Food, identity, myths and reality. In a globalised world can a dish reflect who we are and where we live? Dan Saladino explores fascinating stories of food, music and tradition in an ever changing and fast moving world. Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.

Dr. Jen Unwin, a clinical psychologist, and Dr. Chris Van Tulleken, a scientist and broadcaster, discuss the emerging concept of Ultra-Processed Food Addiction. They advocate for its recognition as a genuine condition that necessitates regulation from governments. Personal stories reveal the struggles of those living with food addiction, highlighting the emotional toll and the complexities of navigating cravings. The duo emphasizes the alluring nature of processed foods and the pressing need for more research and awareness on this issue affecting public health.

Finland has once again topped the ranking for the happiest country in the world. But what has food got to do with it? In this programme, Sheila Dillon finds out whether what they eat, their food culture and unique food policies are helping Finns feel happy. What we could we learn from this enterprising Nordic nation? And what challenges are they still facing? In Helsinki, Sheila visits restaurateur and ‘happiness hacker’ Luka Balac, who in his spare time takes tourists through a day in the life of ‘a happy Finn’, and explains how his approach to food hospitality fosters his own sense of happiness. Next. she joins a city food and walking tour to taste Finnish specialties like Karelian pies and cloudberry jam to find out more about the food habits of the locals. Finland has had its fair share of unhappiness with high depression and suicide rates in the past. Now, there are new efforts to improve mental health via food. Sheila speaks to Aino Kipfer, a researcher in Eastern Finland, who is part of a project aiming to treat depression with better diets, building on the pioneering science around food and mood. She also hears more about how food is linked to security in the eastern region from Kirsi Vartia, of the Rural Women's Advisory Committee, who shares her own personal tips for happiness. Sirpa Sarlio, an advisor at the government's Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, explains why Finland became the first country in the world to offer free school meals, and why this ended up as a strong foundation on which to build a happy and healthy wider society. Back in London, Sheila visits diplomat and food enthusiast Markus Hippi, at the Finnish church and community centre in Rotherhithe, to hear how the UK compares in terms of food culture and happiness from the point of view of Finns living abroad. Presented by Sheila Dillon and produced by Nina Pullman for BBC Audio in Bristol.

Jaega Wise and Robbie Armstrong explore the exponential growth of celebrity-backed drinks brands. She asks why so many stars want a piece of this rapidly growing pie, and charts the rise of everything from A-Lister tequilas and rums to supermarket shelves stacked with celeb-branded wines. Jaega heads to one of UK’s biggest drinks events of the year, Dr Dre and Snoop’s Gin & Juice launch, where she speaks to Shaquille O’Neal, Yungblud, Ella Eyre and Yasiin Bey on the star-studded red carpet. She hears from Blur’s Alex James about his English sparkling wine, and chats with Emma Watson’s brother Alex about the premium gin he’s launched with his sister.Brett Berish of Sovereign Brands talks about the process behind creating some of the world’s most popular celebrity-endorsed spirits. Filling up his cup with more than a splash of cynicism, Aaron Goldfarb guides Jaega through the winners and losers in his list of the best and worst celebrity spirits on the market. Jaega sits down with Noble Rot founder Dan Keeling, who discusses his previous career in the music industry, why he thinks celebrities should leave the winemaking to winemakers, and the growing trend of vigneron-as-celebrity. Producer Robbie Armstrong pops a few star-studded corks with wine writer and author of ‘Corker’, Hannah Crosbie, explains the appeal of celebrity booze for consumers, and talks us through which ones might be worth your money. Jennifer Creevy, head of food and drink at trend forecaster WGSN, predicts what the future holds for the celebrity category – and which drinks might come of age while others spoil. Presented by Jaega Wise. Produced by Robbie Armstrong.

A meeting with top chef Hélène Darroze at Mayfair's Connaught Hotel leads Sheila Dillon to ask the question, why aren't there more female Michelin starred chefs? Statistics from the Office for National Statistics suggest 37% of all chefs working in the UK are female, but when you look at the numbers leading Michelin starred restaurants, the number drops to around 8% (according to analysis by Chefs Pencil, 2022). Includes interviews with Nigerian-born chef Adejoké Bakare, who in February, became the first Black woman in Britain to earn a Michelin star; chef Sally Abé who has recently published her first book, "A Woman's Place is in the Kitchen" and Sarah Francis who returned her Michelin star after 8 years running The Checkers (a restaurant in Montgomery, Powys). Plus we hear from young upcoming female fine-dining chefs about how they feel the industry is set up for women wanting to reach the top jobs. Presented by Sheila Dillon Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Natalie Donovan

As the summer holidays kick off and people plan for journeys far and near, Sheila explores what food is provided on trains and at train stations across the country. A new report by the Office for Road and Rail suggests passengers pay around 10 per cent more for food inside stations, where catering leases often roll over automatically with limited opportunities for new food businesses to enter the market. Sheila finds out who the biggest players are in rail food and speaks to a range of people from station operators, food retailers and train companies to find out: is train food as bad as it once was? Not many people spend their lives in constant motion, but travel writer Caroline Eden is one of them. Sheila shares a train picnic with Caroline on the train line leading up to Scotland's walking country, and hears stories of food shared and meals eaten on remote routes during Caroline's travels through Central Asia and beyond. Pasties are one of Caroline's favourite journey foods, and she's not alone. From the tin miners of Cornwall's past to their omnipresence at stations today, pasties might just be one of the UK's longest-standing foods eaten on the move. Sheila also hears from travel correspondent Simon Calder, reporting from a station cafe on the Swiss-Italian border, with his perspective on how train catering has changed and his top tops for eating well on the move. How does food on trains compare in other countries and is there anything we can learn from the food cultures of others? Tokyo food tour host Yukari Sakamoto explains the tradition of Japan's Bento boxes, nutritious, freshly-cooked boxed meals bought at stations and eaten on trains across the country. Presented by Sheila Dillon and produced by Nina Pullman for BBC Audio in Bristol.

As part of Just One Thing Day on Radio 4, Sheila Dillon looks back at Dr Michael Mosley's legacy and comes up with 5 reasons why he mattered in getting us all to understand why eating better leads to living better. Through listening to the Just One Thing archive, and some of The Food Programme archive, we can see how his "just one things" were connected to much bigger things, and how he was able to show us, through examining the evidence for that thing, and trialling it on willing members of the public, that change can begin, and maybe has to begin, with individuals. As promised, here's a list of the programmes featured: Just One Thing: Change Your Meal Times - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000zt7d Snack Smartly - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001wq7f Swap Out Sugar - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001gx56 Try Some Turmeric – https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001jt2h Eat Slowly – https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001zvvr Enjoy Oily Fish - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0017tbn Food Special with Tim Spector - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001ngjx The Food Programme: Doctor's Orders: Getting Tomorrow's Medics Cooking - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09wr9q9 The Eatwell Guide - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b86702 Turmeric – https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08rpd85 Mindful Food and the Art of Attention - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00193rb How We Eat: 4. Eating as a Family - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b099w3v4 Omega 6 - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b00jc3sw The Food Programme – Fixing Dan - https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001h44h Presented by Sheila Dillon Produced in Bristol for BBC Audio By Natalie Donovan

Saunas, pickled food.. even Nokia phones. But do you associate Finland with the future of food? Sheila Dillon visits the new factory making microbial protein out of hydrogen, oxygen and various minerals. Solar Foods, in Finland, is the latest frontier in the commercial lab-grown food sector; their invention, Solein, is a novel food ingredient that can replace animal products like milk, eggs and meat. Rather than using animal cells as a starting point, their process uses electrolysis to separate water into oxygen and hydrogen, followed by machinery usually found in the dairy industry to dry and then pasteurise the resulting protein powder. After a tour of this futuristic factory, Sheila sits down for lunch cooked by Solar Foods’ head chef to find out how this so-called ‘food of the future’ actually tastes.Lab-grown meat has been touted as the future for many years, but it has yet to take off – in fact, companies in this space are struggling. Changes to global politics as well as the high cost of scaling up have all limited the sector's growth so far. Meanwhile, it's still not clear if people want lab-grown meat as part of their lives or diets. Sheila hears from Dutch biology and ethics professor, Cor van der Weele, who found that people were more interested in small-scale production of lab-grown meat, in containers alongside animals on farms, rather than scaled up mega factories. So how does lab-grown meat fit into our future food system? Is it really the best way to reduce the environmental impact of our diets? And how might it help us when climate change or wars make global trade too difficult? Sheila asks professor Tim Benton, of think tank Chatham House, for his views on all the big questions.Produced by Nina Pullman for BBC Audio in Bristol.

Author Milly Kenny-Ryder explores the rise of viral viennoiseries in British bakeries with Leyla Kazim and Robbie Armstrong. They visit TOAD bakery and Philippe Conticini, discuss the appeal of Greggs, and showcase Quince Bakery's traditional British baking. Robbie explores Lannan and a fifth-generation bakery in Fife with internationally famous fudge doughnuts.

As a major outbreak from a new strain of E. coli makes headlines, we ask: what makes food safe? How are food producers coping with new strains of food pathogens? And what does safe food even mean in a world where processed food is increasingly seen as the top cause of dietary ill health? Meeting over a platter of various foods from raw milk cheese to salad, Sheila Dillon and producer Nina Pullman hear from microbiologists, food safety experts and cheese makers to hear the challenges of staying ahead of the curve when it comes to food and science. They speak to a scientist testing bacteria-eating viruses that can be inserted into feed or food packaging to tackle these new E. colis, known as STECs, and they chat to a global expert in food microbiology on how climate change is making pathogens more difficult to predict. While such pathogens can get into a variety of foods, raw or unpasteurised cheese makers are feeling the pressure more than most due to the perception of risk around their products. Cheese makers at a panel in London explain the human impact on a small family business that is linked to an outbreak, while a tour of Neals Yard Dairy reveals the number of cheesemakers considering turning to pasteurisation due to fears around the new strains of STEC E. colis. In a conversation about food that makes us sick, Sheila also meets members of the pubilc who took part in a recent national conversation on food for their views on food safety more broadly. What does food safety mean to them and what do the public expect from food? Produced by Nina Pullman for BBC Audio in Bristol.