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Episodes from The Food Programme

The Food Innovators: 2026

The Food Innovators: 2026

Dan Saladino reports on big ideas from the food world, ranging from a farming system that produces a climate friendly rice to a fermented yeast that releases an oil and could help prevent deforestation. The innovations are being recognised by the judges of this year's BBC Food and Farming Awards…

Oct 9, 2026•41 min
The Cost of Food

The Cost of Food

Sheila Dillon is joined by a panel at Abergavenny Food Festival to ask - why is food costing so much more than it used to, and what would it take to build a food system that works better for everyone?Food prices in the UK have risen dramatically in recent years, while healthier food remains out of…

Oct 2, 2026•42 min
The BBC Food and Farming Awards 2026: The Food Producers

The BBC Food and Farming Awards 2026: The Food Producers

Each year The BBC Food & Farming Awards celebrates food producers who are going above and beyond to create delicious and sustainable food. They are examples of how food can be a force for good, improving our local areas, health and environment. In this programme judges Sheila Dillon and Paula…

Sep 25, 2026•41 min
Stories of Food and Poverty

Stories of Food and Poverty

Dan Saladino visits the annual Oxford Food Symposium and explores its theme of 'poverty food'.Stories told at the event ranged from the historic links between breadfruit and the slave trade and the cooking demos organised for the poorest families in Edwardian London. We also hear about the oldest…

Sep 18, 2026•41 min
What the Normans Did for Our Diet

What the Normans Did for Our Diet

On BBC Radio 4 we’re marking the arrival of the Bayeux Tapestry in London by exploring the impact of the Norman invasion. In this programme, food historian Dr Annie Gray travels to Normandy to investigate how the Norman Conquest changed what we eat and drink.The Normans crossed the English Channel…

Sep 10, 2026•42 min
A Day in the Life of a School Catering Manager

A Day in the Life of a School Catering Manager

School food is back in the spotlight, and as governments across the UK look to improve what children eat, what does it actually take to change a school meals service?Jaega Wise spends a day with Andrew Cowan, Catering Manager at Bury Council, whose team serves around 10,000 meals a day across more…

Sep 4, 2026•42 min
Fork and Knife

Fork and Knife

"One day we will eat with a knife and fork."As they were growing up, it's a phrase Ify Adenuga repeated to her children, including the grime artists Skepta and JME. The saying would later inspire the title of Skepta's 2026 album Fork & Knife, which he has described as being rooted in the immigrant…

Aug 28, 2026•41 min
Taste the World: The Origins of Our Food

Taste the World: The Origins of Our Food

Dan Saladino meets this year's collection of musicians from around the world who are cooking as they perform at the WOMAD festival. What do their dishes reveal about global food history?Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.

Aug 21, 2026•41 min
The Dark Arts of Affinage

The Dark Arts of Affinage

There are many ways to age a cheese so how best to refine its flavours over time? Welcome to the art of affinage - a French term that translates as "refining" a cheese - and a practice that is starting to take off in the UK. Sheila Dillon attends a competition to find the Affineur of the Year and…

Aug 14, 2026•42 min
Eating Octopus

Eating Octopus

Since January 2025, thousands of tonnes of common octopus, usually found in the Mediterranean, have been landed by fisherman off the south coast of England. But it’s still not a regular feature on UK menus. In this episode of the Food Programme, Jaega Wise heads to Brixham fish market to find out…

Aug 7, 2026•42 min
What Happened Next?

What Happened Next?

Leyla Kazim revisits some of The Food Programme's most memorable stories to ask: what happened next? From 500kg of eels stranded in a holding tank in Gloucestershire and English olive oil being pressed in Lincolnshire, to the future of halloumi in Cyprus following an outbreak of Foot and Mouth…

Jul 31, 2026•42 min
Inside the Chocolate Crisis

Inside the Chocolate Crisis

Cacao prices broke all records and then crashed, Dan Saladino explores the fallout for farmers and the chocolate industry with Jack Thompson reporting from the Ivory Coast.Produced and presented by Dan Saladino

Jul 24, 2026•41 min