme weather and disease outbreaks, is being particularly hard-hit. Experts believe droughts will become more frequent, longer and more intense, so what can be done to reduce their impact and the damage they inflict? Could there be a global solution to this global problem? Ruth Alexander speaks to Michael Dunford, the United Nations World Food Programme’s regional director for East Africa; Dr Balgis Osman-Elasha, a climate change and green growth expert and regional co-ordinator for the African Development Bank, in Tunisia; and emeritus professor at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, Donald Wilhite, who founded the National Drought Mitigation Center in the United States. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk (Picture: A woman standing next to her water containers and bottles of water. Credit: Getty/BBC)Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

What can we do about drought?

Meet the artists tasked with creating pictures that look good enough to eat. If it wasn’t for them, you might not have bought that particular tin of tomatoes or that bottle of wine. Enya Todd, a Chinese illustrator living in the UK, and Rocío Egío, a Spanish illustrator living in Switzerland tell Ruth Alexander how they translate a love of food into irresistible images on a page; while award-winning British botanical illustrator Bridget Gillespie reveals the ups and downs of capturing every exact detail of a fruit or vegetable. Just don’t ask her to paint you a strawberry. Presented by Ruth Alexander
Produced by Beatrice Pickup(Picture: an illustration of a dish of paella on a tablecloth, designed by contributor Rocío Egío. Credit: Paella by Rocío Egío)

The food illustrators

Good quality nutrition is key to sporting success. But while plenty of research exists on the impact of nutrition on performance, most of it has been done on male athletes. That’s despite female athletes now making up nearly 50% of participants in professional sport. In the case of female footballers, research shows they could be consuming only half the carbohydrates they need. Not eating enough – or under-fuelling – as it’s known in footballing circles – is thought to be endemic in the women’s game. Experts believe much of that is down to a lack of available information. As the Women's Euros 2022 tournament raises the profile of women's football around the world, Ruth Alexander explores what it takes to fuel a female footballer and how focusing on the particular nutritional needs of sportswomen could make a huge difference to performance. She speaks to professional footballer, Ode Fulutudilu, a forward for the South Africa women’s national team, Aimee O’Keefe, performance nutritionist at Manchester United Women, Dr José Areta, lecturer in sports nutrition at Liverpool John Moore’s University in the UK, and Abbie Smith-Ryan, exercise physiologist and sports nutrition researcher at the University of North Carolina in the US. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk (Picture: Two women playing football in an arena. Credit: Getty Images/BBC) Producer: Elisabeth MahyThe deadline for nominations for the award referenced at the end of this podcast has been extended to 23:00 GMT on Thursday 18th August 2022. 
*Page updated 28 July 2022 due to entry window extension.

Fuelling a female footballer

Biofuels are a way to make our cars, lorries and even planes run on renewable fuel. They’re often made from food crops. Globally 7% of cereal crops and 15% of vegetable oil crops are used to make biofuel – according to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). As pressure on food prices and supply chains increase, some people are questioning why we turn food into fuel. In this programme we’ll be looking at the history of biofuels, why food crops have been used, and what alternatives may exist. Joining us are Daniel Kammen, Professor of Energy at University of California, Berkeley, who is currently serving as a senior advisor for energy and innovation in the Biden administration in the United States; Bernardo Gradin, the founder and CEO of Gran Bio, a company that produces biofuel made from sugar cane waste in Brazil; and Sailaja Nori, Chief Scientific Officer at Sea6 Energy, a company investigating the possibilities of biofuel made from seaweed in India and Indonesia. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup. Additional reporting by Ashish Shama.The deadline for nominations for the award referenced at the end of this podcast has been extended to 23:00 GMT on Thursday 18th August 2022. 
*Page updated 28 July 2022 due to entry window extension. (Image: Field of rapeseed crops behind picture of fuel nozzle. Rapeseed image credit: BBC. Fuel nozzle credit: Matthew Fearn/PA)

Why use food for fuel?

From tackling poverty and hunger, to maggot farming, to harnessing the power of seaweed - since 2017, The Food Chain has been celebrating and rewarding innovation in food. This year, as part of the BBC Food and Farming Awards, we're looking for a new champion who is trying to change the way we deal with our food. With the launch of our 2022 award, Ruth Alexander catches up with two previous winners, school meals project the Akshaya Patra Foundation, and Gabriella D’Cruz, marine conservationist, to find out how their work has progressed and how they are navigating huge global challenges like climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic and rising food prices. Do you know a remarkable person aged 18-30 who’s challenging the way we think about food? Nominate them for our Global Youth Champion Award 2022.Find out more and read our terms and privacy notice here: bbc.com/foodchain The deadline for nominations has been extended to 23:00 GMT on Thursday, 18th August 2022. 
*Page updated 28 July 2022 due to entry window extension If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk Picture: Woman holding a plant growing in soil (Credit: Getty/BBC) Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

In search of a food champion

It’s not just fauna and flora, there’s a third, much overlooked kingdom of life – fungi. Fungi are essential for plant and soil health, and therefore our own survival. It’s not just the mushrooms that we eat, in this programme we celebrate fungi in all its forms. Fungi already play important roles in our food production and medicine, scientists are now investigating fungi based solutions for environmental pollution and waste disposal. We’re joined by biologist Merlin Sheldrake in the United Kingdom, author of ‘Entangled Life’, Giuliana Furci, mycologist and founder of the Fungi Foundation, the world’s first non-governmental organisation for the protection of fungi, based in Chile and Danielle Stevenson, a mycologist looking at soil toxicity in the United States. (Picture: fungi growing on a log. Credit: BBC)Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup.

The fungi kingdom

The internationally acclaimed poet and playwright Lemn Sissay OBE shares the story of his life by recalling five memorable dishes. His is an extraordinary story of family, and identity, lost and found. Born to an Ethiopian mother in the north of England and quickly placed into long-term foster care, Lemn was, for years, deprived of any knowledge of his heritage. His traumatic upbringing and subsequent search for his family and identity have informed much of his award-winning writing. In this programme, he tells Ruth Alexander about five memorable dishes that act as “positioning points” in his life to date. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk (Picture: Lemn Sissay holding a cup of coffee. Credit: BBC) Producer: Elisabeth Mahy Researcher: Siobhan O’Connell

Lemn Sissay: My life in five dishes

The menopause can cause all sorts of changes in your body – weight gain, hot flushes, sleeplessness and joint pain amongst others. Can what you eat help ease these symptoms? Officially a woman has reached menopause after 12 months without a period, however the transition itself can take years. Many women are prescribed hormone replacement therapy to tackle some of these symptoms, but lifestyle changes can also be helpful. In this programme we’re joined by three women who have experienced menopause and found some benefits in food. Elizabeth Ward is a registered dietitian based in the United States. She co-wrote a book called ‘The Menopause Diet Plan, A Natural Guide to Managing Hormones, Health and Happiness’. Fiona Staunton is a trained chef in Dublin, Ireland, who offers menopause cookery courses called ‘Fiona’s Food For Life’. Sue Mbaya is a Zimbabwean living in Ethiopia, she works in policy and governance, and presents the podcast ‘Pause for Menopause’. (Picture: woman using hand held fan. Credit: Getty/BBC) Produced by Beatrice Pickup. Presented by Ruth Alexander.

Menopause and diet

Aeroplane food doesn’t have the greatest reputation. Though it might be easy to blame an airline for serving lacklustre meals, the problem is more complex. Ruth Alexander discovers how the physics of flying wreaks havoc on our senses, the extraordinary lengths airlines have gone to try to dress up their food offering, and what it’s like to be the one serving you at your seat. And, she asks, will it ever be possible for all passengers to enjoy a tasty and nourishing meal in the air? Culinary historian, Richard Foss, chef-patron of Kitchen Theory, Jozef Youssef, and flight attendant, Kaylie Kay, join her for the ride. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk(Picture: Child wearing headphones, eating food on board a plane. Credit: Getty/BBC)Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

What's up with airline food?

Many chefs reach global status, with international demand for their latest book. Spare a thought for the translators, tasked with making their recipes accessible across barriers of language, culture and cuisine. Translating a recipe isn’t as simple as getting the dictionary out, you need to understand the different terminology and ingredients used in each country, whilst staying true to the original dish. We speak to Rosa Llopis, a Spanish translator who specialises in gastronomy and has translated a number of cookbooks. Cristina Cigognini is an Italian translator who usually specialises in literary translation of novels, but brought her skills to two cook books published by the chef Yotam Ottolenghi. Nawal Nasrallah is an Iraqi living in the US who translates medieval Arabic food texts, bringing those historic recipes to new audiences. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk. Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup.

The recipe translators

As Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II marks 70 years on the throne, we find out how you get a royal warrant. It’s an official seal of approval granted to the suppliers of goods and services to the Royal household. In London we visit one of Britain’s oldest cheese shops, Paxton &#38; Whitfield, established in 1797. Managing director James Rutter tells us about the royal warrants the business has held since Queen Victoria was on the throne. We also visit Windsor, home to Windsor Castle one of the Queen’s many properties and Windsor &#38; Eton brewery, which was awarded a royal warrant in 2018. Owner Will Calvert tells us what it takes to get this royal recognition. Royal Warrant holders can’t tell you much about what the royal household buys or likes, we try to fill in the gaps with royal and social historian Caroline Aston, features writer for Majesty Magazine. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup.

Shop like the Queen

What do writers eat to stoke their creative fires? George Orwell is said to have had a penchant for plum pudding, while Agatha Christie was partial to sipping cream while at the typewriter. Food is fuel for an author but also serves as inspiration; often finding its way on to the page. In this episode of The Food Chain, Ruth Alexander speaks to novelists Avni Doshi and Abi Dare about their relationship with food and drink and how that influences their writing. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk(Picture: Image of an apple and two bananas on a laptop screen. Credit: Getty/BBC)Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

Feeding the imagination

Thinking about how food passes through your body may not be something that crosses your mind, but for people who have had stoma surgery, they’re aware of it at every meal. 
Tamasin Ford explores what it’s like to live with a stoma bag and how it redefines your relationship with food. 
We speak to three women who have had lifesaving operations to have a stoma bag fitted. The surgery tends to involve either the small or large intestine, with a stoma creating an opening on the skin of the abdomen to bypass the normal digestion process. Instead digested content is diverted to a pouch, worn on the outside of your body. 
We find out how they learned to eat again after having surgery, what they're doing to fight the stigma around stomas, and how they’re embracing their new lives with stoma bags. Joining us are Aisha Islam in Saudi Arabia, Alisa Kuivasto in Finland and Gill Castle in the United Kingdom. 
If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk (Picture: Woman with stoma bag. Credit: Getty/BBC) Producer: Sarah Stolarz 
Presenter: Tamasin Ford

How a stoma changed my life

Wheat is one of the most important grains worldwide: you’ll find it in bread, biscuits, pasta, sauces, sweets and more besides. Indeed, take wheat products off supermarket shelves and they would look rather bare. But recent global events – not least the war in Ukraine - have caused crop prices to soar. Ruth Alexander charts how a humble grass grown in the Fertile Crescent became a commodity traded worldwide, and she explores whether we have become too reliant on this “mega crop” for our food supplies – and what alternatives there might be. She talks to Cathy Zabinski, professor of plant and soil ecology at Montana State University, US; Frank Uekotter, professor of environmental humanities at the University of Birmingham, UK; and Augustine Sensie Bangura, CEO of Sierra Agri Foods, Sierra Leone.If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk(Picture: An ear of wheat blowing in the wind. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)