The Food Programme

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 the public with local seafood, and can even help regenerate coastal communities.

She also hears how the Fish in Schools Hero programme is working to get young people to try more seafood, and shows how simple it can be to prepare.

Also featured are Ashley Mullenger (@thefemalefisherman) and tv chef and campaigner Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

Presented by Sheila Dillon

Peter Frankopan, the author of Silk Roads and Earth Transformed, shares his insights with Dan Saladino on food, history and questions for our future.

Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.

In this exploration of backstage food, Jaega Wise meets actors and musicians to find out how they eat to fuel their performance.

Presented by Jaega Wise and produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Tory Pope.

From the indigenous food of the USA to extraordinary cheeses from Ukraine, the wonders of fermentation to a revolutionary network of bakers, Dan Saladino shares stories of food and biodiversity at Slow Food's global gathering, Terra Madre.

Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.

Leyla Kazim explores how neurodivergence can affect the way people eat and experience food.

The programme visits Aubergine Café in Cardiff, which is owned and run by autistic individuals, to meet the staff who explain why the café is needed and how it provides a better workplace for neurodivergent people.

Leyla also speaks to expert dietitian David Rex, who supports children with autism facing eating challenges. She meets the parents of one of his patients, a four-year-old girl recently diagnosed with ARFID (Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder). David explains the role of "safe foods" and how they can both aid and complicate recovery.

At The Holmewood School in north London, a specialist school for neurodivergent children, teachers and students share with Leyla how their new food technology kitchen is transforming some children's relationship with food, while also building skills and pride.

And renowned chef Heston Blumenthal, owner of The Fat Duck restaurant, discusses his own experiences with ADHD and bipolar disorder.

The programme also features:

Kate Tchanturia, a professor of psychology in eating disorders at King's College London, who developed the PEACE pathway to support autistic people with anorexia.

Lucinda Miller, clinical lead at NatureDoc and author of Brain Brilliance, a book of recipes and guidance for parents of neurodivergent children.

Leanne Maskell, founder of ADHD Works, a company providing ADHD coaching.

Presented by Leyla Kazim

Jaega Wise travels the country to meet the three finalists in the Drinks Producer category in this year's BBC Food and Farming Awards.

Her journey takes her to Belfast and the Bullhouse Brewery which began life in a farm shed. Now thriving in an industrial estate, head brewer Will Mayne talks about his frustrations with the current alcohol licensing system in Northern Ireland which he says made it hard for him to open a pub and sell his beer. The controversial "Surrender Principle" means there's a cap on the number of issued pub licences which can be sold for one hundred thousand pounds each. Jaega also hears from Colin Neill - the chief executive of the trade body Hospitality Ulster - who believes the current system keeps standards high in pubs and does work for publicans.

Then it's on to East Sussex and the producers of a fermented milk drink nicknamed "the champagne of dairy". Ki-Kefir was co-founded by Sam Murphy who started off making kefir in her London kitchen. It proved so popular with friends and family that she linked up with a dairy farm when she moved to the countryside to expand her production. She shows Jaega how kefir is made and discusses its potential health benefits.

Lastly, Jaega travels to Scotland to see the country's oldest working distillery. The Glenturret Distillery in Crieff has been producing whisky since 1763, with a short break during the years of Prohibition. Distillery manager Ian Renwick hosts a tour and uncorks some 15-year old whisky in the tasting room.

Jaega also mulls over the shortlisted three with the drinks journalist Olly Smith in a whisky bar in London.

Presented by Jaega Wise

Dan Saladino looks at 10 potentially planet changing ideas for the future of food, from a farm out at sea to a pioneering rethink on how we can feed cities. Dan meets the scientists, entrepreneurs and risk-takers focused on transforming the health of the planet, and us.

Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.

Why does food do our heads in?

This episode is a panel recording from 2024 Abergavenny Food Festival with a live audience.

Sheila Dillon is joined by Chef Heston Blumenthal, who recently went public about his diagnosis of bi-polar, and having ADHD (Attention Deficit hyperactivity disorder); chartered psychologist Kimberley Wilson, the author of "Unprocessed: How the Food We Eat is Fuelling Our Mental Health Crisis"; Natalie Hackett the Headteacher of New Lubbesthorpe Primary School in Leicestershire who was crowned School Leader Food Hero of 2024, at the Jamie Oliver School Food Awards; and Dr Ally Jaffee, co-founder of Nutritank, an organisation set up to make sure that future doctors learned that food, along with exercise, is central to health. Dr Jaffee is now a resident doctor specialising in psychiatry.

The discussion focussed on the known connections between food and mental health, from childhood through to old age.

Presented by Sheila Dillon

Leyla Kazim traces the journey of this unassuming wonder food, from its health benefits to its origins.

Nuts, which once would have been central to the diet of our ancestors, are now often treated as a nice-to-have health choice. It’s a food we need to reconnect with, and to do so, we can learn from both the latest science and other food cultures.

Leyla hears from Professor Sarah Berry of King’s College London, who has studied how the form in which we eat nuts - whole, ground, in butters or milks - affects how much of their benefits we receive. Swapping nuts for your daily snack, however you eat them, could help reduce cholesterol and blood pressure, as Sarah explains.

As health benefit messages around nuts take off, there has been a huge boom in demand. But what’s the impact of this on the world’s nut farmers, traders and environment? Without much origin information provided on nut packs, Leyla sets off to find some answers of her own. And her journey takes her across the world: from cashew plantations in west Africa, processing plants in south East Asia, markets in Turkey and walnut orchards in Kent. Not to mention a little diversion into California’s organised crime rings. Because there is another story here about how high demand has a price.

She spends a day with Charlie Tebbutt, founder of Food & Forest and one of the only companies to be actively selling British-grown nuts. Charlie also buys direct from other growers around the world, who are using a sustainable farming system called agroforestry, to preserve water, improve soil and diversify their income. Charlie is about to open a first-of-its-kind processing facility in Bermondsey, south London, where he hopes to de-shell and process British-grown hazelnuts in way that improves quality and allows the industry to scale up. Leyla visits his walnut orchards in Kent to ask: could British nuts ever replace imports?

If we’re trying to eat more nuts, there is also much to be learned from other countries. Specifically Turkey, where nuts are revered as a cornerstone of the cuisine and food culture. Leyla meets Turkish food writer and chef Ozlem Warren in her local Turkish supermarket, to reminisce over the Turkish 'green emerald' pistachios, green almonds and fresh walnuts, which are enjoyed by Turks in sweet or savoury dishes, at celebrations or indeed, at any other time of day.

Presented by Leyla Kazim and produced by Nina Pullman for BBC Audio in Bristol.

Dan Saladino visits a unique collection of sourdough bread starters from around the world and explores a hidden world of grains, yeasts, bacteria and their influence on our health.

Produced and presented by Dan Saladino