The Food Chain

From diet pills to vomit rooms, the Food Chain investigates the rise of eating disorders in China. Is this an inevitable consequence of economic development? And if so, why are eating disorders still all too often seen as a rich white woman’s problem?’In the first of two episodes to explore the rising prevalence of eating disorders outside of the western world, Emily Thomas speaks to women with the illness in China and Hong Kong, who explain how hard it is to access support for binge-eating disorder, bulimia and anorexia, because of attitudes to food and weight, taboos around mental health, and a lack of treatment options. They describe the pressure on women to be ‘small’ and ‘diminutive’, but still take part in the country’s deeply entrenched eating culture.A psychiatrist working in China’s only closed ward for eating disorders blames an abundance of food in the country, parental attitudes and the competitiveness of Chinese society. She also warns of the dangers of the uncontrolled diet pill industry. From there we delve into the sinister world of ‘vomit bars’ with a social media analyst. We also explore the link between the rise of eating disorders and economic development. Does there need to be an abundance of food in a society before these problems develop?If you or someone you know has been affected by the issues in this programme, please see the links to resources at the bottom of this page.(Photo: Woman behind glass. Credit: Getty Images)

Emily Thomas brings together a straight-talking crowd who are not afraid to ruffle a few feathers - even when they belong to the world’s most successful restaurateurs and chefs. Three restaurant critics from across the globe don't hold back as they swap notes on the job, reveal the tricks of the trade, and divulge how they really feel after writing a scathing review. Do they ever get sick and tired of eating out? And are their friends afraid to invite them over for dinner? Plus, we hear how the role of the critic differs between countries, and how it might change in the future. And we find out how our reviewers feel about increasingly being under the spotlight, as an online world allows any of us to leave a review, and to critique the critics. Fay Maschler of the London Evening Standard meets Besha Rodell of the New York Times and Rasmi Uday Singh of The Times of India.(Picture: A woman cover her face with a menu, Credit: Getty Images)

Emily Thomas asks whether we’re on a slow but steady path to abandoning our pervasive, long-standing, and arguably slightly peculiar habit of drinking milk from cows. In many European countries and the US, alternative plant-based milks are growing in popularity, and cow's milk sales are declining. Is this just a blip in our millenia-old love affair with dairy, or a steady drip towards a cow's milk-free future? Three guests debate the potential effects on global poverty, the environment and our health.(Photo: Brown cow. Credit: Getty Images)

In the second of two episodes on food and grief, Emily Thomas explores the food experiences of the widowed.In parts of the world where widowhood is seen as a source of shame, widows might be excluded from mealtimes, forbidden from eating nourishing food, and even forced to take part in degrading eating rituals. And even in some of the world's most developed countries where widowhood elicits sympathy rather than suspicion, the bereaved are still more likely to suffer nutritional deprivation than those who are still married. No matter where we are in the world, when we’re grieving, we need the nourishment and comfort that food, can provide more than ever. But losing the person we eat with most can make mealtimes hard to face, and this can devastate our physical and mental well-being. We hear from widowers and widows about how they managed to find joy in food again.(Photo: Single chair at an empty table. Credit: Getty Images).

In the first of two episodes on food and grief, Emily Thomas explores how food can help us navigate through the darkest of times - the days, weeks, and even years following the death of someone we loved. In times of loss, should we use food to remember the dead or to reconnect with them? A neurologist explains the science behind grief and appetite, and people who've been recently bereaved talk about the foods and eating rituals that have helped them through it. (Photo: A raw onion. Credit: Getty Images)

Emily Thomas asks whether the curious phenomenon of the celebrity chef, is undergoing a metamorphosis. The modern celebrity chef has their finger in a lot of pies - multiple restaurant chains, merchandise, cookery books, TV programmes, even campaigning and charity work - oh, and then there’s that Michelin star to hang on to as well. A number of chefs now have fortunes running into hundreds of millions of dollars. The breadth of their expanding empires is something that the renowned chefs of 30 years ago couldn't have even imagined. In this episode we’re asking whether we’ll see further mission creep. As home cooks increasingly look online to culinary amateurs with blogs and online videos, where does that leave the ‘celebrity chef’? Will we see them carve out new spaces in the public eye, adding even more skills to their ever-expanding portfolios: Chefs for president? And will we see more chefs from outside the US and UK achieve global dominance? We’ll also ask whether we should embrace the chef as a multi-dimensional superstar - or is all this taking us further from food, with the possibility that we’re missing out on culinary geniuses who don’t shout loudly enough?(Picture: Man in chef whites throwing flour in the air, Credit: Getty Images)

We’re killing time on The Food Chain this week. From crops that grow in just eight weeks, to whole meals that can sit on the shelf at room temperature for three years, at every stage of our food chain it seems, humans are battling against the clock, in the name of convenience, money or science. Emily Thomas asks what we lose in our attempt to eliminate this invisible ingredient.(Picture: Hand holding invisible object, Credit: Getty Images)

Meet the Michelin-starred chef who, when he hears word of a natural disaster, jumps on a plane to get there, rolls up his sleeves, and mobilises thousands to feed the hungry. José Andrés is the winner of our 2018 Global Food Champion Award. He is a man with many strings to his bow: Michelin-starred chef, TV personality, educator, serial entrepreneur, author, but it is his humanitarian work and ability to mobilise others in times of need that really won our judges over, after being nominated by our listeners.Emily Thomas talks to him about the dishes that have defined his life so far, how he managed to make 3.4 million meals for Puerto Ricans in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, the valuable lessons he learnt from stealing his mother’s béchamel out of the fridge, and why he thinks a humble cook stove has the answer to many of the world’s problems today.(Picture: José Andrés cooking in Puerto Rico, Credit: Central World Kitchen)

We sit down with one of R&B’s most eccentric and compelling artists, Kelis. Over the past 20 years she has produced era-defining hits like Milkshake, Caught Out There and Trick Me, and sold millions of records. So why did she decide to step away from the mic and into the chef's whites at the Cordon Bleu academy? Kelis tells Emily Thomas all about her passion for food and her latest plans to open a farm-to-table restaurant. We hear how she has struggled to make the culinary world take her seriously, and why she thinks it’s ‘all about the sauce’.This programme was first broadcast on the 24th May 2018.(Photo: Kelis. Credit: James Watkins/BBC)

The Food Chain listens back to My Life in Five Dishes with the renowned Egyptian cookery writer Claudia Roden - originally broadcast in January 2018. Claudia has been credited with revolutionising western attitudes to Middle Eastern and Jewish food. She tells Emily Thomas about her journey from a comfortable childhood in Cairo to exile in 1950s Britain. She explains how a longing for home led her to painstakingly collect recipes from across the Middle East, and how she turned them into classic cookbooks that have inspired generations of chefs. Find out what she makes of today's culinary scene, and the best way to get honey off a spoon.(Photo: Claudia Roden. Credit: Jamie Lau)