Episodes
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We are celebrating 10 years of The Food Chain with some of our favourite programme moments from the past decade.
Fishing to stay alive, chopping onions in remembrance, and tasting people’s names – these stories and more tell us something about our relationship with food and how it helps us connect with one another.
If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected]
Presenter: Ruth Alexander
(Image: A chocolate birthday cake with number 10 candles on top. Credit: Getty Images)
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Dull? Boring? Plain?
Vanilla is a byword for something which is ordinary or standard.
In this programme Ruth Alexander finds the story of the popular spice is anything but normal.
Originating in Mexico it’s travelled the globe and taken over, and is now one of the most valuable commodities available.
It’s gone from being highly sought after and the height of luxury – even serving as an aphrodisiac for Mesoamericans and a European monarch - to ubiquitous and considered “regular”.
Despite its reputation there is still a lot to appreciate about this complex flavour, and fans in one ice cream parlour are keen to make sure it isn’t overlooked.
Presenter: Ruth Alexander
Producers: Nina Pullman and Hannah Bewley
(Image: A vanilla bean and flower. Credit: Getty Images)
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How do our work habits shape what we eat?
In this programme Izzy Greenfield discovers the history of the workplace lunch and the ways in which society has reshaped it.
Historian Megan Elias of Boston University in the US explains how lunches have evolved from the factories of the 19th century Industrial Revolution to sandwiches eaten at the desk in 20th century offices.
Izzy visits an office and co-working space in Manchester, run by Department, a company that operates office spaces in the North of England. Abigail Gunning, Operations Director, explains why it makes sense for the company to open the building’s cafe and restaurant to the public as well as staff.
And how does workplace food impact our health? Olivia Beck, registered nutritionist at Food Choices at Work in Cork, Ireland, explains why it’s in employers’ interests to create a healthy food environment for all staff, whether in the office or at home.
If you’d like to contact the programme you can email [email protected]
Presented by Izzy Greenfield.
Produced by Beatrice Pickup.
Additional reporting by James Jackson.
(Image: a man eating a burger with a glass of juice at his desk in front of a computer screen. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)
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Water scarcity is an increasing problem on every continent, according to the United Nations.
Around half the world’s population experiences severe water scarcity for at least part of the year, according to a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Global warming and population growth is expected to make the situation worse, so what is it like to run a home or a business amid water shortages?
Ruth Alexander hears from households and businesses in Karachi, Pakistan and Bogata, Colombia, and finds out lessons from Cape Town, South Africa which was said to be approaching ‘Day Zero’ when the taps would run dry in 2018. Ruth explores whether desalination – harvesting drinking water from the sea - could ever offer a sustainable solution.
If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected]
Produced by Rumella Dasgupta and Beatrice Pickup.
(Image: people queuing for water in Cape Town, South Africa in 2018. Credit: Bloomberg/Getty Images/BBC)
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Did you share a flat, house or kitchen as a student or professional? Is it the shared meals and conversation that stay with you, or the piles of dirty dishes and missing food?
This week Ruth Alexander has a look around shared kitchens all over the world.
We hear the good, bad and dirty – and give advice on how to build cooperation in your shared kitchen. Ruth hears from a former housemate what she was really like to share with, as well as a surprise revelation about her unappetising meal of choice.
If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected]
Presented by Ruth Alexander.Produced by Hannah Bewley.
(Image: five students sat on sofas in their shared living space eating a meal they have cooked together. Credit: BBC)
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Do you know how much you should drink?
Many global guidelines recommend approximately 2 litres a day for women and 2.5 litres a day for men, including food.
But scientists say there is actually huge variation in how much each of us need as individuals.
Ruth Alexander speaks to Professor John Speakman at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, who explains why your age, sex, weight, and other environmental factors such as air temperature, humidity and altitude all make a difference.
Dr Nidia Rodriguez-Sanchez, senior lecturer at the University of Stirling in Scotland, explains why our bodies need water and what happens if we drink too little, or too much.
That happened to Johanna Perry in the UK, she tells Ruth what happened when she drank too much water whilst running the London Marathon in 2018.
Presented by Ruth Alexander.
Produced by Beatrice Pickup.
(Image: a woman holding a plastic bottle of water. Credit: Getty Images/ BBC)
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Is it possible to taste a place? A listener wonders whether the French concept of ‘terroir’ can apply to food and, if so, what the science behind it is.
Ruth Alexander goes in search of the answer, exploring how growing conditions and practices can develop flavours unique to a location.
She also hears about why the value you give to certain flavours might also be cultural.
Ruth speaks to a honey expert who is mapping the flavours of the sweet syrup across the world, a barley geneticist working with a high-end whisky brand and visits a vertical farm in Liverpool, UK, to see if foods grown in a closed environment still taste just as good.
If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected]
Presenter: Ruth Alexander
Producer: Hannah Bewley
(Image: A barley field under a setting sun. Credit: Getty Images)
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Fancy starting a food truck? It can be a way to trial new food concepts and see if your business has potential before committing to a restaurant premises.
Ruth Alexander finds out what its really like running a food truck or van. She meets customers queuing for over an hour for the SpudBros van in Preston, north-west England, where brothers Harley and Jacob Nelson have drummed up business for their jacket potatoes on social media. Ruth speaks to Anna Brand who runs a vegan food van Vege Bang Bang in Auckland New Zealand, and sisters Natalie and Samantha Mwedekeli who started Mama Rocks, a food van selling gourmet burgers in Nairobi, Kenya in 2015.
Today they have five premises and its time to sell the van that started it all. And Karan Malik talks about his food van SuperSuckers in Delhi, India. He saw the trend take off, but tells Ruth why he decided to get out of the business.
If you would like to contact the programme email [email protected].
Presenter: Ruth Alexander Producer: Beatrice Pickup Researcher: Henry Liston
(Image: Brothers Jacob and Harley Nelson in their food van selling jacket potatoes in Preston north-west England. Credit: BBC)
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An Indian curry house is one of the most popular places to go out for a meal in the UK, and is part of British life. But many people do not know their origins lie in what is now Bangladesh, after a wave of migration from there in the 1970s.
Devina Gupta traces their history and flavours on Brick Lane in east London, where many people settled and started restaurants. Many have closed over the years, but their legacy lives on. And now more diverse and authentic flavours are becoming popular in the capital and elsewhere.
Presenter: Devina Gupta Producer: Hannah Bewley
(Photo: Brick Lane sign with Bangla language version underneath. Credit: BBC)
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Ruth Alexander learns about ‘forever’ foods - stocks, soups and sourdough starters that can be replenished again and again and used for weeks, months or even years.
Ruth hears about a beef soup in Bangkok that has been maintained for 50 years, and she bakes a loaf of sourdough bread using a 69-year-old starter that has been kept going by Hobbs House Bakery in the south-west of England.
Cookbook writer Fuchsia Dunlop in London, UK, talks about the tradition of cooking with an ‘everlasting’ broth in Chinese cuisine.
Annie Ruewerda in New York in the US was charmed by the idea of a perpetual stew, she kept hers going for two months and it became an online hit – bringing hundreds of strangers to her local park to try the stew and add ingredients.
Lee-Ann Jaykus, distinguished professor emeritus and food microbiologist at North Carolina State University in the US explains the food safety rules you need to know if you want to try a perpetual dish at home.
Martha Carlin, distinguished professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the US helps unravel the claimed historical origins of perpetual stew.
And our thanks to World Service listeners David Shirley and Mark Wood for telling us about the oldest dishes they have eaten.
Producer: Rumella Dasgupta and Beatrice Pickup Additional reporting by the BBC’s Ryn Jirenuwat in Bangkok, Thailand
(Photo: A huge pot of beef soup in that has been added to over 50 years at a restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand. Credit: David Shirley/BBC)
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Social media is awash with videos of people trying out new recipes at home and exploring the best hidden foodie gems in cities around the world.
The stream of content seems endless – so how do the people making these videos keep up?
Ruth Alexander speaks to three people in the UK, USA and Vietnam about having six meals before 10am, the relentless pressure to keep up with viral trends, and what they cook for themselves when the camera is off.
Tod Inskip, Lylla Nha Vy and Jackie Gebel share the highs and lows of being a “content creator” and why they don’t like the term influencer.
Presenter: Ruth Alexander
Producers: Hannah Bewley and Elisabeth Mahy
If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected]
(Image: Lylla Nha Vy, Tod Inskip and Jackie Gebel. Credit: Composite BBC)
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If you’re a light or moderate drinker, the World Health Organization wants you to know that no level of alcohol is safe for your health.
But just how big is that risk and might it be one you’re willing to take? And what happened to the idea that a glass of red wine might be good for you?
In this programme Ruth Alexander finds out about the studies the guidance has been based on, and the statistical risk of dying from alcohol-related disease.
Dr Tim Stockwell, Scientist at the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, is the author of a meta-analysis of 107 studies that look at the links between ill health and alcohol. Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter is Emeritus Professor of Statistics at the University of Cambridge in the UK, he explains how we can make sense of risk as individuals.
And Anna Tait in the UK, Amelie Hauenstein in Germany, David Matayabas in the US and Bill Quinn in Australia talk about how much alcohol they drink, and what moderation looks like to them.
Presented by Ruth Alexander.
Produced by Beatrice Pickup.
(image: four hands raising pints of beer in a ‘cheers’ gesture. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)
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Is it worth taking collagen? With cosmetic companies and A-listers claiming it can slow the effects of ageing, the market for collagen supplements is booming. How sure is the science though?
Ruth Alexander speaks to experts about what we do and don’t know about what these powders, gels and capsules are doing inside our bodies.
She hears from a personal trainer and runner in her 50s about why she takes it daily, and speaks to the CEO of a company selling collagen products in this increasingly competitive market.
New avenues of research are opening up as well, with sports scientists investigating whether an increase in collagen production can help athletes recover from injury more quickly.
If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected]
Presenter: Ruth Alexander
Producer: Hannah Bewley
(Image: A serving of supplement powder. Credit: Getty Images)
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Have you visited a food hall recently? It’s a venue bringing together multiple independent food and drink businesses, often with communal seating.
We look at the ways in which food halls are being used to bring consumers and spend to new areas, raising the value of surrounding offices, apartments and other businesses.
In this programme Devina Gupta visits Society food hall in Manchester in the UK, where she meets Julia Martinelli, who manages the pizza offering from Noi Quattro restaurant and Reece Gibson, operations manager for Vocation Brewery which runs the bar.
Mariko Oi in Singapore reports from the Maxwell Hawker Centre in Singapore, to explore how today’s food halls have evolved from street food traders.
Frode Rønne Malmo from Mathallen in Oslo, Norway and Spiros Loukopoulos, from Reffen in Copenhagen, Denmark talk about the ways in which their food halls have brought people to the surrounding area. Food hall consultant Philip Colicchio in New York in the US explains why this business model has been so popular.
Presented by Devina Gupta.
Produced by Beatrice Pickup.
Additional reporting by Mariko Oi.
(Image: a man and a woman enjoying plates of food in a food hall. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)
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Strawberries at the airport when meeting your future husband for the first time, finally tasting world famous fish and chips and wondering why on earth the pasta is green.
These are some of this week’s stories of first impressions of food in a new country.
Devina Gupta visits a multilingual cooking class in Manchester, UK, to find out how language, culture and food help people find a home in a new part of the world..
She speaks to a chef who fled Ukraine when the war started and now runs a restaurant in the Netherlands. Nathalia adapted to life there very quickly, but still can’t comprehend why the Dutch eat toast for every meal.
Mariyam and Marius share their love story from across continents, and talk about the dishes – and those strawberries - which brought them together when they finally met.
If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected]
Presenter: Devina Gupta Producer: Hannah Bewley Translation: Irena Taranyuk (Image: Devina Gupta has afternoon tea. Credit: BBC)
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Have you heard of ‘super sweet’ sweetcorn?
If you’ve purchased fresh, frozen or tinned sweetcorn in the last few decades there’s a good chance its the super sweet variety. It’s an example of how our fruit and vegetables have been bred over time to make them sweeter, or less bitter. Its partly about appealing to consumer tastes, but can have other advantages such as better storage and reducing food waste.
In this programme Ruth Alexander finds out how and why the taste of our fresh produce is changing, and asks if we’re gaining sweetness, what are we losing?
Ruth visits Barfoots farm on the south coast of England, the biggest supplier of fresh sweetcorn in the UK, all of it super sweet varieties. Plant breeder Dr Michael Mazourek at Cornell University in the United States explains how selective breeding works, and what sort of characteristics have been prioritised by the food industry. Dr Sarah Frith, vet at Melbourne Zoo in Australia explains why they’ve stopped giving fruit to the animals. And Dr Gabriella Morini, chemist at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy explains the latest research on bitter flavours, and why they might be good for us.
If you’d like to contact the programme email [email protected]
Presented by Ruth Alexander.
Produced by Beatrice Pickup.
(Image: corn on the cob in the husk, with a background image of a field of sweetcorn plants. Credit: BBC)
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Three million bananas; 600-800 baguettes a day; 47,000 plates...as the world’s elite sportsmen and women arrive in Paris, a huge catering operation awaits them.
Ruth Alexander finds out what it takes to keep the athletes happy and fuel a medal-winning performance.
Team GB pole vaulter Holly Bradshaw talks about her relationship with food during her years as an athlete, and why she’s looking forward to retirement after Paris 2024.
Alicia Glass, senior dietician for Team USA, gives an insight in to how a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at the right time can make a big difference.
Reporter Michael Kaloki in Nairobi drops in on Kenya’s sprinters while they’re having lunch to find out what’s on their plates.
And the head of catering for the London 2012 Games Jan Matthews offers advice for the team in Paris this year on how to keep athletes who need a lot of fuel happy.
This programme includes conversations about losing and gaining weight, goal weights and difficult relationships with food that some listeners might find upsetting.
If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: [email protected]
Presenter: Ruth Alexander
Producers: Hannah Bewley, Elisabeth Mahy and Michael Kaloki
(Image: Holly Bradshaw, Team GB pole vaulter, wins bronze at Tokyo 2020. Credit: Reuters)
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Why do we cook? To create flavour, to aid digestion and to release nutrients from our food.
Every time we fry, steam, boil, or bake a series of chemical reactions take place that are key to a dish’s success.
In this programme Ruth Alexander puts questions from the BBC World Service audience to Dr Stuart Farrimond in the UK, author of ‘The Science of Cooking’. Susannah and Aaron Rickard in Australia tell Ruth about the chemical reactions they discovered when researching their cookbook ‘Cooking with Alcohol’. And Krish Ashok in India, author of ‘Masala Lab: The Science of Indian Cooking’, explains the science behind the culinary wisdom of your parents and grandparents.
If you’d like to contact the programme email [email protected]
Presented by Ruth Alexander.
Produced by Beatrice Pickup.
(Image: two young girls wearing goggles and aprons conducting a science experiment. Credit: Getty Images/ BBC)
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Of the tens of millions of people around the world with autism or down syndrome, only a tiny fraction is in paid employment.
But cooking, making drinks and waiting tables is work where people with learning disabilities can shine.
John Laurenson takes us to a Café Joyeux (Happy Café) in Paris, one of a fast-growing chain of cafe-restaurants where most of the staff have autism or down syndrome and where the croque monsieur comes with a smile.
We also hear from a cafe in Mumbai launched by the mother whose daughter has autism and, in Turkey, the KFCs with a difference.
Find out how café work can transform the lives of employees and owners.
Presenter/Producer: John Laurenson
(Image: Louis, Laura, Anne-France and Arnaud. Credit: BBC)
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Taste, it turns out, is not a matter of opinion. Scientists have discovered that your perception of taste is informed by your genetics.
When we eat or drink something, we may be having an entirely different experience to the person we’re sharing a meal with, or the chef who has prepared it, or the critic who has recommended it.
In this programme Ruth Alexander explores her likes and dislikes and how they might be informed by biology.
Ruth meets Laura Kent of the Yorkshire Wine School in the UK who helps her learn about her sensitivity to acidic and bitter flavours. Ruth speaks to Anne Fadiman, writer and Professor of creative writing at Yale University in the US, who dislikes wine, despite her wine critic father loving it. Danielle Reed, Chief Science Officer at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, US, explains the science. Tim Hanni, Master of Wine, and author of ‘Why You Like The Wine You Like’ argues that the wine industry is not paying enough attention to individual tastes. Where does this new science leave wine competitions? David Kermode, judge at the IWSC, International Wine and Spirits Competition, makes the case for the experts.
If you'd like to contact the programme, please contact [email protected].
Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup.
(Image: three people tasting wine. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)
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