The Food Chain

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...

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 expl...

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 an...

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...

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...

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 Ag...

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 li...

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. All...

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, heari...

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 av...

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 speci...

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...

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 Int...

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 ‘Hung...

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....

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 th...

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 myt...

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...

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 i...

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 wit...

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...

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...

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...

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, Rac...

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 ente...