The Food Chain

At heart, the organic movement is driven by ethics, not market-forces. It started out as a reaction to large-scale industrial agriculture, with an anti-establishment vibe which abhorred mass produced, processed food. But, as demand for organic products has grown, big business has moved in, and now accounts for an increasing amount of the market. Big Food has money and clout. It can support farmers to transition to organic, and throw its weight behind marketing the virtues of organic methods and food. But whilst its products might be organic on paper, has it truly embraced the spirit of the movement, and does that matter?Emily Thomas talks to three organic farmers who are uneasy about 'Big Organic', and General Mills, one of the largest food producers in the US.(Image: Composite image of a chicken standing in a suitcase. Credit: Getty)

In the second of two James Beard Award-winning episodes on food and grief, Emily Thomas explores the food experiences of the widowed.In parts of the world where widowhood is seen as a source of shame, widows might be excluded from mealtimes, forbidden from eating nourishing food, and even forced to take part in degrading eating rituals. And even in some of the world's most developed countries, where widowhood elicits sympathy rather than suspicion, the bereaved are still more likely to suffer nutritional deprivation than those who are still married.No matter where we are in the world, when we’re grieving, we need the nourishment and comfort that food can provide more than ever. But losing the person we eat with most can make mealtimes hard to face, and this can devastate our physical and mental well-being. We hear from widowers and widows about how they managed to find joy in food again.(Photo: Single chair at an empty table. Credit: Getty Images).

Emily Thomas explores how food can help us navigate through the darkest of times - the days, weeks, and even years following the death of someone we loved. In times of loss, should we use food to remember the dead or to reconnect with them? A neurologist explains the science behind grief and appetite, and people who've been recently bereaved talk about the foods and eating rituals that have helped them through it.This programme won the James Beard Award for Best Radio Show in 2019. It was first broadcast in September 2018.(Photo: A raw onion. Credit: Getty Images)

Do you know who’s washing your dishes? Emily Thomas talks to pot washers from around the world, about what they love and loathe about life at the sink.A kitchen can’t survive without the pot washer, yet we rarely give them a second thought, lavishing all our attention instead on the chefs. But maybe we should. Being a pot washer, dishwasher or kitchen porter as it’s variably known, can be the first rung on the restaurant ladder, and many a great chef started out with a scourer in hand. But the job also attracts those who have very limited opportunities in life, and this means they may be more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.(Photo: Man scrubbing a kitchen sink. Credit: BBC/ Getty Images)

Restaurateurs with guns, chefs wielding knives, and severed heads in bin bags. Life as a food inspector is a lot more fraught than you might think. Emily Thomas meets three food safety officers from around the globe who reveal what it’s like to be one of the most feared people in the industry. They have the power to close a restaurant. Some can even make arrests. No wonder they’ve got some stories that seem to belong more in a mafia film than a food show. And the danger doesn’t end there. It’s not just their lives at risk – but yours too. We hear about some of the unsavoury things that happen to our food behind kitchen doors - and the sneaky tactics used to conceal them.(Photo: A rat peers into a cup. Credit: Getty Images/ BBC)

What happens when food meets fiction? In this programme from the FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival, presenter Emily Thomas is joined by a panel of guests and an audience to find out how poems, plays and novels can help us better understand our food, and also how food can be used as a narrative device.Poet and novelist Ben Okri, farmer and author Suzanna Crampton, and playwright and former script-writer for BBC radio drama The Archers, Graham Harvey, share some of their work. How do they balance food, fact and fiction in a world awash with misinformation? This is a shorter version of the episode 'How to tell a food story' broadcast on 31 March 2019.(Picture composite: Ben Okri, Suzanna Crampton and Graham Harvey. Credit: Roberto Ricciuti, Getty Images, Martha Faye and BBC)

There are trillions of bacteria living in our guts and there's growing evidence that they can have a major impact on our mental well-being. So could we soon see a food supplement that can treat depression?The science behind this so-called gut-brain axis and whether we can manipulate it isn't yet conclusive, but there are plenty of believers. We speak to a woman who says her irritable bowel syndrome and anxiety disappeared after she started taking kefir, a fermented milk drink. She was so convinced by its impact that she now runs a south London business making and selling it.There are already food supplements out there targeting anxiety and depression, but are they getting ahead of the science? We speak to one of the major probiotics manufacturers and hear from a leading scientist who says unproven product claims could be dangerous for mental health patients and that they shouldn't be seen as a silver bullet.Plus, how human are we really? We find out just how many strings our microbes are pulling.(Image: Head outline with food representing the brain. Credit: Getty Images)

Breastfeeding is highly recommended for babies the world over and in many countries it's seen as a mother's duty. No wonder, then, that women who cannot or choose not to breastfeed can feel ashamed, inadequate, or even irresponsible.But it turns out that these women are actually the majority. According to figures from the World Health Organisation only 41 per cent of babies are exclusively breastfed for their first 6 months. Two mothers tell us what they put themselves through to try to exclusively breastfeed their children and what finally drove them to throw in the towel, and another mum explains why she never even started.They tell us whether they were supported or vilified by friends, family and health professionals, and what their breastfeeding struggles did to their self-esteem.Plus, we ask whether exclusive breastfeeding is the preserve of the world’s wealthier classes, and whether it’s possible for mums to earn a living without turning to the bottle.(Picture: A child drinking a bottle of milk. Credit: Getty Images)

How does a tiny community living on a series of rugged, windswept islands in the south west Atlantic Ocean manage to eat a varied diet? The Falkland Islands have more sheep than people, and its waters are teaming with squid, but fresh fruit and vegetables are very hard to come by. And when it does arrive, almost all of it by sea, it’s not at all cheap – a pineapple, for example, can cost up to $20. But there are efforts to change that - food writer and chef Gerard Baker meets the islanders trying to be more self-sufficient and championing their own produce. This is a rebroadcast of an episode of The Food Programme that first aired on BBC Radio 4 in January 2019.(Image: Farm building on a remote shore on the Falkland Islands Image Credit: Bruce Wilson Photography/Getty Images)

Why do some fruits and vegetables achieve superstar status, appearing on T-shirts worn by celebrities, or in tattoos adorning some of the biggest names in music? Who is behind the rise of avocados and kale, and who benefits most from their A-list status - savvy farmers, slick marketeers or health campaigners? Emily Thomas explores whether fruit and vegetables should play the fame game: Is putting a single food on a pedestal good for consumers, producers, or the planet? Jess Loyer, from the University of Adelaide, and Lauren Westmore, from London PR firm Third City explain the potential pitfalls. Xavier Equihua, CEO of the World Avocado Organization explains how he promotes the fruit across the globe. And a small-town T-shirt maker, Bo Muller-Moore, reveals how he may have contributed to the rise and rise of kale.Plus, why is it so much easier to create a buzz around one vegetable than an entire food group? Anna Taylor from UK healthy eating think-tank The Food Foundation, describes her uphill battle against public attitudes and the enormous advertising budgets of Big Food.(Photo: Avocado being photographed. Credit: BBC)

Are processed foods and urbanisation numbing children’s sensory abilities, and should we teach them to smell, touch, taste and even listen to their food to improve their diets and self-awareness?Emily Thomas meets three people from different parts of the world who work in ‘sensory food education’, which encourages children to explore all aspects of a food. They want young people to be taught these skills in schools, but is this really a job for teachers rather than parents? And could sensory food education really be as important as numeracy and literacy?Our guests this week are Stina Algotson, president of Sapere International in Sweden; Dr Nicholas Wilkinson, co-founder of Flavour School in the UK; and Srimathi Kannan, a sensory food educator at the University of Michigan in the US.(Photo: Infant smelling banana. Credit: Getty Images/ BBC)

The Rohingya people in Myanmar and the Uighur people in China are familiar to many of us through news reports. And usually their story is told by journalists in sombre voices reporting on the political situation or alleged human rights abuses. But in this episode, Rohingas and Uighurs themselves will tell us another story - about their cuisine. Because when you are far from home, feel your culture is under threat and you can’t get hold of the people you love the most on the phone, food can be a lifeline. Emily Thomas meets Mukaddes Yadikar and her husband Ablikim Rahman, who have opened a Uighur restaurant in London, and Rehana Zafa Ahmed and Abdul Jabbar-Amanula, a young Rohingya couple living in Chicago. They explain why their food is so important to them, and how the unique cultures that make their political situations precarious have also led to rich culinary traditions.(Picture: Mukaddes Yadikar pulling noodles. Credit: BBC)

What drives people to stake their livelihood on sponge? Three cake makers discuss the pressure and privilege of creating show-stopping centrepieces for major celebrations. From a perfect replica of a cow to a cake hanging from the ceiling, they reveal the engineering and money that go into some of the most formidable bakes. Emily Thomas meets Claire Ptak, owner of Violet Cakes, who made the cake at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding, Pardeep Gill from Sweet Hollywood which specialises in wedding cakes for the Asian community in the UK, and Asha Batenga Jumba from Cakely Uganda in Kampala. Plus, we’ll hear some toe-curling stories of baking disasters.(Composite image: Claire Ptak of Violet Bakery icing the wedding cake of Britain's Prince Harry and US actress Meghan Markle, Credit: Getty Images; Pardeep Gill standing with large wedding cake, Credit: Sweet Hollywood; Asha Batenga icing a cake; Credit: Cakely Uganda).

André Cointreau had a very privileged start in life, born into two illustrious French drinks dynasties - Cointreau and Rémy Martin. But his decision to buy a food business didn't go down well with the whole family. Unperturbed, he went on to become the chief executive of Le Cordon Bleu, transforming a small Parisian cookery school into a global culinary empire that has trained some of the world's most famous chefs. In this episode he tells Emily Thomas about his life through five memorable dishes. But despite his company teaching the virtues of classic French cooking techniques there's not a single soufflé to be seen. Instead he takes us all over the rest of the world, from Australian kangaroo meat to Korean kimchi. Find out what André Cointreau says about Le Cordon Bleu’s eye-watering fees, and why he never gets his hands dirty in the kitchen.(Picture: André Cointreau. Credit: BBC)

Carving up carcasses and slicing up flesh. Day in, day out. Doling out blood for pet leeches, and helpings of animals brains. What drives people to do it? And why do they see themselves as animal lovers, and therapists? Emily Thomas meets three butchers from Limerick, Lagos and Brooklyn to find out what it’s really like to be a butcher. Why is the trade disparaged in some parts of the world? And why in others has it become ‘trendy’ to leave an office job to join the trade? We hear how business might be affected by changing patterns of meat consumption, the popularity of veganism and the dominance of the supermarkets. And are they worried that robots might take their jobs?(Photo: Brent Young carving up meat. Credit: BBC)

When a cool character cracks open a can of a well-known branded drink on screen, do you barely notice or roll your eyes? Whatever your reaction, their choices may well be influencing yours. Food is a powerful narrative device in film and product placement is highly lucrative. Put the two together and show business becomes big business for the food industry. Emily Thomas finds out how the product placement of food in film has changed over time and where it’s headed, as new technology makes it ever easier for audiences to avoid traditional forms of advertising. She meets industry insiders from Hollywood in the US, Bollywood in India, and Nollywood in Nigeria, to explore how food product placement changes across the globe, and asks how it can enhance and detract from the authenticity of film. What comes first, the brand or the integrity of the script? What happens when they clash? And how much money is at stake?Plus, we ask how the prolific use of product placement in Hollywood changed global perceptions of American food; how it affects our diet choices and... do baddies ever get to eat brands?(Photo: Cinema screen shows superhero character eating burger. Credit: BBC)

Giving away unwanted food to people who need it, sounds like it should be easy. But in this episode we find it throws up some peculiar challenges. What do you do with 12,000 cakes, or vast amounts of unwanted crocodile meat? Over the past few years food banks have been opening up in places they have never been seen before, from some of the world’s richest cities to its poorest slums. But are they always the best approach to feeding the hungry?Three people who run food banks in Singapore, Nigeria and England join Emily Thomas to divulge the challenges of the job, from dealing with the stigma, to tackling corruption, or finding a home for rabbit food.(Photo: Hand reaching towards row of tins. Credit: Getty images/ BBC).

Find out what happens after the show ends.Emily Thomas catches up with some people who’ve appeared on The Food Chain over the past 12 months and hears about the unexpected things that can happen after you step off our stage. Propping up the bar with her is an experimental archaeologist who said she’d happily taste food thousands of years past its 'use by' date. Did she do something she probably shouldn't have in a historical food vault in Italy? Joining them - the man whose appearance on the show may have changed the way you eat jam on a plane, and the woman who told us one of the saddest stories we heard this year, who reveals a new joy.And when all that's over, we revisit the least savoury place The Food Chain has set foot in this year - the kill floor of an abattoir. But this time, we’re taking you, the listener, with us.(Photo: Lindsay Ostrom, Farrell Monaco and Adam Smith. Credit: Lindsay Ostrom/ Farrell Monaco/ Adam Smith/ BBC)

A former-coffee lover goes on the hunt for a decent cup without the buzz, and discovers why it's so hard to get flavour without a fix. Emily Thomas delves into the complex art of caffeine extraction and discovers that taste is not the only challenge when it comes to taking the bounce out of a bean. The environmental and economic costs of decaf coffee soon add up, meaning a cup may carry a higher carbon footprint and be made with cheaper beans than the full-blooded stuff. Could a caffeine free coffee plant hold all the answers? A botanist explains why finding a suitable candidate is an unpalatable challenge.Or are we being over sensitive? A scientist explains why some of us react badly to caffeine, whereas others can fall into a slumber after two espressos.(Photo: Cup of coffee with drop suspended above it. Credit: BBC)

Does bourbon have the strength to reinvigorate a whole city? And is it really wise to seek answers at the bottom of a barrel?Kentucky produces 95 percent of the world’s bourbon and its history is richly steeped in the drink. But now its largest city, Louisville, has decided the future should rest on it too. Could ‘bourbonism’ revive the city? According to Louisville's mayor, tourism based on the amber liquor is ‘shooting through the roof’. But, for many, alcohol is a gateway into other forms of addiction, and Kentucky is already facing a drugs epidemic. Alcohol-induced death rates in Louisville are higher than state and national figures.In this episode, journalist Phil Reevell explores the emergence of ‘bourbonism’ through the city’s food and music scene. He joins the ‘bourbon trail’ which attracted 1.4 million people last year. As the coal industry has turned to dust, large areas of the city have been deindustrialised, but Phil finds there are plans for the construction of more than 20 hotels, and that some tourists will pay hundreds of dollars for a bottle - or more. (Photo: Giant bourbon bottle looms over cityscape of Louisville, Kentucky. Credit: Getty Images).

Why do we get so angry when we talk about food? When conversation turns to meat in particular, it doesn’t take long for debate to become heated and emotive. Voices get louder. Insults are hurled. Death threats are issued.Earlier this month, a group of UK scientists suggested a tax on red and processed meat would save thousands of lives. The discussion that followed quickly changed from being scientific and factual, to personal. It’s not the first food debate to have turned ugly - and in this episode Emily Thomas sets out to ask why. What is it about meat that gets us so mad? How are conversations around what we eat manipulated for political and personal gain? And if we understood more about science, would debate around diet be less vulnerable to hijack?Contributors: Dr Marco Springmann, researcher at the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food; Chris Snowden, head of Lifestyle Economics at The Institute of Economic Affairs; Dr Catherine Happer, Lecturer in Sociology at Glasgow University; and Sarah Boseley, Health Editor of The Guardian. (Picture: Sausage on fork, Credit: BBC)

Who gets to decide what our food tastes like - and what gives them the authority to do so?Emily Thomas meets three people who are employed by the food industry to choose how processed food should taste. One of them has had his tongue insured for over one million dollars. All of them can identify complex flavour combinations with a single bite. They even speak in their own language...sometimes.So what’s it like to have such an enhanced sense of flavour? When you can smell someone else's meal in a restaurant from several tables away, is it a blessing or a curse? Do meals shared with ‘normal’ people ever become too prosaic to bear? And how can all of us learn to perceive more flavour in our food?Sebastian Michaelis drops by for a carefully curated cup of tea. He’s a master tea taster for Tata Global Beverages in London. The company considers its tasters so important that they are asked not to ever be on the same plane. Later we’re joined by Sarah Masoni, who has been said to have ‘a million dollar palate’. She is Product and Process Development Director at the Food Innovation Center of Oregon State University. She discusses the flavour trade with Danny Kite, who has been a ‘flavourist’ for almost half a century. He works at TasteTech, a 'flavour house' which manufactures flavourings and ingredients for the global food industry.(Photo: A man sips tea from a spoon. Credit: BBC)

This episode includes audio of the slaughter of farm animals, which some may find upsetting. But if you happily eat meat, should you be willing to listen along as cows become beef? Would you be happy to witness it? And what might change if you did?Emily Thomas visits Tideford Abattoir, a slaughterhouse in the south of England to get an uncomfortably close up view of animals becoming food.As our food supply becomes ever more global and industrial, many of us have become distanced from the origins of what we eat. And nowhere, perhaps is this more pronounced, than with animals. Most of the meat we buy bears little resemblance to the breathing, thinking creature it once was. Across the world, slaughterhouses, or abattoirs, have long stayed in the shadows, inviting little public scrutiny. But as consumers demand a more transparent food chain, could we be heading towards a more open approach to slaughter? And how would this change our attitudes to meat?(Photo: Slaughterman with cow carcass. Credit: BBC)

Three top food stylists - all of whom have ghost-written and cooked on behalf of the world’s top chefs - step out from behind the scenes. More often than not, when it comes to food in the media, a lot of what you are seeing, and reading is the work - not of a top chef - but a food stylist. ‘Home economists’ as they are also known, do everything from cooking the dishes you see on screen, to ghost-writing whole cookery books, with all kinds of weird and wonderful food tasks in between. They churn out hundreds of recipes without breaking a sweat, but get none of the credit, staying firmly in the shadows of the kitchen. Until now. Move over Jamie and Gordon, it’s time to meet your supporting cast. Emily Thomas talks to Rob Allison, Nicole Herft and Abi Fawcett. Between them they’ve worked for most of the world’s best known chefs including Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay, Nigella Lawson and Heston Blumenthal.(Photo: Chef garnishing soup with tweezers. Credit: Getty Images)

A powerful colossus is controlling most of what we eat. Who has the guts to take it on?Emily Thomas meets three people who have gone up against the food industry. From following trucks across Thailand to expose slavery in the fishing industry, to going undercover in Europe to reveal the hidden ingredients in processed food, to finding their phones have been infiltrated by spyware, these are people prepared to take risks. They talk about what it feels like to have such a powerful opponent, why they’re prepared to go to such lengths, and how the consumer needs to be vigilant.Our guests are Joanna Blythman, journalist and author, Alejandro Calvillo, director of El Poder del Consumidor, a consumer rights organisation in Mexico, and Margie Mason, investigative reporter for The Associated Press.(Photo: Man carved out of orange peel. Credit: Getty Images)

If you think you’d like your other half to be able to cook like a Michelin-starred chef, this episode might make you think again. When a professional cook is at the top of their game, there might just be someone at home, picking up the pieces of a brutal schedule.Emily Thomas sits down with three people who are in long-term relationships with successful chefs and restaurateurs. They lift the lid on what it’s really like to live your life alongside someone in a profession notorious for being intensely stressful, competitive and sometimes a little wild.Can top chefs be bothered to cook when they get home? And how do they respond to criticism in the kitchen? Behind every head chef there’s a great woman or man, it seems. And this episode has three of them: PR executive Samantha Wong, partner of Hong Kong chef and restaurateur May Chow; sculptor Beth Cullen-Kerridge, who is married to Michelin-starred chef Tom Kerridge; and engineer Gundeep Gill who is married to Indian restaurateur Romy Gill MBE.(Photo: A couple kiss behind a heart shaped balloon. Credit: Getty Images)

Have you ever felt the urge to share exactly the same culinary experience as your ancestors? Do you care what ancient Roman bread tasted like? Or what a 16th Century courtier smelt as he lifted a slice of roast beef to his mouth? Would you understand yourself, or today’s food system, better if you did?And if the closest you come to experiencing the past is watching period dramas on television, are you bothered by whether the pigeon is actually chicken - or the fish, cream cheese? How real do we want the imaginary to be?Emily Thomas asks what we can learn about the past and present from the painstaking reconstruction of old recipes. Four people who dedicate their lives to recreating historical dishes make their case: An archaeologist tirelessly trying to uncover the secrets of the bread of Pompeii in Italy; The food stylist on the film set of the globally popular period drama Downton Abbey; An historian earnestly roasting beef at a Tudor palace; and a Polish chef desperately trying to preserve traditions he fears are becoming lost.(Photo: Woman in a baroque wig, Credit: Getty Images)

Emily Thomas explores a stereotype with potentially life-threatening consequences - the idea that eating disorders are a problem that only affects white women in wealthy countries. She talks to black women in South Africa, Nigeria and the US who have had eating disorders. Their experiences and their cultural backgrounds are very different, but they all say the prevailing stereotype that eating disorders are a ‘white’ problem, makes it harder for black women to speak out and get the help they need. They also challenge the notion that these illnesses are caused by the pursuit of western beauty ideals.(Picture: Young woman. Credit: Getty Images)

From diet pills to vomit rooms, the Food Chain investigates the rise of eating disorders in China. Is this an inevitable consequence of economic development? And if so, why are eating disorders still all too often seen as a rich white woman’s problem?’In the first of two episodes to explore the rising prevalence of eating disorders outside of the western world, Emily Thomas speaks to women with the illness in China and Hong Kong, who explain how hard it is to access support for binge-eating disorder, bulimia and anorexia, because of attitudes to food and weight, taboos around mental health, and a lack of treatment options. They describe the pressure on women to be ‘small’ and ‘diminutive’, but still take part in the country’s deeply entrenched eating culture.A psychiatrist working in China’s only closed ward for eating disorders blames an abundance of food in the country, parental attitudes and the competitiveness of Chinese society. She also warns of the dangers of the uncontrolled diet pill industry. From there we delve into the sinister world of ‘vomit bars’ with a social media analyst. We also explore the link between the rise of eating disorders and economic development. Does there need to be an abundance of food in a society before these problems develop?If you or someone you know has been affected by the issues in this programme, please see the links to resources at the bottom of this page.(Photo: Woman behind glass. Credit: Getty Images)

Emily Thomas brings together a straight-talking crowd who are not afraid to ruffle a few feathers - even when they belong to the world’s most successful restaurateurs and chefs. Three restaurant critics from across the globe don't hold back as they swap notes on the job, reveal the tricks of the trade, and divulge how they really feel after writing a scathing review. Do they ever get sick and tired of eating out? And are their friends afraid to invite them over for dinner? Plus, we hear how the role of the critic differs between countries, and how it might change in the future. And we find out how our reviewers feel about increasingly being under the spotlight, as an online world allows any of us to leave a review, and to critique the critics. Fay Maschler of the London Evening Standard meets Besha Rodell of the New York Times and Rasmi Uday Singh of The Times of India.(Picture: A woman cover her face with a menu, Credit: Getty Images)

Emily Thomas asks whether we’re on a slow but steady path to abandoning our pervasive, long-standing, and arguably slightly peculiar habit of drinking milk from cows. In many European countries and the US, alternative plant-based milks are growing in popularity, and cow's milk sales are declining. Is this just a blip in our millenia-old love affair with dairy, or a steady drip towards a cow's milk-free future? Three guests debate the potential effects on global poverty, the environment and our health.(Photo: Brown cow. Credit: Getty Images)

In the second of two episodes on food and grief, Emily Thomas explores the food experiences of the widowed.In parts of the world where widowhood is seen as a source of shame, widows might be excluded from mealtimes, forbidden from eating nourishing food, and even forced to take part in degrading eating rituals. And even in some of the world's most developed countries where widowhood elicits sympathy rather than suspicion, the bereaved are still more likely to suffer nutritional deprivation than those who are still married. No matter where we are in the world, when we’re grieving, we need the nourishment and comfort that food, can provide more than ever. But losing the person we eat with most can make mealtimes hard to face, and this can devastate our physical and mental well-being. We hear from widowers and widows about how they managed to find joy in food again.(Photo: Single chair at an empty table. Credit: Getty Images).

In the first of two episodes on food and grief, Emily Thomas explores how food can help us navigate through the darkest of times - the days, weeks, and even years following the death of someone we loved. In times of loss, should we use food to remember the dead or to reconnect with them? A neurologist explains the science behind grief and appetite, and people who've been recently bereaved talk about the foods and eating rituals that have helped them through it. (Photo: A raw onion. Credit: Getty Images)

Emily Thomas asks whether the curious phenomenon of the celebrity chef, is undergoing a metamorphosis. The modern celebrity chef has their finger in a lot of pies - multiple restaurant chains, merchandise, cookery books, TV programmes, even campaigning and charity work - oh, and then there’s that Michelin star to hang on to as well. A number of chefs now have fortunes running into hundreds of millions of dollars. The breadth of their expanding empires is something that the renowned chefs of 30 years ago couldn't have even imagined. In this episode we’re asking whether we’ll see further mission creep. As home cooks increasingly look online to culinary amateurs with blogs and online videos, where does that leave the ‘celebrity chef’? Will we see them carve out new spaces in the public eye, adding even more skills to their ever-expanding portfolios: Chefs for president? And will we see more chefs from outside the US and UK achieve global dominance? We’ll also ask whether we should embrace the chef as a multi-dimensional superstar - or is all this taking us further from food, with the possibility that we’re missing out on culinary geniuses who don’t shout loudly enough?(Picture: Man in chef whites throwing flour in the air, Credit: Getty Images)

We’re killing time on The Food Chain this week. From crops that grow in just eight weeks, to whole meals that can sit on the shelf at room temperature for three years, at every stage of our food chain it seems, humans are battling against the clock, in the name of convenience, money or science. Emily Thomas asks what we lose in our attempt to eliminate this invisible ingredient.(Picture: Hand holding invisible object, Credit: Getty Images)

Meet the Michelin-starred chef who, when he hears word of a natural disaster, jumps on a plane to get there, rolls up his sleeves, and mobilises thousands to feed the hungry. José Andrés is the winner of our 2018 Global Food Champion Award. He is a man with many strings to his bow: Michelin-starred chef, TV personality, educator, serial entrepreneur, author, but it is his humanitarian work and ability to mobilise others in times of need that really won our judges over, after being nominated by our listeners.Emily Thomas talks to him about the dishes that have defined his life so far, how he managed to make 3.4 million meals for Puerto Ricans in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, the valuable lessons he learnt from stealing his mother’s béchamel out of the fridge, and why he thinks a humble cook stove has the answer to many of the world’s problems today.(Picture: José Andrés cooking in Puerto Rico, Credit: Central World Kitchen)

We sit down with one of R&B’s most eccentric and compelling artists, Kelis. Over the past 20 years she has produced era-defining hits like Milkshake, Caught Out There and Trick Me, and sold millions of records. So why did she decide to step away from the mic and into the chef's whites at the Cordon Bleu academy? Kelis tells Emily Thomas all about her passion for food and her latest plans to open a farm-to-table restaurant. We hear how she has struggled to make the culinary world take her seriously, and why she thinks it’s ‘all about the sauce’.This programme was first broadcast on the 24th May 2018.(Photo: Kelis. Credit: James Watkins/BBC)

The Food Chain listens back to My Life in Five Dishes with the renowned Egyptian cookery writer Claudia Roden - originally broadcast in January 2018. Claudia has been credited with revolutionising western attitudes to Middle Eastern and Jewish food. She tells Emily Thomas about her journey from a comfortable childhood in Cairo to exile in 1950s Britain. She explains how a longing for home led her to painstakingly collect recipes from across the Middle East, and how she turned them into classic cookbooks that have inspired generations of chefs. Find out what she makes of today's culinary scene, and the best way to get honey off a spoon.(Photo: Claudia Roden. Credit: Jamie Lau)

The Food Chain listens back to My Life in Five Dishes with chef and broadcaster Gordon Ramsay, originally broadcast in January 2018. Gordon is world-famous, but as he tells Emily Thomas, people no longer want to talk about his food. The celebrity has becomes known as much for his TV programmes displaying his fiery temper and explosive outbursts, as for his culinary skills. In this interview, the focus is firmly back on the food, as Gordon describes the five most unforgettable meals he’s ever eaten, and how they have shaped him as a chef – from his mother’s macaroni and cheese on a council estate in the West Midlands, to smuggled cheese soufflés at Le Gavroche.Gordon's dishes are: Mum's Mac and Cheese with smoked bacon; soufflé Suissesse at Le Gavroche; braised pigs' trotters with cabbage at Casa Del Pescatore near Verona; rum baba at Le Louis XV; and his own chickpea curry.(Photo: Gordon Ramsay. Credit: Laura Palmer/BBC)

Antonio Carluccio describes his most memorable dishes in his last ever interview. The cook, restaurateur and writer, known as the 'Godfather of Italian cooking', died five days after this recording was made, aged 80. He tells Emily Thomas about his passion for simple, authentic Italian cuisine, and why he only began to pursue it professionally relatively late in life. He describes his horror at 1970s Britain's version of Italian food, his obsession with mushrooms, and reveals how much the late opera singer Luciano Pavarotti could devour in one sitting. Plus, hear about his struggles with fame and heartache, the tensions that came with expanding his eponymous chain of restaurants and delis, and the dish he would choose as his last. This interview was first broadcast on 16 November 2017.(Picture: Antonio Carluccio. Credit: Getty Images)

Join us for five unforgettable dishes from one extraordinary life as the food writer and actress Madhur Jaffrey reveals some rather surprising mealtimes - from a swimming lesson with a watermelon, to a dinner disaster with jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie.The food writer and award-winning actress has written more than 15 cookbooks, many of them bestsellers, and has been credited with changing the way people outside India think about the country’s food. She joins Emily Thomas to talk about the meals that have shaped her remarkable career.This episode was first broadcast on 17 October 2017. (Photo: Madhur Jaffrey. Credit: Manny Carabel/WireImage via Getty Images)

Meet the pioneering, opinionated and inscrutable Jeremiah Tower, one of the most controversial figures in modern American cuisine. Emily Thomas hears about his extraordinary childhood in grand hotels and on ocean liners with only haute cuisine for company; how he helped bring about a food revolution in Berkeley, California that would become the 'New American cuisine'; and why, after years of celebrity in San Francisco, he mysteriously disappeared from the culinary scene for over a decade.Jeremiah is widely seen as the first modern-day celebrity chef, and he doesn't hold back when explaining exactly what he thinks of the biggest names in food today.(Picture: Jeremiah Tower. Credit: Gary Gershoff/WireImage via Getty Images)

Has the #MeToo movement permeated our food chain?Emily Thomas explores the hidden problem of sexual harassment and abuse in our fisheries and fields, and hears how agriculture is all too often a dangerous occupation for the women who labour in its unseen corners. We hear from women who have seen this first hand, from the vineyards of South Africa, to shrimp farms in Bangladesh, to tomato pickers in Mexico. What will it take for agriculture to have its own #MeToo moment?(Photo: Young rural woman carries freshly cut grass for to feed her family’s livestock. Credit: Getty Images).

This is the story of a man who struggled with homelessness and addiction, before being hit by a bold vision of ending food waste and world hunger.The Real Junk Food Project uses the food thrown away by homes and businesses to feed those who can't afford to eat. It has saved 3,500 tonnes of food from landfill or animal feed in the last four years by redistributing it to the hungry through cafes, shops and warehouses. The project's success and potential for growth led to it being selected as runner-up in this year's BBC World Service Global Food Champion award. Emily Thomas meets the project's founder, Adam Smith, and hears how he experienced homelessness, drug addiction, and mental health problems before embarking on this remarkable project of environmental protection and social improvement.Plus, learn how to push the limits of lasagne, as the volunteers and customers at one of the Real Junk Food project's cafes in the northwest of England, explain how the project has changed their attitudes to food ... and bingo. (Picture: A bunch of over-ripe bananas. Credit: Getty Images)

Should we eat more horse meat? In some parts of the world it is a food taboo, while in others people think little of munching an equine burger. Would it be better for our health and that of the planet if we ate more of it? We’re at a pony auction in the English countryside where some rather hairy creatures are going for a song. Could turning them into sausages and steak be the best way to add value? From there we travel to Paris to find out why the French are losing their taste for horse meat, we find out if it could be more sustainable and healthier than beef, and examine the roots of the world's horse meat taboos.Presenter: Emily ThomasThis programme first aired in October 2017(Picture: Exmoor Pony. Credit: Getty Images)

Dan Saladino meets the mastermind behind one of biggest bread research projects ever undertaken. Nathan Myhrvold spent four years researching, baking and collaborating with leading industry professionals to write Modernist Bread - a five-volume, global exploration of this great staple. It follows another hugely ambitious food project -Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking – from 2011. Perhaps it is no surprise then that Nathan Myhrvold has spent his life trying to understand how things work, he researched quantum theory with the late Stephen Hawking and went on to work directly with Bill Gates at Microsoft. So what pearls of wisdom can the man who baked 36,000 loaves share? This is a rebroadcast of an episode of the Food Programme that first aired on BBC Radio 4 in March 2018.(Photo: Man claps hands with flour by dough, Credit: Getty Images)

We sit down with one of R&B’s most eccentric and compelling artists - singer-songwriter Kelis. Over the past 20 years she has produced era-defining hits like Milkshake, Caught Out There and Trick Me, and sold millions of records. So why did she decide to step away from the mic and into the chefs' whites at the Cordon Bleu academy? Kelis tells Emily Thomas all about her passion for food and her latest plans to open a farm-to-table restaurant. We hear how she has struggled to make the culinary world take her seriously and why she thinks it’s ‘all about the sauce’.(Photo: Kelis, Credit: BBC)

In a nod to the British royal wedding, we are super-sizing the Food Chain this week as we explore cooking on a grand scale.Emily Thomas visits a Sikh temple to see how volunteers serve up to a thousand free meals per day without even breaking a sweat. A professional caterer breaks down the economics of mass catering for us. Plus, a foodie chemist gives us his take on mass cooking on a molecular level. And we may or may not be speaking to the man in charge of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding menu.(Picture: Quirky and colourful tiered cake Credit: Getty Images)

Food is propaganda in this episode of The Food Chain.In the second part of our two week exploration into the relationship between political power and what we eat, we’re asking how food can be used by authoritarian regimes and extremist groups to influence and persuade. A food writer will take us on an officially-approved tour of North Korea. And Emily Thomas meets a man who spent ten days living - and eating with fighters from the Islamic State group.(Photo: Hand reaching out a megaphone. Credit: Getty Images).

How do authoritarian regimes use food to control and manipulate? In the first of two episodes exploring food and power, we find out how changes to the global economy mean food policy under dictatorships could soon look quite different. Plus, how do you write about food when there isn't any? Emily Thomas talks to a Venezuelan food writer who says her country's food story speaks volumes about the political situation, and explains why she continues to blog about restaurants, despite hunger being rife. In a country where people are afraid to say what they think, we hear why food writing can mean freedom.(Picture: Red hand pointing upwards with clenched fists, Credit: Getty Images)