The Food Chain

Aeroplane food doesn’t have the greatest reputation. Though it might be easy to blame an airline for serving lacklustre meals, the problem is more complex. Ruth Alexander discovers how the physics of flying wreaks havoc on our senses, the extraordinary lengths airlines have gone to try to dress up their food offering, and what it’s like to be the one serving you at your seat. And, she asks, will it ever be possible for all passengers to enjoy a tasty and nourishing meal in the air? Culinary historian, Richard Foss, chef-patron of Kitchen Theory, Jozef Youssef, and flight attendant, Kaylie Kay, join her for the ride. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected](Picture: Child wearing headphones, eating food on board a plane. Credit: Getty/BBC)Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

Many chefs reach global status, with international demand for their latest book. Spare a thought for the translators, tasked with making their recipes accessible across barriers of language, culture and cuisine. Translating a recipe isn’t as simple as getting the dictionary out, you need to understand the different terminology and ingredients used in each country, whilst staying true to the original dish. We speak to Rosa Llopis, a Spanish translator who specialises in gastronomy and has translated a number of cookbooks. Cristina Cigognini is an Italian translator who usually specialises in literary translation of novels, but brought her skills to two cook books published by the chef Yotam Ottolenghi. Nawal Nasrallah is an Iraqi living in the US who translates medieval Arabic food texts, bringing those historic recipes to new audiences. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email [email protected]. Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup.

As Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II marks 70 years on the throne, we find out how you get a royal warrant. It’s an official seal of approval granted to the suppliers of goods and services to the Royal household. In London we visit one of Britain’s oldest cheese shops, Paxton & Whitfield, established in 1797. Managing director James Rutter tells us about the royal warrants the business has held since Queen Victoria was on the throne. We also visit Windsor, home to Windsor Castle one of the Queen’s many properties and Windsor & Eton brewery, which was awarded a royal warrant in 2018. Owner Will Calvert tells us what it takes to get this royal recognition. Royal Warrant holders can’t tell you much about what the royal household buys or likes, we try to fill in the gaps with royal and social historian Caroline Aston, features writer for Majesty Magazine. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected] Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup.

What do writers eat to stoke their creative fires? George Orwell is said to have had a penchant for plum pudding, while Agatha Christie was partial to sipping cream while at the typewriter. Food is fuel for an author but also serves as inspiration; often finding its way on to the page. In this episode of The Food Chain, Ruth Alexander speaks to novelists Avni Doshi and Abi Dare about their relationship with food and drink and how that influences their writing. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected](Picture: Image of an apple and two bananas on a laptop screen. Credit: Getty/BBC)Producer: Elisabeth Mahy

Thinking about how food passes through your body may not be something that crosses your mind, but for people who have had stoma surgery, they’re aware of it at every meal. Tamasin Ford explores what it’s like to live with a stoma bag and how it redefines your relationship with food. We speak to three women who have had lifesaving operations to have a stoma bag fitted. The surgery tends to involve either the small or large intestine, with a stoma creating an opening on the skin of the abdomen to bypass the normal digestion process. Instead digested content is diverted to a pouch, worn on the outside of your body. We find out how they learned to eat again after having surgery, what they're doing to fight the stigma around stomas, and how they’re embracing their new lives with stoma bags. Joining us are Aisha Islam in Saudi Arabia, Alisa Kuivasto in Finland and Gill Castle in the United Kingdom. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected] (Picture: Woman with stoma bag. Credit: Getty/BBC) Producer: Sarah Stolarz Presenter: Tamasin Ford

Wheat is one of the most important grains worldwide: you’ll find it in bread, biscuits, pasta, sauces, sweets and more besides. Indeed, take wheat products off supermarket shelves and they would look rather bare. But recent global events – not least the war in Ukraine - have caused crop prices to soar. Ruth Alexander charts how a humble grass grown in the Fertile Crescent became a commodity traded worldwide, and she explores whether we have become too reliant on this “mega crop” for our food supplies – and what alternatives there might be. She talks to Cathy Zabinski, professor of plant and soil ecology at Montana State University, US; Frank Uekotter, professor of environmental humanities at the University of Birmingham, UK; and Augustine Sensie Bangura, CEO of Sierra Agri Foods, Sierra Leone.If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected](Picture: An ear of wheat blowing in the wind. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Hot sauce can inspire fervent passion in its devotees. It’s a global obsession that translates to billions of dollars of sales a year. But with so many on the market, how do you create a taste that becomes a global hit? In this programme, Ruth Alexander explores the origin stories of two iconic brands – Sriracha and Lao Gan Ma. How did these sauces - born in humble circumstances in Vietnam and China in the 1980s - come to sit on dining tables around the world today? We explore their extraordinary stories and ask what their popularity tell us about changing global tastes. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected] (Picture: Large red chilli. Credit: Getty/BBC) Producer: Sarah Stolarz Contributors Stephanie Li, blogger and YouTuber at ‘Chinese Cooking Demystified’ Andrea Nguyen, cookbook author and publisher of Vietworldkitchen.com

The man with carefully sculpted six-pack is everywhere: in Hollywood action films, on magazine front covers, in your social media feed, on dating apps. And so are the online ads telling you how to get the look. But what does it really take to get a washboard stomach? This week, Ruth Alexander hears from three men about the reality of getting ‘ripped’ and how much of it is down to what you eat. They reveal how deeply the experience can affect your relationship with food, your loved ones and yourself (Picture: Male torso ripped in half. Credit: Getty/BBC) If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected] Producer: Sarah Stolarz Contributors: Graham Isador, writer Florian Gaffet, massage therapist Matthew Todd, author ‘Straight Jacket: Overcoming Society’s Legacy of Gay Shame’

Can the love of eating meat ever get in the way of a relationship? You may have heard the phrase ‘the way to someone’s heart is through their stomach’, but what happens if the foods they eat are wildly different from yours? Tamasin Ford explores what it’s like to date a carnivore. Not just someone who eats meat, but someone who loves meat. Someone who has been brought up to eat meat in every meal. We speak to two couples whose diets can sometimes be the source of their most heated arguments to find out how they navigate meal times and social events. Can tolerance win out over frustration? If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected] (Picture: Steak on a plate. Credit: Getty/BBC) Producer: Sarah Stolarz Contributors: Barbara Friend Molly Savard Charlie Pears-Wallace Joe Deeney

Wine producers say a warming planet can be detected in the glass. The owners of long-established vineyards are having to adapt their methods to preserve the taste of their wines, but experts say change is inevitable and already tangible. Ruth Alexander finds out how climate change is challenging some of the world’s most famous wine regions, while providing opportunities for new producers emerging in the most unlikely places. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected](Picture: woman holding a glass of wine. Credit: Getty/BBC)Contributors: Sally Evans, Chateau George 7, Bordeaux, FranceDr Greg Jones, wine climatologist and CEO of Abacela vineyards and winery in Oregon, United States Bjorn Bergum, Slinde Vineyard, Sognefjord, Norway

As food prices are rising around the world, along with the cost of energy, even people living in some of the world’s wealthiest countries are struggling to manage. In this episode, three UK citizens discuss how difficult it can be to feed a family on a low income. Single parents Sue and Dominic tell of how they have had to skips meals themselves to ensure their children are fed, and how food insecurity has at times left them with feelings of shame. And Kayleigh Maughan, the founder of the charity End Holiday Hunger, explains how the donations she relies on to make up the food parcels she sends to families in need are dwindling as supermarkets and households feel the pressure of the rising cost of living. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected](Picture: hand holding a shopping basket. Credit: Getty/BBC) Contributors: Sue Stalker Dominic Watters Kayleigh Maughan

Imagine a world where going out for dinner virtually - from the comfort of your own sofa - becomes the norm. Whether it sounds appealing or dystopian - there are restaurants, chefs and gamers already out there experimenting with food in virtual worlds. Tamasin Ford speaks to the developer of a ‘foodverse’ that will feature everything from virtual dining and cookbook signing experiences to food-based virtual games and we hear from a large US restaurant chain on why they are playing with their customers in the metaverse. But what does a future of virtual worlds mean for the food industry? Will it be a niche pursuit or an invaluable tool? And could it threaten the existence of restaurants in the real world? (Picture: person wearing VR headset. Credit: Getty/BBC) If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected] Contributors: Supreet Raju: Co-Founder of OneRare Tressie Lieberman: Vice President of Digital Marketing at Chipotle Michelle Evans: Global Lead of Retail and Digital Consumer Insights at Euromonitor International.

Chef Olia Hercules invites us into her London home to reflect on her country’s rich culinary heritage and the power of food in even the darkest of times. She opens her well-stocked kitchen cupboards and fridge to reveal the varied flavours, colours and scents of a cuisine she says is often wrongly dismissed as being ‘beige’ or boring. Ruth Alexander joins Olia and her Russian friend and fellow food writer, Alissa Timoshkina, to discuss the close ties between their nation’s traditional dishes, and the importance of the two women’s own personal friendship. The conversation was recorded on Tuesday 8 March; 12 days into the Russian invasion of Ukraine. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email [email protected] (Picture: Olia Hercules and Alissa Timoshkina. Credit: BBC) Producer: Sarah Stolarz

Slipping drugs or extra alcohol into someone’s drink is a crime, but one that is under-reported and little understood. It’s often thought to take place in bars and nightclubs, but as Ruth Alexander discovers from people who’ve been targeted, it can happen to anyone, at any time. Campaigners explain why myths and misconceptions around drink spiking persist, and we ask what could be done to move the crime out of the shadows and into the open. (Picture: hand holding glass of water. Credit: Getty/BBC) If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected] Producer: Elisabeth Mahy Contributors: Clara George, Miss United Kingdom, and campaigner against drink spiking Dr Lata Gautam, associate professor in forensic science, Anglia Ruskin University, UK Dawn Dines, CEO and founder of Stamp Out Spiking

What is a recipe? A simple question... with many answers. It could be a set of instructions on how to make a dish – but also so much more. Recipes can reveal how we lived in the past, and how we are living today. They are part of our sense of identity, belonging and loss and they are portals we can use to travel to different cultures. This week, Ruth Alexander speaks to three recipe collectors in India, Ghana and the USA to find out why they are preserving their nation’s recipes. What can you learn by documenting these culinary guides? How do you even capture a recipe that has never been written down? And what is at stake if they are lost? (Picture: Cookbook with utensils. Credit: Getty/BBC) If you would like to get in touch with the show please email [email protected] Contributors: Abena Offeh-Gyimah, writer and food entrepreneur, Ghana Megan Elias, cultural historian and director of the Gastronomy programme at University of Boston, USA Muskaan Pal, co-founder, Indian Community Cookbook Project at Flame University in Pune, India

Social media is full of fake news about food. Fad diets, cure-all superfoods, demonised ingredients, made-up health scares – you’re never more than a few clicks away from unreliable nutritional information. In this episode, Ruth Alexander meets two people trying to take on those who peddle the food myths. What is it like getting into an online food fight; can an individual ever hope to change people’s minds; and why would anyone even try? (Picture: Hand holding cream pie on man's face. Credit: Getty/BBC) Producer: Sarah Stolarz Contributors: Dr Joshua Wolrich, NHS doctor, nutritionist and author Erin aka Food Science Babe, chemical engineer and food scientist

It’s estimated that as many as 1 in 7 adults are suffering from constipation at any one time. And yet, talking about the problem is taboo. Ruth Alexander is joined by two experts who want us to be more open about the condition. They say our reluctance to talk about constipation is having an impact on our well-being and creating a costly burden on health services. Find out why a balanced and varied diet will help many people avoid the problem, but not all; and why prunes – a famous remedy – can actually make it worse. Plus, a historian traces how we came to be so reticent about our toilet habits; and how constipation may have had a decisive role at numerous turning points in history. If you would like to get in touch with the show please email [email protected] (Picture: Closed airplane toilet door. Credit: Getty/BBC) Contributors: Anton Emmanuel, University College Hospital London and the National Hospital for Neurology and NeurosurgeryLouise Foxcroft, medical historian and author Miguel Toribio-Mateas, School of Applied Sciences at London South Bank University.

Imagine being able to ‘taste’ every word that comes out of your mouth. Everything you or someone else says provoking something in your brain to kick your taste buds into action. It sounds incredulous, but for a tiny proportion of the world’s population, that is their reality. It’s a neurological phenomenon called synaesthesia, where two or more senses merge. Tamasin Ford meets two sisters from Glasgow, Scotland, who have had the condition for as long as they can remember. They share what it’s like to live with this explosion of taste at every waking moment. But how and why does it happen? We try to unpick the science behind it and take a look at what synaesthesia could tell us about how we experience taste and flavour. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email [email protected] (Picture: Keyboard letters in a soup bowl. Credit:Getty/BBC) Contributors:Julie McDowall and Jennifer McCready Guy Leschziner, author and Professor of neurology and sleep medicine at King's College London.

Can you imagine suddenly finding that it hurts to eat? Or that when you take a bite of your favourite meal you feel nothing? In this episode, we’re talking about something that isn’t much talked about: what happens to your relationship with food when you’ve got cancer. Ruth Alexander is joined by three women who want you to know about a side effect of treatment that they weren’t fully prepared for - the loss of their sense of taste. They share how what is a relatively minor detail, given a devastating diagnosis, nevertheless had a huge effect on their everyday routine, their interactions with family and friends, their sense of self. Hear how they learned to cope and how, out of the depths of this distressing experience, came a new appreciation of the everyday. If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email [email protected] (Picture: Grapefruit with pills coming out of it. Credit: Getty/BBC) Producer: Sarah Stolarz Contributors: Heather McCollum Semira Oguntoyinbo Angharad Underwood

How do you feed a dog? The answer may be more fraught than you had imagined. Should you give them ‘dog food’? Is it a step too far to feed them at the table? And can man’s best friend thrive on a vegetarian diet? we bring together three dog-loving experts from the UK, India and the USA to analyse what dog feeding reveals about our relationship with animals and even our own relationship with food. Be prepared to hear some surprises, some empowering advice and maybe some uncomfortable home truths. And even if you don’t have a dog, you may get some ideas that you can apply to your own life. If you would like to get in touch with the show please email [email protected](Picture: dogs licks lips. Credit: Getty/BBC)Presenter: Ruth Alexander Producer: Sarah Stolarz Contributors: Shirin Merchant, dog trainer and behaviourist in Mumbai, India Louise Glazebrook, dog trainer and behaviourist in London, UK Marc Bekoff, professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado Boulder, USA

A lack of sleep might leave us tired, but it can also have a major impact on what we eat, and our health. Ruth Alexander explores the surprising relationship between diet and a poor night’s rest, and learns that it’s not just what we’re eating, but when: we hear about the perils of consuming calories late into the evening or, even worse, overnight. But it’s not all bad news: there’s growing research into the idea that we might be able to improve our sleep quality by tweaking our diets. If you would like to get in touch with the show please email [email protected]: Simon Tulett Contributors: Tania Whalen, fire brigade despatcher, Melbourne, Australia; Matthew Walker, University of California, Berkeley, USA; Maxine Bonham, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia; Marie-Pierre St-Onge, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, USA.(Picture: A young girl asleep on a plate of spaghetti. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Caffeine is a key ingredient in some of our favourite foods and drinks, but it’s also a mind-altering drug that can be very tricky to quit. Tamasin Ford meets three people who’ve tried to cut caffeine out of their lives by eliminating some of its main sources from their diets - coffee, tea and chocolate. We hear about some uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms, social awkwardness, and the struggle to adapt to life without a caffeine high. How long did they stay caffeine-free? If you would like to get in touch with the show please email [email protected]: Simon Tulett and Sarah StolarzContributors: Petteri Rantamäki, business software professional, Helsinki, Finland; Abigail James, aesthetician and author, London, UK; John Horgan, science journalist, New York, USA.(Picture: A young woman holding a cup of coffee. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

In this final episode of 2021, we're revisiting some of the most powerful food stories from the pandemic. Following widespread restaurant closures and labour shortages across the hospitality sector, we catch up with a New York chef who is forging a new path. And what about those people who thanks to Covid-19 can’t even smell or taste their food anymore? We’ll be finding out whether this leading symptom of the virus is now better understood. Plus, how is one of the world’s newest emojis – the arepa flatbread - faring, one year on? (Picture: Drawing of sweet being unwrapped. Credit: BBC/Getty) If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email [email protected] Contributors: Amanda Cohen, Chef and owner, Dirt Candy restaurant New York Chrissi Kelly, founder, smell and taste loss charity AbScent Sebastian Delmont, software developer and co-creator of the arepa emoji

World War Two rationing imposed severe restrictions on food, so why would anyone voluntarily go back to it? Ruth Alexander meets three women who chose to adopt the diet endured in 1940s and 1950s Britain, one of them for an entire year. We hear how such scarcity inspired creativity, a reverence for the ingenuity of wartime cooks, and an enduring change of perspective on the responsibility of the 21st century food consumer. If you would like to get in touch with the show please email [email protected]: Simon TulettContributors: Karen Burns-Booth, food writer - www.lavenderandlovage.com/category/recipes/general-recipes/wartime-recipes Claud Fullwood, author of The Rations Challenge: Forty Days of Feasting in a Wartime Kitchen Carolyn Ekins, blogger - https://the1940sexperiment.com(Picture: Basket of food rations on display at the Imperial War Museum, London, in 2011. Credit: Paul Kerley/BBC)

What dish says Christmas to you - roast turkey, goat? Carp perhaps? What about fried chicken? In Japan nothing says ‘festive family food’ more than a bucket of KFC fried chicken. And if you’re Jewish and from the US, a Christmas meal will almost certainly mean a trip to Chinatown. Ruth Alexander unearths the origin stories of these two unlikely, but incredibly popular, - alternative Christmas food traditions, and finds out how food can help give you a sense of belonging, even if celebrating Christmas isn’t for you. (Picture: Bucket of fried chicken and bowl of Chinese food. Credit: Getty/BBC) If you would like to get in touch with the show please email [email protected] Contributors: Nina Li Coomes, writer based in Chicago, USA Rabbi Joshua Plaut, author ‘A Kosher Christmas: ‘Tis the Season to be Kosher’. Producers: Sarah Stolarz and Simon Tulett

Catering on film and TV sets is notorious for being one of the toughest jobs in the hospitality industry. Imagine feeding hundreds of people in a different location every day, running your kitchen in some of the world’s most remote places, and accommodating the varied diets of the planet’s biggest stars. Tamasin Ford speaks to three caterers to find out what it takes to succeed in Hollywood, Bollywood, and the world of reality TV, and finds out how vital food can be to the success of a shoot. If you would like to get in touch with the show please email [email protected]: Simon TulettContributors:Sid Ghai, director of Ghai Caterers Ltd, London; Antonia Crowley, executive chef and event stylist at Flying Trestles, Auckland; Wayne Brown, co-founder of Red Radish, London.(Picture: A stack of pizza boxes next to a film director's chair. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Rationing looms large in the memories of a generation who lived through World War Two. Basic groceries were limited and getting enough food on the table became a daily challenge that went on long after the last bombs fell. Ruth Alexander brings together a German and an English woman, who grew up on opposite sides of the world’s deadliest ever conflict, to share their recollections of wartime eating. What was it like struggling to find food, how did they adapt, and how has it changed their approach to food forever? (Picture: Ingeborg Schreib-Wywiorski and Beryl Kingston, Credit: BBC) If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email [email protected] Contributors: Ingeborg Schreib-Wywiorski and Beryl Kingston. Presenter: Ruth Alexander Producer: Sarah Stolarz

Gabriella D’Cruz, from Goa, wants to improve diets, transform livelihoods, and protect the planet using an often-overlooked marine vegetable - seaweed.Ruth Alexander speaks to the 29-year-old about her big plans for the underwater crop, and her hope that it could bring lasting economic and environmental change to India’s coastal communities. Gabriella’s passion and her project’s potential saw her chosen by a panel of international judges as the winner of The Food Chain Global Youth Champion Award 2021.If you would like to get in touch with the show please email [email protected]: Simon TulettContributors:Gabriella D'Cruz, founder of The Good Ocean; Ismahane Elouafi, chief scientist at the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.(Picture: Gabriella D'Cruz in the sea holding a basket of seaweed. Credit: Gabriella D'Cruz/BBC)

How is a new cuisine created? Ruth Alexander explores two unique cuisines in South Africa and the USA: ‘Cape-Malay’- a 300-year old tradition born out of colonialism and slavery that unites Indonesian and Dutch tastes; and ‘Viet-Cajun’ - a more recent phenomenon that has seen the Vietnamese diaspora experimenting with Cajun flavours in Texas. We explore how history’s darkest episodes can lead to some of the most captivating flavour combinations and ask why some people will cringe at the term ‘fusion food’. (Picture: Pot lid being opened. Credit: Getty/BBC)If you would like to get in touch with the show please email [email protected]:Cass Abrahams: Chef and Author, Cape Town, South Africa Mai Pham: Food writer, Houston, USA

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic some people discovered a solace and comfort in cooking, but for many others the opposite was true - the joy they had once felt in the kitchen evaporated.Tamasin Ford speaks to three formerly passionate cooks to find out what it’s like to lose the love of the thing you enjoy doing the most.What’s really behind their ‘cooking burnout’, how have they tried to reignite that spark, and has this experience changed their relationship with food for good?If you would like to get in touch with the show please email [email protected]: Simon TulettContributors: Helen Rosner, food correspondent for The New Yorker, New York, USA; Yamini Pustake Bhalerao, author and ideas editor at shethepeople.tv, Pune, India; Wayne Barnard, chef and ambassador for The Burnt Chef Project, Cardiff, Wales.(Picture: A woman making cookies. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

The pressure to tackle climate change by altering what we eat is huge, and it can be a daunting prospect. But you don’t have to go vegan, shop 100 per cent local, or start your own allotment to make a difference. This week, as world leaders gather for a key climate conference in Glasgow, we’re asking you what small changes you’ve made to your everyday food habits to make them a little bit greener. Plus, Tamasin Ford hears from a chef in Nigeria about the special role he thinks the professionals have to play, and we ask for one life-changing piece of advice from an expert and writer on food waste.(Picture: Hand reaches for apple, Credit: Getty/BBC)If you would like to get in touch with the show please email [email protected]:Michael Elégbèdé: chef, ÌTÀN Restaurant and Test Kitchen in Ikoyi, Nigeria Tamar Adler: author ‘An Everlasting Meal’, New York, USAAnd Food Chain listeners:Annabell Randles: London, UK Mike Hoey: Berkely, California Simone Osman: Maputo, Mozambique Yael Straver Laris: Geneva, Switzerland Kate Minogue: Lewes, UK Karine Young: Cape Town, South Africa Jeremy Okware, Uganda Rebecca Neo: Singapore

The UK food industry relies on foreign workers, but what happens when they stop coming? A combination of COVID-19 and Brexit has led to fewer workers available to pick, process and transport food. For some farmers it has led to heartbreaking dilemmas. Tamasin Ford speaks to two pig farmers who face having to kill thousands of healthy pigs, and a salad farmer who has seen millions of lettuce heads rot in his fields.(Picture: farmer in field, Credit: Getty/BBC)If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email [email protected]: Vicky Morgan, pig farmer, Pockthorpe Hall Farm, East Yorkshire, UK Kate Morgan, pig farmer, Pockthorpe Hall Farm, East Yorkshire, UK Nick Ottewell, Farming and Commercial Director at LJ Betts Ltd, Kent, England

The hospitality industry is facing a staffing crisis, but why have thousands of chefs and waiters quit, and why now?Tamasin Ford speaks to three former restaurant and bar workers to find out why the coronavirus pandemic prompted them to leave, and what they're doing instead. We find out what, if anything, might tempt them back - higher pay, more sociable hours, or better work culture, maybe kinder customers? And we ask whether Covid-19 might really be the moment for industry reform.If you would like to get in touch with the show please email [email protected]: Simon TulettContributors: Adam Reiner, New York; Melissa Sosa, Miami; Renée Harper, Phoenix.(Picture: Upset waitress leaning on a bar. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Alcohol is part of the fabric of life in many cultures. It’s associated with socialising, dating, networking, even commiserating . But what happens if you take it away? Tamasin Ford brings together three people who decided to give up alcohol in a drinking culture. We ask them why and how they did it. What effect did it have on their lives professionally, socially, physically and emotionally? And would they ever want to drink again?If you Would like to get in touch with the show please email [email protected] you have found any of the issues raised in this programme upsetting and are looking for further information or support - please visit BBC Action Line by clicking on the link below.Contributors: Annie Grace - Author and founder This Naked Mind Colorado, USA Andy Ramage - Performance coach, Essex, UK Kate Gunn - Author 'The Accidental Soberista' Whitlow, Ireland(Picture: Hand on empty bottle. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Insects are cheap, packed full of nutrients, and farming them for food could help save the planet. Convincing more people to eat them, though, remains a big challenge.Tamasin Ford speaks to three insect entrepreneurs trying to persuade the squeamish, especially in Europe and North America, to overcome their fears of crickets, worms, and spiders, and instead see them as a tasty, sustainable, alternative source of protein.We also hear that it’s not just the ‘yuck factor’ holding this fledgling industry back - should governments, chefs, and climate campaigners be doing more to support it?If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email [email protected]: Simon TulettContributors:Joseph Yoon, chef and executive director of Brooklyn Bugs; Marjolaine Blouzard, former co-owner of Bugs Cafe; Andy Holcroft, founding director of Grub Kitchen and Bug Farm Foods.(Picture: A dish of peas, carrots and worms prepared by chef David Faure. Credit: Didier Baverel/Getty Images/BBC)

From bread making to Thai cuisine, cookery classes have become a popular way for people to learn new culinary skills and meet people. But coronavirus lockdowns suddenly brought these businesses to a standstill. Rory Cellan-Jones hears from three cooks, who quickly pivoted to virtual cooking classes to survive. Could they get over the technical challenges, and can you really teach someone to cook through a computer?(Picture: mother and child on a virtual cooking course. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)Contributors:Fayruza Abrahams, Taste Malay Rawan Al Waada, Rebels in the Kitchen Sue Hudson, Bread Workshops

Hot stoves, perishable food, and potentially dirty surfaces can make the kitchen a difficult place for someone with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.People with OCD will frequently experience unwanted thoughts, images or urges - which may include worries about contamination or harming themselves and others. They will often use repetitive behaviours to relieve their anxiety - including washing and cleaning, or repeatedly checking their actions. All this means that both cooking and eating food prepared by others can become very distressing.In this episode, Emily Thomas meets three people who have suffered from the disorder. They explain how debilitating the condition can be by describing just one aspect of daily life - the way they eat.Contributors: Chrissie Fadipe, Shai Friedland, Patricia GrisafiIf you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this programme, please see the related links section at the bottom of this page.

Food photography is about much more than beautifully presented dishes in cookbooks - it’s also being used to change the way we think about what we eat.Emily Thomas meets three photographers to discuss some of their most powerful images - from a bloody scene in a Thai slaughterhouse to a display of human resilience in a refugee camp.They explore why still images of food and food production can be a compelling way to communicate about politics, society, and economics. We also hear about the impact such hard-hitting photography can have on the people behind the lens.To see the images described on the show, plus a few more, visit our homepage www.bbc.com/foodchainIf you would like to get in touch with the show, please email [email protected]: Simon Tulett.Contributors:Jo-Anne McArthur; Dorte Verner; Li Huaifeng.(Picture: A Moken spear fisherman diving for his catch. Credit: Dorte Verner)

Starches are among the most important and versatile additives in processed food, but most of us know little about them and there are some we should be wary of.Emily Thomas hears why starch is a food manufacturer’s best friend - making pies crispier, cakes airier, and yoghurts creamier. It’s even used to mimic and replace ingredients some of us want to limit, like sugar and fat.But although starch is a vital source of energy for all of us, some highly processed starches have been linked with negative health outcomes, and it can be hard for the consumer to find out which type they’re eating.If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email [email protected]: Simon Tulett and Siobhan O'Connell.Contributors:Peter Hendrikx, Ingredion; Marty Jopkin, author of 'The Science of Food'; Fred Warren, The Quadram Institute(Picture: Bread 'flying' in mid-air. Credit: Getty/BBC)

Is there someone in your life who needs to have total control in the kitchen? Someone who breathes down your neck, micromanages your every move and can’t resist explaining exactly how to chop a carrot? If so, you may be in the company of what we’re calling ‘a Chefsplainer’. Or perhaps all this rings a bell because you are a chefsplainer? Whoever you are - this episode of The Food Chain is for you.Emily Thomas meets a married couple, a mother and son, and two friends to unpack their power dynamics in the kitchen. They explore why some people feel the need to take control over the cooking, how this reflects our emotional attachment to food, and whether what happens in the kitchen reflects or changes relationships outside it. Plus - why do some of us think that it’s ok to behave in certain ways in the kitchen - that we wouldn’t dream of elsewhere? If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email [email protected](Picture: couple argue in a kitchen. Credit: Getty/BBC)Contributors:Abby Saverino Russell Newlove Harriet Gore Joel Gore Louis Coiffait Ali Potter

Calories are ubiquitous across most of the world and have been used to help people manage their weight for more than a century. But have we been counting them wrong all along? In this episode, Emily Thomas finds out how the calorie is a lot more complex than many of us realise. Historian Louise Foxcroft describes how this measure of energy became the darling of scientists and public health experts across the globe, and the unwitting bedfellow of the diet industry. Geneticist Giles Yeo argues that calorie counting can actually be harmful, encouraging us to make unhealthy choices, and Bridget Benelam from the British Nutrition Foundation explains why she thinks that despite all its flaws, the calorie will be with us for a good while yet.

Sugary drink and fast food sponsors have become almost inseparable from sporting superstars and major events like the Olympics. But why are these epitomes of health and exercise aligning themselves with products linked to obesity, heart disease and diabetes?Simon Tulett explores the reasons for this relationship's long history and hears about the damage it could be doing to young, impressionable fans.If this sponsorship is a problem, whose job is it to end it, and can it be done without leaving event organisers, athletes and grassroots sport facing a financial black hole?Producer: Sarah StolarzContributors:Michael Payne, former IOC marketing executive; Dr Sandro Demaio, VicHealth; Tuhin Mishra, Baseline Ventures; Tammy Aitken If you would like to get in touch with the show please email [email protected](Picture: Composite of an American football player catching a burger. Credit: Lew Robertson, Rubberball/Mike Kemp, Getty Images/BBC)

When it comes to food, we have a lot more than honey to thank bees for - more than three quarters of the world’s food crops depend, at least in part, on pollinators. But bee populations, we often hear, are under threat, and that’s largely due to human behaviour.Emily Thomas speaks to three beekeepers about the challenges of making money from honey and the complicated relationship between the human and the honey bee.If we look carefully into the hive, she discovers, bees can teach us much about the environment, society and ourselves.Producer: Simon TulettContributors:Joan Kinyanjui, Yatta Beekeepers, Nairobi; Dale Gibson, Bermondsey Street Bees, London; Ian Steppler, Steppler Farms, Manitoba.If you would like to get in touch with the show please email [email protected](Picture: A honey bee on the end of a human finger. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

When you’re competing in a round-the-world race and you have to take all your food with you, what do you bring and how do you cook it?If you’re scrambling up and down mountains for days on end, or swimming across an entire ocean, how do you find the time to eat, and what can you stomach? Tamasin Ford speaks to three extreme endurance athletes about the planning, practicalities and monotony of these gruelling events. Is food simply fuel, or can it power competitors in other ways?Producer: Simon TulettContributors:Dee Caffari; Billy White; Benoit LecomteIf you would like to get in touch with the show please email [email protected](Picture: A runner in the 2019 Marathon des Sables race. Credit: Erik Sampers/Gamma-Rapho/Getty/ BBC)

Do you need a lemon right now but don’t want to leave the house? Just download an app and you’ll have it in 13 minutes. That’s the kind of service you can expect from a swathe of new ‘rapid delivery’ grocery apps. Dozens have appeared around the world since the start of the pandemic, and investors have been flocking to invest, pumping billions into the sector. So are these apps the obvious next step in our on-demand lifestyles, or should they be a cause for concern? When it comes to food, can things become just a bit too convenient? Tamasin Ford hears from one company boss with big ambitions and a former competition lawyer who’s worried these apps could spell the end for smaller food stores. Plus, we travel to Istanbul in Turkey where people have already been using them for years. (Picture: Man sat on sofa groceries being handed to him. Credit: Getty/BBC)If you would like to get in touch with the show please email [email protected]:Alec Dent: Co-Founder, Weezy Kaya Genç: Novelist Michelle Meagher: Founder, Balanced Economy Project

When chef Jamie Oliver launched a campaign to improve British school meals, it inspired one headteacher to take things much further.Charlton Manor Primary School, in south London, now grows its own produce, keeps bees and chickens, and has a restaurant aiming for a Michelin star. Head Tim Baker has also overhauled the teaching curriculum to put food centre stage - from learning about fair trade banana growers in geography lessons to slicing pizzas to help with fractions.Tamasin Ford speaks to teachers and students to find out how they did it, and asks whether this could act as a model for how to teach our children about food's impact on our health and the planet.Producer: Simon TulettIf you would like to get in touch with the show please email [email protected](Picture: Students Sarah and Vaidas in the garden at Charlton Manor Primary School)Contributors:Students at Charlton Manor Primary School; Joe Grollman, teaching chef; Nick Shelley, gardener; Flavio Hernandez, head chef; Tim Baker, headteacher; Kim Smith, TastEd and City, University of London; Dennis Hollywood, teacher

The celebrated French chef Raymond Blanc tells Emily Thomas about his life through five dishes.From a childhood roaming magical forests in Eastern France, to the rather less enticing restaurant scene of 1970s England, Raymond describes how with little grasp of the language and no formal training, he quickly became one of the UK’s best known chefs. His restaurant, Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, has been thriving for almost 40 years and during that time he has added a string of cookbooks, TV shows and brasseries to his name. Raymond explains how he balances being a gastronome and perfectionist with running a large business.But we also hear another side to the exuberant chef. The past year has been perhaps one the most difficult of Raymond’s life - closing his restaurants, the isolation of lockdown, the death of his mother and being hospitalised with coronavirus for a month. He tells us why he thinks it will make him a better man.

Meet the unsung heroes of your kitchen drawers.When you hold a vegetable peeler or potato masher, do you ever think about the person behind it? We celebrate chefs and cookbook writers - but what about the people who make the tools that make it all easier?Emily Thomas meets three product designers who explain the thinking behind the everyday objects we keep in our kitchens. We’ll hear about accessibility and segregation - but also art and beauty. Welcome to the philosophy of kitchen gadgets.Contributors: Dan Formosa, Scott Jarvie, and Gavin Reay.

The Food Chain delves into the world of ‘Ultra-Processed Food’ - a term coined in Brazil that has been provoking debate around the world.Ultra Processed Food is a term that encompasses a broad range of common products from industrialised bread to breakfast cereals to chocolate bars. A growing body of evidence points to an association between their consumption and negative health outcomes including obesity, over-eating, depression, heart disease, and type-2 diabetes. Countries like Brazil are so concerned they are recommending people avoid UPFs all together. But in some of the world's most developed economies these foods make up, up to 80% of our diets, whilst the public understands very little about them. Emily Thomas speaks to representatives from the food industry and people at the forefront of the science into UPFs to try to find out whether this is just another dietary buzzword that muddies the waters when it comes to improving the nation’s diets - OR whether it’s something we should ALL be talking about.(Picture; Cookie talking in chocolate chips, Credit: BBC/Getty)If you would like to get in touch with the show please email [email protected]:Gyorgy Scrinis: Associate professor of Food Politics and Policy, University of Melbourne Maria Laura Louzada: Assistant professor, Department of Nutrition at the University of Sao Paulo Kevin Hall: Senior investigator, National Institutes of Health, Maryland Kate Halliwell: Chief Scientific Officer, Food and Drink Federation, UK

Gene editing could revolutionise agriculture, with some scientists promising healthier and more productive crops and animals, but will consumers want to eat them? With the first gene edited crops recently approved for sale, Emily Thomas hears why this technology might be quicker, cheaper and more accurate than the older genetic engineering techniques that produced GMOs, and asks whether these differences could make it more acceptable to a deeply sceptical, even fearful public.Some are not convinced by the claims, and there are concerns that current regulations won't protect consumers or the environment from any potential risks. By putting their faith in technology, have scientists and companies overlooked other simpler solutions to our food security problems?Producer: Simon TulettIf you would like to get in touch with the show please email [email protected](Picture: A DNA model on a plate. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)Contributors:Jennifer Kuzma, North Carolina State University; Hiroshi Ezura, University of Tsukuba and Sanatech Seed; Neth Daño, ETC Group; Philippe Dumont, Calyxt