The Food Programme

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

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? Ja

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

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 gl

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 -

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 sti

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

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 Coas

How Pistachios Took Over

They’re in your chocolate, your gelato, even your coffee - pistachios seem to be everywhere at the moment - bolstered by the craze for Dubai Chocolate. In this episode Le

Howzat? The Story of the Cricket Tea

Chef and broadcaster Romy Gill heads to the pavilion to explore cricket's relationship with food. She discovers that the supposedly British institution of the cricket tea

The Weight of the World

Why did obesity become a global problem? Professor of Diet and Population Health Susan Jebb explores a heavy history, our changing relationship with food and reasons for

Could Food Do More in Cancer Care and Prevention?

Fifteen years after her cancer diagnosis, Sheila Dillon asks what role food could play in cancer treatment, prevention and recovery - and why it is still so often overloo

Food on the Move

Sheila Dillon heads out on the highway to investigate the world of food at motorway service stations. Historically they have been a place viewed as a functional stop-off

Inside England’s School Food Shake‑Up

Sheila Dillon looks at the plans to overhaul England’s school food standards, from cutting back on fried food, puddings and processed meat to serving more fruit and veg.

The Price of Food

The food industry is predicting double digit inflation and are calling on the Government to act. Dan Saladino asks what lies behind the gloomy forecast, who will be most

The BBC Food & Farming Awards 2026 Launch: Belfast here we come

The BBC Food & Farming Awards come from Belfast this year. Jaega Wise heads to the Balmoral Show, the largest agri-food show in Northern Ireland, to find out what makes t

The future of our fruit and veg

Sheila Dillon visits fruit and veg growers across the country to ask what should the government put in its landmark plan to grow more in the UK. With war in the Middle

K-Food

Hallyu - the Korean Wave - is taking over. With dramas and films like Squid Game and K-Pop Demon Hunters topping the Netflix charts, K-beauty products filling TikTok feed

Food Stories of Roots and Roads

Dan Saladino reports from Parabere Forum, a gathering of food storytellers, featuring Olia Hercules on the Ukrainian cooks who inspired her, indigenous Australian chef Mi

A Life Through Food: Matt Tebbutt

Jaega Wise meets chef and broadcaster Matt Tebbutt at home in South Wales, to discuss his "Life Through Food". Matt has been presenting Saturday Kitchen Life on BBC One f