The Food Programme

Sheila Dillon explores the issue of advertising junk food to children, and how companies have changed their marketing since the banning of the showing of food advertisements during children's television programmes four years ago.

Honey, prized since ancient times, is today shipped all over the planet. It is used as a pure foodstuff, a sweetening agent, in food manufacturing as well as in pharmaceuticals and more. In this edition of The Food Programme, Sheila Dillon looks at the business of honey. The story starts in rural Oxfordshire, where Rich Ward goes on a production site tour with Patrick Robinson - factory manager at...

Across the UK, people are going hungry and not getting enough of the foods that they need. Every week, new food banks - where food is given out for free to those in need - are opening their doors, and established food banks are reporting a sharp rise in demand. In this edition of The Food Programme, Simon Parkes looks at food banks and asks if this is the only way. The Trussell Trust is a charity...

Simon Parkes tells the story and legacy of the legendary and maverick chef George Perry-Smith. In 1952 he opened The Hole in the Wall restaurant in Bath. He had no formal training, took inspiration from domestic cook books and changed the British restaurant scene forever. Producer: Dan Saladino.

A special edition with Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen looking at the history of kitchen designs and the designers who have influenced the most important space in our homes. Producer: Maggie Ayre.

In a series looking at the people who've changed the way we eat, The Food Programme profiles the campaigner and cheese expert Major Patrick Rance. In the 1950s he set up a shop which offered a rare sight: row after row of British cheeses. By promoting and selling farmhouse cheeses he saved many from extinction. Later in the 1980s he became a prolific writer publishing The Great British Cheese Book...

The Food Programme looks at Scotland's first ever national food policy, introduced by the SNP, to try and join up every aspect of food production and health in the country. Presented by Sheila Dillon. Producer: Maggie Ayre.

Sheila Dillon looks back at the life of Mario Cassandro - the man who helped re-invent the restaurant in Britain. Together with his business partner, Franco Lagattolla, Mario Cassandro helped make dining out in 1960s Britain a far more fun, informal and gastronomically pleasing experience. A former waiter from Naples he created Soho's Terrazza Restaurant. As well as attracting the like of Frank Si...

Yeasts, mysterious members of the fungi kingdom, are an essential part of our food production. They play a critical role in baking, brewing, wine-making and much more. Dr Bill Simpson is the Managing Director of a company in Leatherhead that has hundreds of samples of yeasts, old and new, frozen in liquid nitrogen. By preserving different yeasts from around the world his team are able to recreate...

Sheila Dillon follows two schools as they attempt to transform the way their pupils eat.

Sheila Dillon investigates how emergency foods are made for disasters, droughts and wars. Companies developing meals for the crisis in the Horn of Africa explain their latest work. Sheila also visits one of the biggest emergency food hubs in the world, The United Nations' World Food Programme base in Brindisi in Southern Italy. From one warehouse, food for hundreds of thousands of people can be st...

Sheila Dillon investigates the issue of trans-fats in our food, and asks whether a voluntary agreement by the food industry to eliminate them by the end of the year is enough to prevent the kind of health problems associated with a diet heavy in industrial cooking fats.

Ben Weatherall farms rare Blackface sheep and Galloway cattle on his remote hill farm near Dumfries, and aims to rear his animals with as little input as possible. He's one of a number of people working to keep food traditions alive in the Scottish Borders. Following the River Nith downhill, as the animals will be doing later in the year, Sheila Dillon also meets Jim Henderson who has overseen the...

Food writer Tim Hayward investigates a new wave of food entrepreneurship started by professionals seeking a second career or life change, often due to redundancy. Can the food industry sustain this new creative bubble?

Cornish based chef Sanjay Kumar goes on a cooking mission to Italy to save the Cornish sardine. The pilchard and its young offspring the sardine used to be the basis of a thriving fishing and processing industry in Cornwall. In the late 19th century nearly 20 thousand tonnes of sardine was caught, salted, packed and sent to northern Italy where it was highly prized. By the end of the 20th century...

Since the National Trust began its campaign put food towards the top of its agenda, how far have its efforts to change the way we think about food progressed?

The burger is one of the world's most popular foods and it made meat eating affordable for millions, but it also became the food that symbolised many of the failings of the world's modern food system. Sheila Dillon looks at a new attempt to revive its reputation as a quality food. This new "burger scene" where immense care is taken with sourcing the meat and using the right cuts, reflects not only...

The Food Programme investigates whether the Great British food renaissance is over. With food prices rising and consumer confidence falling, has the UK's good food bubble burst? Sheila Dillon visits the Real Food Festival at Earls Court in London. It is a showcase for producers of fine food, and so a perfect indicator of how premium food products and sales are faring in the current economic downtu...

Sheila Dillon reveals the secrets behind some of the world's great vinegars. Traditionally, the home of balsamic vinegar is Modena in Italy. But now there is a new breed of British producers who are turning their hands to making this viscous dark brown condiment, as well as others who are producing a sumptuous array of fruit vinegars. Sheila Dillon hears from the producers, both in Italy and in th...

With coffee prices at a 30 year high Sheila Dillon traces the money we pay for a cup along the supply chain and also hears how it raises big questions for Fairtrade. Recently the price for coffee on the world market broke through the important $3.00 barrier. Just a few years ago prices were as low as 60 cents. Speculation from investors is one reason, but other factors like growing demand for coff...

Investigating every aspect of the food we eat. Presented by Sheila Dillon. Produced by Rebecca Moore.

Simon Parkes explores the connection between Royal wedding banquets and British food. From historic feasts with hundreds of lavish dishes, to present day 'austerity'. A visit to the Tudor kitchens of Hampton Court palace reveals the scale and grandeur of wedding feasts of the past. Power, wealth and their display was all-important, and food was a central part of this. Huge marzipan sculptures, mod...

Margate's Food Stories - Pie Days and Holidays. The Food Programme follows Sophie Herxheimer an artist who collects and draws food stories. For four months she has been travelling around the seaside town of Margate in the south east to bring people's food memories to life through art. Her aim is to create an exhibition and a book to celebrate the people of the town and give them an opportunity to...

Borough Market, in south east London has been, and is, a food phenomenon. It took off in the 1990s, riding in the wake of the BSE outbreak that had led to a new interest in the source of our food. As it developed it looked as though a few seedy acres on the south bank of the Thames were going to give us, for the first time in decades, a market as good as the very best in France, Spain or Italy. An...

Sheila Dillon looks at the role of food producers and farmers in combating the Sicilian mafia. The Sicilian "Cosa Nostra" emerged around the citrus groves of Palermo in the 19th century as control of farming and food production fell into the hands of estate managers and middle men. From that time the influence of the mafia over food production and distribution on the island has been extensive. In...