The Food Programme

With the Government pledging to overhaul the way food is sourced for public institutions like hospitals, schools, prisons, and army bases, Sheila Dillon explores how these changes could be implemented and why they are deemed essential by many. Sheila visits St Peter’s Hospital in Chertsey, Surrey, where chef Raouf Mansour has transformed the canteen for staff and visitors. After bringing the opera...

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

Sheila Dillon hears the first exclusive readings from a Tudor ‘pamphlet of cheese’ that details the cheesemaking traditions of the 16th century, and reveals how cheese was seen as a nutrient-rich health food - from digestion aid to wound cleaner. Fast-forward to today, and Sheila visits Yorkshire cheesemongers Andy and Kathy Swinscoe to help recreate one of these historic recipes by hand in their...

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

In this second episode from Copenhagen, Sheila Dillon explores why Denmark leads the way in organic food consumption. In 2023, nearly 12% of all food bought in Denmark was organic—one of the highest levels in the world. In the UK, that figure is just 1.5%. But how did Denmark get here? And can the organic movement keep growing as the conversation shifts toward climate concerns and plant-based eati...

Restaurant critic and lifelong Charlton Athletic fan Jimi Famurewa finds out how football clubs are upping their game when it comes to serving food for their fans. He’ll taste the world at AFC Wimbledon’s Food Village, hear how Forest Green Rovers went vegan and discover the secret liquor behind Leyton Orient’s pie and mash. Food writers Jack Peat and Daniel Gray pitch in with their thoughts on a...

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

Bradford is this year’s UK City of Culture - but what does food have to do with it? Sheila Dillon visits the city to meet market traders, chefs and restaurateurs to find out how its industrial past has influenced the thriving food culture of today. She visits Bradford’s St James wholesale market to discover how the Asian restaurant trade has been integral to the market’s survival, before eating br...

Sheila Dillon joins diners eating together in Manchester and Copenhagen, and hears why some think we should be making more time in the UK for eating communally. During World War II, British Restaurants provided nutritious, affordable meals across the UK. Endorsed by Winston Churchill, they ensured good food was accessible to all. Now, some believe this model should return. Professor Bryce Evans fr...

Two of the country's largest wholesale markets are on the brink of closure. The City of London Corporation has decided to shut the historic meat market at Smithfield and the fish market at Billingsgate, bringing to an end centuries of food history. Sheila Dillon is given a tour of Smithfield market by the historian Matthew Green who describes how Smithfield features in the work of Charles Dickens...

It's a term used by the smallest farmers and the world's biggest food businesses. But what does 'regenerative agriculture' mean? Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.

Sheila Dillon revisits the idea of our grannies’ cooking and how it shapes us, hearing from listeners who sent in their own stories. Why does learning to cook from your granny seem to be such a powerful experience? What about those grannies who leapt at the chance technology offered to escape the endless cycle of cooking from scratch? And – for those of us who feel we’re relying too much on proces...

It's 2025, and the same old questions are still being asked about food and health—how do we get people eating better, reduce obesity, improve health, and ease pressure on the NHS? Despite decades of policies and campaigns, the challenge remains. In this episode, Sheila Dillon is joined in the studio by three people whose work is dedicated to finding answers: Dr Dolly Van Tulleken, a visiting resea...

What's behind the rise and rise of low alcohol and alcohol free drinks? The sector grew by a quarter last year alone, fuelled by our changing relationship with alcohol. More than fifteen million people are thought to have considered taking part in Dry January this year and younger drinkers in particular are turning away from alcohol and embracing alcohol-free versions of beer, wine and spirits or...

Want to lose weight? How much can you achieve through exercise? Dan Saladino investigates with the help of Mike Keen, a chef and Arctic explorer. Mike has had numerous adventures in Greenland, including kayaking thousands of miles, and sometimes doing nothing at all. What happened to his weight on this trips has left him puzzled. They enlist the help three experts, Chris Van Tulleken, author of Ul...

Emulsifiers are among the most common food additives found in ultra-processed foods (UPFs), a much-discussed category of foods commonly defined as those made using manufactured ingredients. They are often packaged and have a long shelf life. Research examining the impact of diets high in UPFs suggests higher rates of obesity and diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. However,...

How will Artificial Intelligence (AI) transform the food industry? Experts say it's already having an effect - whether through self-service checkouts or the algorithms that determine which recipes you see online or the way supermarkets are using it to predict the next big food trend. Jaega Wise heads to the Waitrose Headquarters in Berkshire to find out how their product development team is using...

In the year 2000 there were barely any food banks in the UK but today there are nearly three thousand. So what's behind the sharp rise and how did it get to a point where the government says we have "a mass dependence" on food banks? In this episode Jaega Wise tells the story of the food bank. She hears from those using the Bristol North West food bank. They talk openly about how the food bank hel...

Dan Saladino explores the impact a Christmas Carol and other Charles Dickens novels have had on festive eating, with food historian Ivan Day and food writer Penelope Vogler. Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.

Christmas is a time for giving, and for many charities, that often means food. Jaega Wise explores the tradition and looks into the planning that goes into festive food donations. Food historian Carwyn Graves explains how the custom of giving food at Christmas has evolved over the centuries, and why the season inspires so many to give back to their communities. In Aberdare, we meet the team behind...

Restaurant businesses say it's getting tougher to survive? So what does it take to thrive? Dan Saladino speaks to leading chefs, some successful, others less so. Featuring Mark Hix, Cyrus Todiwala, Imogen and Kieron Waite, Julian Dunkerton, Simon Rogan and Hugh Corcoran. Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.

Join Sheila Dillon at the Old Fruitmarket in Glasgow for the BBC Food and Farming Awards 2024. The awards honour those who have done most to promote the cause of good food and drink. Our judging panel this year is chaired by chef and broadcaster Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Presented by Sheila Dillon and produced by Robin Markwell for BBC Audio in Bristol.

Sheila Dillon explores how our grannies' cooking can shape who we are—and asks what we lose if we let go of those traditions. Guests include: Vicky Bennison, founder of YouTube channel Pasta Grannies. Food Writer Clare Finney, and her Grandma Joan Fox. Chet Sharma, chef patron of Bibi, a restaurant named in honour of his grandmothers. Dr Fiona Lavelle from Kings College London, who is researching...

Whether it's Turkish Delight, chocolate cake or ginger beer - some of our earliest food memories are shaped by the books we read. In this episode Sheila Dillon goes down the rabbit-hole of children's fiction to discover why young readers find descriptions of food so compelling. She hears from bestselling children's author Katherine Rundell who insists on eating the food she features in her books....

Five seafood species make up 80% of what is consumed in the UK – while at the same time the vast majority of what is caught in UK waters gets exported. But is that trend beginning to shift? In this episode, Sheila Dillon hears how initiatives like the "Plymouth Fishfinger" are hoping to make more use of fish that has often been seen as ‘by-catch’, and how seafood festivals are working to connect t...