The Food Programme

It's an ingredient that is key to many cuisines of the world, and has a prominent role in folklore and traditional medical systems- although some people avoid it because of the passions that it is said to arouse. Sheila Dillon explores a bulb which provokes strong feelings - both culinary and otherwise - and is now to be found in most of our kitchens: garlic. The United Kingdom is importing five times the amount of garlic than twenty-five years ago. Some British growers are smelling an opportunity for home-grown bulbs, but how much have we stopped to think about the way we use this enigmatic 'allium'?

Sheila Dillon investigates the food lives of people surviving on the basic state pension. To fully understand the experience of living on a small income and feeling the limitations of older age, food writer Andrew Webb volunteered to spend a week living as his 80 year old self.Kitted out in a suit that replicates some of the physical challenges of someone twice his age Andrew shopped, cooked, ate and dined for a week as a pensioner. His right knee was stiff, he was felt unbalanced by weights placed on his ankle and his eyesight was restricted by a pair of glasses replicating a loss of vision. He was also given a pair of gloves that reduce skin sensitivity and created the effects of arthritis in his hands. Ear plugs made him partially deaf. Dressed like this he heads off on a mission to the shops, and on to cook a meal. With an ageing population, an increase in food prices and cuts to local council services, The Food Programme investigates what our food future might look, feel and taste like.

Sheila Dillon reports on fresh developments in the horsemeat scandal. As more tests reveal large amounts of horsemeat in beef products, Sheila investigates the supply chain.Producer: Dan Saladino.

Sheila Dillon with an exclusive food interview with former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney. More than thirty years since becoming a vegetarian he reflects on his life through food.He describes his early life in the terraced council house, 20 Forthlin Road, now owned by the National Trust and where the McCartney kitchen, circa 1955, has been restored. Paul McCartney recalls meals of pork chops, liver and tongue , the latter proving to be one of the biggest food challenges of his childhood.He recounts stories on the road with The Beatles and seeing huge steaks drooping over the plate on their American tour, and then the 1960 trip to India and facing a strict vegetarian diet. Several years later, after spending time on his farm, and influenced by his wife Linda, he stopped eating meat.So how, from a personal decision based on compassion for animals, did he decide to shift to a more political and campaigning stance on food and farming? Sheila Dillon finds out how he took a fame based on the stage, into arenas like the European Parliament and The White House.Producer: Dan Saladino.

Ireland's horsemeat burger scandal makes the guarantees on traceability and product standards by some supermarkets look unreliable. The discovery may also be a wakeup call for the Food Standards Agency. In a special edition of The Food Programme, Sheila Dillon talks to former regulators and experts on food processing to find out how it could have happened and what kind of meat supply chain it has revealed. The discovery comes as many people monitoring food safety have expressed concerns about cuts in budgets to the UK's food testing regime. Public analyst Duncan Campbell explains why he thinks the two scenarios are connected. To shed light on the global trade in horse meat and protein products Sheila speaks to Latitude News journalist Jack Rodolico. He's traced the movement of race horses into the EU food supply chain. New York Times reporter Michael Moss also explains why the UK might be following in the footsteps of a debate around cheap meat sparked off in the US by the so called "pink slime" scandal. Presented by Sheila Dillon and produced by Dan Saladino.

Traffic light labelling - whether red lights will stop us eating bad foods. Sheila Dillon investigates whether this year's change in food labelling will encourage us to improve our diet.Sue Davies from Which? explains the change to food labelling. This year a consistent system will be adopted across supermarkets. The labels will show a combination of guideline daily amounts, colour coding and "high, medium or low" wording will be used to show how much fat, salt and sugar and how many calories are in each product.Dr Mike Rayner has worked on a system like this since the 1980s. He celebrates this as a landmark year in public health, but thinks that the traffic light system still is not perfect.And New York Times columnist Mark Bittman describes his dream food label, which would also include details about animal welfare and how processed the food was.Presented by Sheila Dillon and produced by Emma Weatherill.

Sheila Dillon presents a special New Year, "From our Own Food Correspondent" with stories from China, France, Italy, Britain and the United States that reflect our changing attitudes towards the food we eatProducer: Maggie Ayre.

Dan Saladino explores the cocktail, a story which begins with 18th century Indian punch and keeps on evolving with new wave flavours being developed in the bars of New York , London, Bristol and Manchester.After years of being out of fashion and misunderstood, the cocktail is making a comeback. Drinks that had been forgotten for decades, like the Sidecar, the Old Fashioned and the Manhattan have returned as a new generation is discovering the pleasures of a cold, expertly mixed drink.Cocktail expert Nick Strangeway explains that the renaissance is largely down to drinks "following on the coat tails" of wider changes in food in Britain. Meanwhile, television programmes like Sex in the City and Mad Men have excited the imagination of a generation less familiar with the Martini and Bloody Mary.Joe Carlin, author of Cocktails: A Global History provides some insights into why the cocktail became so successful in 19th century America and why it still endures to this day.

Christmas Necessary Pleasures - Sheila Dillon hears from leading chefs and writers on their favourite Christmas foods.Jamie Oliver, Angela Hartnett and Great British Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood are among the top chefs who create an imaginary banquet of Christmas delicacies. Food writers Tom Jaine and Kirsten Rodgers discuss these foods, and hear about past Christmas traditions from food historian Peter Brears as he cooks up dishes in Wordsworth's Cottage in Grasmere.Presented by Sheila Dillon and produced by Emma Weatherill.

Cheap veg - the surprising stories behind humble British vegetables. Sheila Dillon enlists three experts to uncover the hidden side of our veggies. Ethno-botanist James Wong argues that rhubarb is the only uniquely British indigenous vegetable. Agricultural expert Dr Oliver Moore discovers the work that a seed bank in Ireland is doing to increase variety in our potatoes. And food writer Andrew Webb unearths new uses for onions.Presented by Sheila Dillon and produced by Emma Weatherill.