The Food Chain

When the only road into her town was blocked by a landslide, documentary filmmaker Suzanne Crocker was shocked by how quickly supermarket shelves went bare. It set her mind racing; would her remote Canadian town - just 300km from the Arctic circle - be capable of sustaining itself? She decided to undertake a radical experiment: an entire year of eating 100% local. Emily Thomas hears how she grew,...

The influential Israeli-born, UK-based chef tells his life story through some of his most memorable dishes. Often credited with bringing Middle Eastern food into the mainstream in the UK, he now has a string of restaurants and delicatessens behind him, along with several best-selling cookbooks, but he was a late starter in the kitchen - almost pursuing a career in philosophy instead. He tells Emil...

Many of us love cookbooks. For some, they are a useful tool, and for others a source of inspiration. But then there are those for whom they are a whole lot more. Emily Thomas meets two people who are obsessed with cookbooks, collecting thousands of copies, and building emotional connections with each of them. Irish food writer Diana Henry explains how books can become soulmates, and Californian ch...

What is it about garlic that wards off the evil eye? Why is rice sometimes thrown over the happy couple at a wedding? The way we grow, eat and use certain foods is said to bring us luck - good or bad - but why do we imbue them with these mystical powers, and why do these beliefs persist? Tamasin Ford explores some of the most common and also unusual food superstitions practiced around the world. P...

Coronavirus shutdowns have seen many more people step into the kitchen to cook for themselves this year. Whilst some have boasted about the joy, comfort and delectable dishes they’ve discovered, it was the food failures that really went viral. Three amateur cooks tell Tamasin Ford about their epic kitchen catastrophes and the valuable lessons failure taught them about food, and themselves. Produce...

Almost ten years ago, chef Joshna Maharaj walked into a hospital kitchen and was horrified by what she saw. Since then she’s been leading a movement to change what patients eat. But it’s not easy to make large cash-strapped public institutions up their food game, nor to win over cooks whose culinary skills have been reduced to opening packets. Joshna tells Emily Thomas the story behind her new boo...

Only three countries still hunt whales commercially. They do it despite little demand for whale meat and sometimes fierce international condemnation. So why do they continue? Emily Thomas finds out why Norway, Japan and Iceland still kill whales for their meat and discovers that tradition, culture and a strong sense of national identity can outweigh all of these factors. She hears why aggressive i...

Selassie Atadika spent a decade working for the UN in some of the world’s most volatile regions, and it led to a realisation - that food has an essential role to play in rebuilding economies and bringing communities together. The Ghanaian chef is now on a mission to revive many of Africa’s lost or forgotten foods, and make the rest of the world sit up and take notice. She tells Emily Thomas how, a...

Is there ever a good time to open a restaurant? Surely, during a global pandemic isn’t one of them? As coronavirus rips through communities around the globe, lockdowns are forcing tens of thousands of restaurants to close their doors. Tamasin Ford meets the entrepreneurs who are doing the opposite. We hear how a West African restaurant in London and a Chinese restaurant in LA are managing their op...

Mealtimes with small children, whether they are your own or someone else's, can be a far from relaxing experience. Dinner with a toddler can be a wild affair, leaving the adults around the table exhausted. Is this a key part of a child’s learning, or should we get in quick and teach table manners in the high chair? How can a parent banish mealtime battles and turn a child into a dream dinner compa...

Four years ago some of the biggest electoral shifts in the US were seen in the north-central state of Wisconsin. It was one of the swing states that decided that election. And it could be again. This week Emily Thomas hears the stories of two farmers who live and work in this key battleground region. How much have Donald Trump's trade wars with China, Canada and Mexico challenged a traditionally R...

Presidential campaigns are all about connecting with voters, and Donald Trump and Joe Biden have both been using food to do it. Emily Thomas hears how they’ve targeted food brands, food media and even food influencers to help bolster their image, promote their policies, and reach new audiences. But the deep cultural connections that come with food can make it a risky policy - eating the wrong thin...

Does it feel uncomfortable calling someone fat because we think there is something bad about fatness? And if so - does that come from a concern about health, or is it something more insidious? Emily Thomas examines how society sees fatness - exploring the idea that we live in an inherently fat-phobic world. We hear from those who say viewing fatness as a health problem alone, obscures some uncomfo...

Some thought Covid-19 would give our planet a breather while many of our movements and industries were restricted, but there are worrying signs that in some parts of the world exactly the opposite is happening. Emily Thomas finds out how the pandemic has left many people hungry, desperate, and turning to rainforests and wild animals to feed themselves, whilst for others there's growing evidence th...

Emily Thomas asks whether the coronavirus pandemic will turn out to be the defining moment in the fight against obesity. Will we see governments take radical action, now that the pandemic has turned the spotlight on this growing global problem? And why hasn’t the pandemic made most of us eat more healthily? Even experts have been surprised by just how strong an impact obesity has been found to hav...

Preppers have been preparing for a global emergency like coronavirus for years, stocking up supplies just in case society was ever brought to a standstill. So when our food systems began to buckle under the pressure of the pandemic, were they sitting pretty, and has this much ridiculed community now been vindicated? Emily Thomas revisits some preppers she first met three years ago to see how they’...

Following the Beirut explosion, we’re exploring the chemical that caused the blast - ammonium nitrate. It’s something many of us will have come across before, it’s in some of our antibiotics and used to feed yeast but it’s most commonly sold as a fertiliser. Graihagh Jackson examines how this substance has changed the world - feeding millions on the one hand, and fuelling warfare, pollution and bi...

She was born into one of the most prominent and wealthy families in the Philippines, but life has not been easy for Margarita Forés. She was forced to flee her country during President Ferdinand Marcos’ military dictatorship, she battled bulimia as a young woman and has overcome cancer twice. She tells Graihagh Jackson how cooking has helped her cope with some of her toughest challenges, offered a...

After decades of racism, persecution and forced assimilation, Native Americans had lost many of their traditional foods and recipes. Award-winning chef Sean Sherman has made it his life’s mission to bring them back from the brink of extinction. He tells Graihagh Jackson about a “feral” childhood spent on a vast reservation in South Dakota, USA, and how his impoverished community was forced to rely...

When a misguided halloween costume resurfaced on social media in June - no one could have predicted the events that ensued. It ignited a twitter storm about racism in food writing and led ultimately to the resignation of two food editors at major US publications. Graihagh Jackson hears from the whistleblower at the centre of the controversy and from critics of mainstream food media, who say myopic...

Meatpacking plants around the world are quickly becoming hotspots for Coronavirus outbreaks. In many rural parts of the United States, meat processing factories have now become the main source of Covid-19 infections. But why are other food factories not experiencing the same problem? And why is the US so adversely affected? Tamasin Ford takes a look at the unique conditions at meat processing fact...

Money, time, and healthy choices can make mealtimes a challenge for many parents, but how do things change when sole responsibility falls on one adult's shoulders? In some parts of the world single parent families are now more common than ever before, but how does being a single parent influence your relationship with food, and also your child's? Tamasin Ford speaks to three lone-parents about the...

Abandoned by her biological mother at six months old, a victim of sexual harassment and discrimination in the kitchen, and a recent breast cancer survivor – Dominique Crenn has faced her fair share of battles. The award-winning chef, author and campaigner – not to mention the first woman in the US to win three Michelin stars – tells Graihagh Jackson how sheer determination and a desire to make a d...

It’s something many of us intuitively believe - certain foods have the power to make us feel better. But what’s the science behind this, why do we crave certain dishes, and do they provide solace for everyone? Graihagh Jackson explores what’s really happening when we turn to food for a pick-me-up: psychologist Shira Gabriel explains these foods’ links to memory and social connection; and psychiatr...

When Asma Khan was born it was said her mother cried, but not tears of joy. As a second daughter born in 1960s India, Asma felt she was a disappointment, even a burden, because she could not inherit and would cost her family a fortune in dowries. But she went on to defy those low expectations and open one of London’s most sought-after restaurants. Asma tells us how she could barely boil an egg whe...