The Food Programme

Mushrooms like Chaga, Reishi, Lion’s Mane and Turkey Tail are popping up all over the place at the moment, in supplements, powders, and even coffee. These are the so-called medicinal species of mushroom that have been used for centuries by our ancestors, and currently today in Traditional Chinese medicine. Sheila Dillon started taking these mushrooms a decade ago as part of diversifying her diet after becoming seriously ill, but they weren’t that easy to buy then. Now they seem to be everywhere. And some of the health claims you can find online attached to these medicinal species go way beyond what can currently be backed by modern science.In this programme Sheila finds out how medicinal mushrooms went from ancient wild food, to the latest hot health and wellness trend. We hear from Professor Nik Money, mycologist at Miami University in Ohio, about Lion’s Mane and what we currently know about the claims that it’s supposed to be good for our brains. To taste the freshest UK-grown medicinal species in the flesh, Sheila visits specialist mushroom grower Forest Fungi in Devon. And she has a mushroom coffee with Dr Emily Leeming, Scientific Researcher at Kings College London, to discuss mushroom supplements, and what we know about the nutritional benefits of mushrooms and their impact on the gut microbiome.Presented by Sheila Dillon and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol

Dan Saladino and psychologist Kimberley Wilson explore the latest science about food, mental health and boosting our brain power. Featuring Professor Michael A Crawford (Imperial), Professor Felice Jacka, Professor Felice Jacka of the Food & Mood Centre, Deakin University, Australia and Professor Ted Dinan, psychiatrist at University College Cork. Also, from the Radio 4 archive, Dr Bernard Gesch, Senior Research Scientist in the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford (featured in The Food Programme 2005), Dr Simon Dyall, nutritional neuro-scientist at the University of Roehampton (Just One Thing) and Allesandra Borsini, Senior Research Fellow at Kings College (All In The Mind). Produced by Dan Saladino

Ultra-Processed Food makes up more than 50% of all calories consumed in the UK - but UPFs are being linked with obesity and disease, and there are calls for tougher regulations. In this programme, Sheila Dillon meets the Conservative MP for Stourbridge, Suzanne Webb, who says current government guidelines about healthy eating do not go far enough. She says regulators need to stop focussing on individual ingredients, and should focus on health outcomes. The term Ultra-Processed Food, or UPF, was coined more than a decade ago to describe foods that are highly processed, contain many ingredients that are not found in ordinary kitchens and are often wrapped in plastic. They are most supermarket cereals, bread, ready-meals, ice-cream, fruit yoghurts and desserts. Diets high in these foods are being associated with several illnesses including obesity, cancer, depression and heart disease. Several countries are now advising consumers to limit their consumption of UPF, but in the UK there are no plans to change advice. Last week, the Government's scientific advisors on nutrition published a statement on (ultra-) processed foods and health, concluding that although research consistently associates increased consumption of UPFs with ill-health, there are uncertainties around the quality of the evidence available. The Government says it is already taking action to limit the consumption of foods that are high in salt, sugar and fat, which will include many UPFs. So it seems better research is needed - but as Sheila Dillon hears, researching in this area is painstakingly complex. Presented by Sheila Dillon Produced in Bristol by Natalie Donovan

The practice of smoking is one of the world’s oldest food preservation methods, but which techniques are catching fire today, while other processes risk being extinguished? We hear from producers bringing diverse barbecue and smoking techniques to new audiences, as well as those keeping traditional processes alive. Leyla Kazim visits Cue Point to hear from Mursal Saiq and Joshua Moroney about their unique ‘British Afghan Fusion BBQ’ that brings an inclusive style of smoking to a wider audience while drawing on diverse culinary heritages. Melissa Thompson, writer, cook and author of Motherland, discusses the central role smoke plays in Jamaican cuisine, and why food and history in the Caribbean are so intertwined. Author of the Barbecue Bible and Project Smoke, Steven Raichlen, traces the history of smoking from its Palaeolithic origins to present day, and argues that cooking with fire was one of the greatest technological advances in the history of humankind. Helen Graves, editor of Pit Magazine and author of Live Fire, explains why she has made it her mission to champion the broad range of diversity in open fire cooking, and the reasons she tends not to follow the trend of US-style barbecue. Producer Robbie Armstrong heads to Fèis Ìle, Islay’s annual whisky and music festival, to hear about the renaissance of peated whiskies with Ardbeg’s visitor centre manager Jackie Thompson. He speaks to Arbroath smokie producer Iain R. Spink about reviving ancient methods on the verge of being snuffed out. Christian Stevenson, better known as DJ BBQ, tracks the popularity of US grilling and smoking in the UK. Leyla and Robbie sit down to taste some smoky drinks, while pondering the future of traditional methods, and how to balance the world’s love for peated whiskies with peatland restoration. Leyla discovers that while some processes born out of necessity may be less popular today, it’s clear the practice of smoking is showing no signs of dissipating. Presented by Leyla Kazim. Produced by Robbie Armstrong.

Dan Saladino hears from the bakers in Ukraine supplying fresh bread to the frontline, and journalist Felicity Spector travels across the country to visit the bakeries supplying people in need, the elderly, displaced and soldiers.Produced by Dan Saladino.

Eighty six year old Fergie MacDonald remembers shooting Red deer as a nine year old boy. The Second World War was on and food was scarce in his home village in the rugged Moidart peninsula, in the Scottish Highlands. It was of course a crime, as he freely acknowledges - the deer belonged to the local estate. But his family had to eat. His mother roasted, boiled and salted the venison and, as Fergie says, "you acquired a taste for it."Today he's still eating vension, but it comes from animals shot legally by his son John, who is a deer manager, stalker and butcher. John has been running his own wild venison business since 1998 and in that time he's seen immense changes. He says there's much more public awareness about the benefits of eating a lean, protein-rich meat, amid concerns about the environmental damage caused by red deer over population. John sells venison cuts to passing trade from his roadside shop as well as providing meat for the family's hotel, Mingarry Park, run by his wife Emma. Emma says venison dishes are always on the menu and vegetarians have even been willing to try them. But John's business is not without its headaches. He tells Sheila Dillon he has to work within strict culling targets imposed by the Scottish government and he's concerned that deer numbers locally are falling too quickly. Since Covid and Brexit, he finds it hard to get staff, so much so, that Fergie regularly helps out in the shop and his 73 year old Mum, Maureen, still makes all the burgers.Further north on the shores of Loch Ness, campaigners have been giving school children an introduction to the complexities of deer management and venison production. Earlier this year, in a project called 'Hill to Grill', pupils at Glen Urquhart High School joined a deer stalker on the hills and were shown how the animals are butchered and processed. Back in school, they devised their own recipes and took part in a Dragon's Den-type competition to market and brand their dishes.One of the organisers, ecological consultant, Dr Linzi Seivwright, says it was a fantastic learning experience for the children. "It's vital to move away from the traditional image of venison as a food for the wealthy and to show local communities that it is an affordable and versatile choice." Sheila complimented the teenage chefs.. "These are so moist and delicious - so much nicer than burgers from a fast food chain," she said. Hundreds of miles away in Gloucestershire, the environmental problems caused by large deer herds are much more critical, according to leading campaigner and deer manager, Mike Robinson. He says that numbers have got out of control, particularly since Covid and that culling targets are more difficult to enforce in England than in Scotland, because estates are smaller and fragmented. He shows Sheila some of the damage in an estate forest caused by grazing deer.He estimates that there may be nearly 3 million deer in England, mainly fallow, roe and muntjac and that stricter controls are necessary. He says the Westminister government is now using a carrot and stick approach with landowners – offering woodland grants which are conditional on professional deer management plans – and he's hopeful that this will be effective. As well as managing deer, Mike Robinson is a chef and restaurateur with several award-winning restaurants. He specialises in wild food and recently launched The Wild Venison Project – an initiative to get more chefs across the UK to put venison on their menus and to persuade the public to buy and cook it at home. He cooks several recipes for Sheila to demonstrate the versatility of the meat and he says: "I suppose you could say I am obssessed with vension. It just makes so much sense to eat a meat which is wild, healthy and nutritious and which also helps address environmental problems." Mike runs Deer Box, an online food site and believes selling directly to the public is the most cost effective and efficient way for producers to operate because most supermarket chains have their own internal purchasing systems which are difficult for small producers to work with. He set up Deer Box during Covid, with a state of the art processing unit and offers everything from expensive steak cuts to mince, steak pieces and burgers. He is also a patron of The Countryside Food Trust, a charity which distributes game to food banks and communtiy projects. It's not the first time Sheila Dillon has reported, for The Food Programme, on efforts to increase the consumption of wild venison. Will they have more success this time? Given the growing interest in food sustainability and environmental concerns, campaigners Mike Robinson, John MacDonald and Linzi Seivwright are convinced their message is finally beginning to pay dividends.

Italy is famous the world over for its delicious food and beautiful countryside. The two come together in the form of the agriturismo, a type of farm-stay where the food – produced on the farm itself – takes centre stage. Agritourism there has been hugely successful since it was first established in the 1980s as a way to make small farms viable. It now contributes around 1.9 billion euros to the Italian economy every year.Agritourism is in its infancy in the UK, where a young generation of chefs have decamped from the city to the countryside to take on farms, and ensure they have absolute control over how their ingredients are sourced.Jaega Wise visits Coombeshead Farm in Cornwall, where guests can eat, sleep and explore where their food comes from and understand how it’s produced. The farm is managed by Tom Adams, who previously ran a successful food truck and restaurant in London.She also talks to Hugo Guest and his wife Olive, who again left London behind to set up a farm restaurant and guest house in Devon. They discuss the influence of Italian agritourism on their venture, which opened just after the Covid-19 lockdowns.We hear the thoughts of Gabriella Parkes, a researcher in rural tourism from Harper Adams University, on how the pandemic gave a boost to rural tourism and an interest in locally produced food. Caroline Millar from Scottish Agritourism and the Global Agritourism Network tells the programme how Scotland aims to take inspiration from Italy for its own burgeoning agritourism industry.Jaega discusses with chefs Dan Cox and Hugo Harrison the lengths they and others have gone to in order to chase the perfect produce. She also talks to Tom Adams, Dan Cox and Hugo Harrison about the cost of establishing this kind of enterprise, and whether it’s inevitable that these places remain accessible only to wealthy people.Finally, hotel critic Fiona Duncan sums up why staying and eating on a farm – as in Italy – is a truly immersive experience, and how more of these could invigorate the UK’s restaurant and hotel scene.Presented by Jaega Wise. Produced by Fiona Clampin.

The diets of children in the UK are now mostly made up of ultra-processed food, so can we learn from the French in how they teach children healthy eating habits? Sheila Dillon finds out.Presented by Sheila Dillon and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol

Sheila Dillon explores how food habits are formed in the early years, and how parents and nurseries are coping with a food environment full of unhealthy ultra-processed food.Presented by Sheila Dillon and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol

From Nobel winners to great innovators, Dan Saladino explores the history of prize-winning food ideas that changed the world, including researchers who uncovered the secrets of our stomachs to the plant breeds transforming the future of wheat.Nominations are now open for this year's BBC Food and Farming Awards until June 19th, including Best Innovation which was created to celebrate ideas that will make food production better for us and for the planet.For more than a century, and around the world, ground-breaking ideas linked to food have featured in awards and prizes, from Ivan Pavlov's research on our digestive system through to Norman Borlaug's efforts to increase food production with crop breeding in the 1960s. Both received a Nobel Prize. In more recent years awards have been created to find solutions to some of the biggest challenges we face in food and farming. The former chef of the Swedish restaurant Faviken, Magnus Nilsson now oversees the Food Planet Prize, the world's biggest environmental prize. He tells Dan about previous winners who have created solutions to plastics in our oceans and the problem of abandoned fishing equipment, so called 'ghost nets' and also a project in Africa providing refrigeration to farmers which is resulting in a dramatic reduction in food waste.Another award winner in the programme is Heidi Kuhn, founder of Roots of Peace. This year she was recognised by the US based World Food Prize for decades of work helping to clear mines from regions impacted by conflict and return the land to food production. Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.