The Food Programme

Abergavenny Food Festival started 25 years ago to showcase local produce; now a famous event with renowned chefs. The festival engages people in conversations about food chains and localism, and combines policy discussions with food stalls. The festival's emphasis on artisan markets, farming discussions, and community celebration has contributed to its success over the years. The podcast also mentions the involvement of local figures, unique experiences, and Franco's many contacts in the food industry.

Discover the finalists in the BBC Food and Farming Awards for best street food and small eateries, along with personal stories of past winners. Highlights include sampling traditional Malaysian clay pot cooking at Joli, trying Pakistani naanwiches at Maasi's, and experiencing sustainable and subscription-based takeaways from DabbaDrop.

Three finalists for the Food Innovation Award are featured: Wildfarmed's regenerative farming method, Too Good To Go app rescuing unsold food, and the Alexandra Rose Charity's voucher scheme. They all aim to change the food system by offering alternatives to industrial farming, reducing food waste, and providing fresh produce to low-income families.

From basic burgers and chips to a wide variety of international cuisines, this podcast explores the evolution of food options at music festivals. It discusses the challenges faced by festival caterers and the importance of zoning festival areas. The narrator also delves into the world of festival food, from lavish banquets curated by renowned chefs to eating on a budget. Tips for maximizing the festival experience and green initiatives at festivals are shared, along with efforts made to improve food sourcing and caterings sustainability.

Explore the UK's first permanent Food Museum in Stowmarket, Suffolk. Discover the Thrills and Grills Program for children, ancient maize from Mexico, and a 50-year-old bean slicer. Step inside the dairy cottages frozen in time and learn about documenting working-class food. Delve into complex food issues, including the impact of the meat industry and regenerative agriculture.

Wedding food costs, pandemic, and cost of living crisis affect couples and caterers. Wedding trends include food trucks, festival-style take-aways, and alcohol-free weddings. Street food stalls enhance guests' experience. Surplus food as wedding meals and the tradition of 'wedding breakfast'. History of wedding feasts and the impact of the pandemic.

World leaders met in Rome to fix the food system. The podcast explores the UN Food Systems Summit and the urgent need for transformation to achieve Sustainable Development Goals. It emphasizes treating food as a human right and the emergence of a global coalition of farmers markets. The negative impacts of the global food system are discussed, along with solutions like true cost accounting and reshaping financial systems.

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