The Food Programme

Sheila Dillon meets Northern Ireland's chefs and producers leading a food renaissance.

With a Food Standards Agency consultation underway, Sheila Dillon and guests discuss the controversial subject of raw milk. Banned in Scotland in 1983, the current system in England allows raw unpasteurised milk to be sold directly from the farmer. Raw milk producers are subject to stringent and regular laboratory tests and their products have to carry a warning on the label that the milk may contain properties that are harmful. But there is a growing demand for raw milk in the UK and means of supply are testing the current rules ; The FSA recently threatened prosecution over the presence of a vending machine selling raw milk in Selfridges. Advocates argue that raw milk has many positive health benefits that are lost with pasteurisation. The debate for some is about the right of the individual to choose what risks they take. Balancing that demand with the need to protect public health is the challenge the Food Standards Agency faces. In America, the libertarian argument is even more polarised. With the prices paid for pasteurised milk being on a seemingly downward trajectory in the UK, and with internet shopping making a mockery of distribution rules, Sheila will get the views of all the interested parties. The passion this subject stirs, and the big questions it raises will make for a lively and engaging listen to everyone - raw milk and non raw milk drinkers alike.

Dan Saladino meets the brewers transforming the flavours and styles of the British craft beer scene. From experiments with seaweed to efforts to find lost Victorian recipes, it's a diverse and fast moving world, so where are the new ideas for beer coming from and which brewers are leading the way?The award winning beer writer Pete Brown has described 2014 as the year in which craft beer has gone mainstream. A term first used to describe the renaissance of American brewing in the 1980's "craft" refers to smaller scale breweries, producing in small batches and often working with beer styles packed with flavour.In the last ten years the overall beer market has crashed by 25 per cent. Although cask ale is holding its own, the beer of this new wave of "craft brewers" is growing at around 70 per cent, year on year. The Food Programme finds out who is behind this trend and what kind of beers they're producing.Dan hears from Brewdog in Scotland, Thornbridge in Derbyshire, Wild Beer Co in Somerset as well as The Kernel and Meantime breweries in London to hear why sour beers, German styles and Saisons are the order of the day.Beer archivist Ron Pattinson talks about his efforts to revive some of Britain's lost beer recipes and Garrett Oliver, editor of The Oxford Companion to Beer, explains why experiments in yeast are giving us new beers flavours.From Copenhagen the man behind the Mikkeller brewery describes why he never brews the same beer twice and why seaweed, popcorn and vanilla are on his list of ingredients.Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.

The rise and rise of the micro-bakery. How home baked bread became a business opportunity.

Sheila Dillon investigates the government's latest plans to improve food in the NHS. The government is introducing a new incentive to encourage hospitals to invest in food. Will this succeed where other initiatives fail?Presented by Sheila Dillon and produced in Bristol by Emma Weatherill.

A special edition introducing the producers, farmers and cooks who have made it through to the final stage of 2014's BBC Food & Farming Awards, featuring judges Charles Campion and Richard Corrigan.At the beginning of the year thousands of Radio 4 listeners from all parts of the UK sent in nominations, describing the work of their food heroes. Now, six weeks on, the judging team has decided who the finalists are.Dan Saladino introduces the 24 finalists across ten different categories from Best Drinks Producer to Best Food Market and from Best Local Food Retailer to Best Streetfood and Takeaway. The judges have been travelling to meet them all, taste the food and drink they make and hear their stories.In early May, in Bristol, at the annual Awards ceremony, we'll find out which of these finalists go on to become the winners.Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.

Sheila Dillon examines the state of the Butchery profession to find out how it has weathered the storm since the horsemeat scandal. She asks how our consumption habits have affected demand, and whether the profession of Butchery is still a promising one for young people. With contributions from young butchers Illtud Dunsford and Charlotte Harbottle, and Dario Cecchini who believes butchery is an art form and who quotes Dante as he works. Producer: Sarah Langan.

Matthew Hill reports on the future of Fairtrade as the label marks its 20th anniversary. Some are arguing that a new initiative is weakening the foundation's founding vision.Produced in Bristol by Emma Weatherill.

Sheila Dillon interviews the team behind the BBC's Natural History Unit to uncover the strangest collection of food stories from around the world. From weird, wonderful and disgusting tales of eating krill burgers in the Antarctic, to drinking goat's blood in Ethiopia.Produced by Emma Weatherill in Bristol.

In 1968 Claudia Roden published her first book, 'A Book of Middle Eastern Food', and with it introduced many people to an unfamiliar food culture.When she arrived in Britain in the fifties, foods like hummus and pitta were nearly unheard of, and "to talk about food was a taboo subject". Things have changed. That these foods are now common-place and mainstream is in large part due to Claudia Roden's work.Going on to write 'The Book of Jewish Food', 'The Food of Spain', 'Arabesque', 'Mediterranean Cookery' and others, and with a new edition of 'The Food of Italy' out next month twenty-five years after its first appearance, Sheila Dillon meets Claudia Roden. Sheila discovers a colourful and turbulent life in which food has meant so much, a life which has shaped a unique and powerful voice in food writing.Claudia was born in 1936 into a family of Sephardic Jewish merchants, into a cosmopolitan Cairo that has, in the wake of the Suez Crisis, long since disappeared. This is the story of a family in exile and the power of food to sustain individuals and entire cultures.With the help of Simon Schama, who is a long time admirer since coming across that first book as a young history teacher, Sheila Dillon charts a remarkable life in food.Presented by Sheila Dillon Produced by Rich Ward.