The Food Programme

BBC Radio 4
The Food Programme

Investigating every aspect of the food we eat

  1. 18 OCT

    Eating on the Spectrum

    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 Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Natalie Donovan

    43 min
  2. 11 OCT

    The Champagne of Dairy and other drinks

    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 Produced by Sam Grist and Robin Markwell Archive Clip from Saturday Kitchen on BBC1 from 14th Sept, produced by Cactus TV.

    41 min
  3. 20 SEPT

    Nuts about Nuts

    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.

    42 min

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Investigating every aspect of the food we eat

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