The Food Programme

Can Health Secretary Andrew Lansley change Britain's bad eating habits? Sheila Dillon hears how the debate is shaping up on the "responsibility deals" aimed at changing our diet.With over 60 per cent of the British population now overweight or obese everyone agrees that change is needed in how we eat and what we eat. One part of the government's strategy involve so called responsibility deals, agreements with the food industry based around a series of pledges. A growing number of food manufacturers and retailers have signed up, pledging to reduce calories, remove salt and harmful trans-fats from food. But will it deliver a big enough change in the nation's diet?Sheila Dillon finds out how the Danish government has recently opted to place a tax on nutrients like saturated fat and sugar, meanwhile in New York City, mayor Michael Bloomberg has placed a ban on ingredients like trans-fats and is now placing restrictions on the size of soft drink portions.So, to tax, ban or adopt voluntary agreements on food? Sheila hears how the three different ideas are being developed. Producer: Dan Saladino.

What began as a writing project for school has, in two short months, become an internet phenomenon that is changing the way people are looking at the food children eat."NeverSeconds" is the food blog of nine year old Martha Payne (AKA 'VEG'), from Lochgilpead in the West of Scotland. Inspired by a family friend who is a journalist, Martha started to photograph and rate her school dinners.A few weeks ago her story went global when her local council banned her from taking any more of these photographs. The council backed down after a massive public outcry, but the profile of the site had by then been boosted irreversibly.What next for Martha and her father Dave, and the rest of the Payne family? Sheila Dillon went to their thirteen acre smallholding to meet them and find out.Sheila discovered a family very much in tune with where their food comes from, and went on a journey that took in celebrity chef and food campaigner Nick Nairn, a llama, haggis lasagne and a chance to change the Scottish food system.Producer: Rich Ward.

Sheila Dillon asks if food is the key to reviving the Britain' declining high streets. Food expert, Henrietta Green visits Croydon town centre which has just been awarded a grant by retail guru,Mary Portas to see if a radical food future is possible and asks what are the barriers to bringing quality food back to our high streets.Producer: Maggie Ayre.

With digital publishing evolving at a blistering pace, Sheila Dillon investigates the future of the printed cookery book.Andrew Webb is a food journalist whose work spans the online and printed worlds. He is the author of 'Food Britannia', which just scooped the Guild of Food Writers award for Food Book of the Year, and also edits a food website. To find out where things are moving in the world of the food book, The Food Programme sent him to meet five key players in the world of food, books and publishing.Antony Topping is a literary agent, whose clients include Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Thomasina Miers. Mary-Clare Jerram is a Publishing Director at Dorling Kindersley, looking after both digital and print editions. Ian Malone runs a company specialising in food apps for phones and tablets. Andrew also meets Dr Peter Ross, Principal Librarian at the Guildhall Library, home to the largest collection of food books in any UK public library - and lastly, Hardeep Singh Kohli is a broadcaster, author and is passionate about food.Sheila is joined in the studio by Neill Denny, Editor-in-Chief of the book industry magazine 'The Bookseller', Kerstin Rodgers - aka MsMarmitelover - food blogger and pop-up restaurant pioneer, and Ben Ebbrell, who cooks and presents on the Sorted food site.Producer: Rich Ward.

Sheila Dillon meets Jan Matthews head of the UK's biggest catering job, organising food for the Olympics, London 2012 to ask how successful she's been with the "Olympic Food Vision" that promised to showcase the best of British food. She also meets the Chair of London Food, Rosie Boycott to hear the latest on the city's growing initiative that aims to be part of the Olympic food legacy.Producer: Maggie Ayre.

In this special programme Sheila Dillon launches the search for this year's winners of the BBC Food & Farming Awards.Sheila is joined by Michelin-starred chef Angela Hartnett to catch up with some of the recent winners and nominees. With insights from last year's winners of the Best Food Producer award - Loch Arthur Creamery - to the Best Market - Bolton - we hear why the awards make a real difference.Valentine Warner and Pete Brown, both new to the judging team this year, give their take on the Drinks Producer and Market categories, and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, also a winner in 2011, explains why these awards really do matter.Producer: Rich Ward.

Sheila Dillon explores the world of the modern British tomato. Great improvements have been made in variety, flavour and quality over the last decade thanks to some technological breakthroughs including computer controlled glasshouses and use of micro-environments, green energy and smart water use. Now many more varieties can be trialled, grown and marketed in the UK. But with the emphasis on quality and flavour rather than quantity, can they ever compete with Spanish imports?Producer: Maggie Ayre.

Simon Parkes reports from the London International Wine fair to discover the latest trends in the wine industry.Simon meets wine producers from emerging wine producing countries such as India and Brazil to taste the wines that could soon be hitting the supermarket shelves in the UK. He also samples wines with a lower alcohol strength to discover if it is possible to produce wines that taste good without the high levels of alcohol.The Food Programme also reports on two smaller festivals focussing on 'natural wine': wines made with a minimum of chemical input to find out whether natural wines are now becoming more established in the UK wine market.Presenter: Simon Parkes Producer: Martin Poyntz-Roberts

Tim Hayward offers his reflections on the past, present and future of the British breakfast. Has the first meal of the day become a problem to solve rather than a pleasure?Joined by food writer and breakfast historian Seb Emina, Tim finds out how the great British breakfast became the envy of the world. With its origins dating back to aristocratic Edwardian country houses, the cooked breakfast spread through the chop houses of working class London and beyond. But with the huge amount of breakfast choices now available and our increasingly busy lives, eating breakfast has become an increasingly diverse and fragmented food experience. For some breakfast is an exercise in "grab-and-go" and indulging in more of a "desk-fast" than a meal, but there are some other interesting trends underway; sales of the big name cereal brands have been falling, porridge sales have been making something of a comeback. For an insight into this trend, Tim meets Nick Barnard of Rude Health, one of the more recent players on the breakfast scene competing for our morning appetite.With the help of food writer Anna Berrill, Tim finds out how, for some, the traditional breakfast is becoming more of a whole social occasion. Writer and comedian Chris Neill explains his own personal problem with breakfast and we learn how the so called "third wave" coffee scene is a growing influence on our mornings.Producer: George Casey.

For many years the symbol of stodgy service station fare, the humble pie is enjoying a renaissance as chefs and public alike discover the joys of a lovingly made pastry containing top quality ingredients. The Food Programme meets piemakers and connoisseurs at the annual British Pie Awards and hears why top chefs and food writers are extolling the virtues of the pieProducer: Maggie Ayre.