BBC Radio Podcasts from The Food Chain
To salt or not to salt?
What sodium chloride does to your food and your body
Hungry at sea
Why some seafarers on board cargo ships don’t have enough to eat
Food double-acts: TV chefs
The chefs who have found brilliant on-screen chemistry with a friend
How to run a restaurant
With restaurants up against it, what is the winning formula for running one?
The real Willy Wonkas
What’s it really like to work in a chocolate factory?
Fasting and feasting
Is fasting for faith good for the mind and body?
Why we love dumplings
You say ‘kenkey’, I say ‘dim sum’. Where did dumplings really come from?
The fifth taste
How to cook with umami and MSG
The school cooks
Three lunch chefs take us behind the scenes of canteen culture
Is this ultra processed?
What is ultra processed food, and how can you spot it?
Table talk
Why what you talk about over dinner matters
Detroit's urban farmers
Meet the people growing food on vacant land in this US city
Rebuilding Turkey’s food culture
We report on the impact of the 2023 earthquakes on food businesses in Antakya, Turkey
Is Chinese food the best in the world?
What centuries of Chinese cuisine can teach us today
How to invent an apple
The fascinating history and future of the apples you buy in the supermarket
The preservers
Meet the people preserving food to make it last longer
Another year away from home
Two families displaced by the war in Ukraine reflect on their second year away from home
Festive food stories
Which celebration dish is your favourite?
Feed your brain
Why is it important to ‘feed’ your brain?
How to stop cooking killing
Millions die each year because of their stoves, so what's being done about it?
Pesticide exports
Should the global rules governing pesticide sales be tougher?
Food for new mums
Which foods does your body need after giving birth?
Eco scores on food labels
The EU wants to introduce a sustainability score on packaging
How to read a menu
Restaurants use language, psychology and behavioural economics to influence your choice
Cooking in extreme places
The chefs serving meals up mountains, pizza under the sea and tapas in Antarctica
Why is food so expensive in Ghana?
How rising prices are impacting people's lives.
The rise of private chefs
Are you always guaranteed the luxury experience you’re paying for?
How to feed a city
Fast growing cities will put increasing pressure on food security.
Can you eat your way to 100?
What a centenarian’s diet looks like
Bonnie Garmus: My life in five dishes
The author of Lessons in Chemistry on what inspired the food in her novel
What's in a national dish?
The stories behind some of the most famous national foods.
The taste test
How much power does the consumer really have?
The art of food diplomacy
Using food to gain influence on the world stage.
Feeding baby
The different approaches to weaning.
Stop chewing like that!
Misophonia: Why does the sound of eating make some of us furious?
Banh mi: A sandwich with a story
How the French baguette got a Vietnamese makeover and became a global hit
The Little Italy story
How the world first discovered Italian food
This kid cooks
Why you should trust your child to make dinner
Immersive dining
Why more restaurants are serving up a spectacle
Africa's forgotten foods
Why are indigenous ingredients and dishes no longer popular?
What the wedding caterer is really thinking
The thrills and spills of putting on a celebratory feast
How I learnt to cook
There’s often more than just dinner at stake.
How did salt get so gourmet?
Find out how a basic seasoning went from store cupboard staple to luxury ingredient.
Can you feed a city from its rooftops?
We meet the people farming on top of buildings
The power of heritage brands
Sauces, snacks and drinks: a secret history of brands that have stood the test of time
How did TV cooking competitions get so big?
We delve into the global success of the cookery competition on television.
Let’s take a lunch break!
Advocates of the working lunch tell us why we should make time for it
Teaching tomorrow's chefs
Meet the culinary school lecturers training the next generation.
Is the food you’re eating what you think it is?
A visit to a spice testing lab reveals how fraudsters tamper with food to make money
Should we farm octopus?
We examine plans to open the world’s first octopus farm.
A dish fit for the King
What does the coronation dish - a quiche - tell us about King Charles III?
The growth of GM food
Governments in India and Kenya want their citizens to eat genetically modified food.
How AI could design our diets
Are machines better at deciding what we should eat, than we are?
Is this the end of the British caff?
Why the home of the ‘full English’ breakfast is closing – and what’s at stake.
Can small farms feed the world?
What sort of farm is best for our planet, wallet and diet?
Bringing dark kitchens into the light
Are the hidden-away catering spaces undergoing an image change?
What do medics really eat?
Healthcare staff discuss the challenge of eating healthily on shift
How to photograph food
What it really takes to make something look delicious.
A taste of home
What does a family forced to leave their country eat on their journey to safety?
The joy of feeding birds
Who’s getting more out of this human-animal interaction – the birds or us?
Feeding the VIPs
Lifting the lid on the high pressure and unsung world of high-end mass catering
The growth of food banks in Africa
Food banks have arrived in Africa – can they tackle food poverty?
What's the best pasta shape?
Why something so tasty can be controversial
What's the big deal about fine dining?
The world’s so-called ‘best restaurant’ is closing – so what?
Why can’t my child swallow?
Dysphagia: parents share their experiences of feeding a child with swallowing problems
The ghost writers
The people who pen cookbooks for celebrity chefs.
The opera singer's diet
What do the skilled performers eat to hit the high notes?
Chefs who changed course
Chefs who left the heat of the professional kitchen, and what they do now.
Cooking with love
Your stories about the sentimental items in your kitchens
A Ukrainian table at Christmas
Ukrainians living in the UK talk about how they’ll mark the festive season
Hard to swallow
Dysphagia: Navigating an invisible disorder
Why does Africa import a lot of food?
We speak to food entrepreneurs about how Africa can be more self sufficient
Eggonomics
Egg prices are rising – is avian flu to blame?
Samuel Ikua: Global Youth Champion 2022
This year’s award winner and his mission to get people farming in the city
Food as rehabilitation
Could changing the food behind bars improve prisoner outcomes?
Eating With Our Ears: The Sound of Food
How sound and music influence the way we taste food and drink.
Island diets
What do you eat if you live on an island?
The buffet business
How do you make money out of them, and what happens to all the leftovers?
Forbidden food: The Jews of Spain
The suppression of Jewish cooking under the Spanish Inquisition, and its global spread
What do astronauts eat?
Designing a diet to keep astronauts healthy
Can farmers influence food prices?
How rising global prices impact food production around the world
Inheriting grandma's pan
The significance of family cookware and what we lose if we throw our old pots out
Who owns seeds?
How four big companies came to dominate the industry
Food for mood
Can we eat our way to happiness?
The flavourists
Meeting the people bridging art and science to make food taste delicious
Inside food safety scares
The people trying to stop contaminated food reaching your plate
Tomorrow’s food crops
A changing climate means farmers need to change the crops they grow
Running a restaurant with your relatives
One city, two cuisines, multiple family members
Liquid gold: The price of cooking oil
What rising vegetable oil prices mean for food businesses
What can we do about drought?
As millions of people in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya face hunger, what are the solutions?
The food illustrators
Meet the artists tasked with creating pictures that look good enough to eat
Fuelling a female footballer
As the Women's Euros reach a climax, how much could nutrition boost performance?
Why use food for fuel?
As food prices rise around the world, why are we turning crops into fuel?
In search of a food champion
As we search for a new global champion, we hear from two previous award winners
The fungi kingdom
Why fungi are important for all terrestrial life
Lemn Sissay: My life in five dishes
Writer Lemn Sissay reflects on his life through memories of food
Menopause and diet
Which foods could help ease your symptoms?
What's up with airline food?
The highs and lows of in-flight dining
The recipe translators
We speak to the people who translate recipe books into different languages
Shop like the Queen
What does the Queen eat? We find out how you get a royal warrant
Feeding the imagination
Two novelists discuss how food fuels their creativity
How a stoma changed my life
Living with a stoma bag, and learning what to eat, and when
The problem with wheat
Are we too reliant on one crop for our nutritional needs?
The hot sauce sensations
How Sriracha and Lao Gan Ma achieved global cult status
The cost of 'getting ripped'
Three men discuss the reality of pursuing a six-pack and how much of it is about food
How to date a carnivore
The highs and lows of being with someone who loves eating meat
Tasting climate change
Wine producers say a warming planet can be detected in the glass
Food poverty in a rich country
Three UK citizens discuss how difficult it can be to feed a family on a low income
Food in the metaverse
What food could look like in virtual worlds and what it means for restaurants
A Ukrainian kitchen in London
Two cookbook authors – one Russian, one Ukrainian – share memories of food and friendship
An invisible crime
Why drink spiking is misunderstood and underreported and how it can change
The recipe collectors
The challenge of preserving recipes and what is at stake if they are lost
The online food fighters
The people taking on misinformation about food and nutrition on social media
The constipation taboo
What we could learn about our health and happiness if constipation was normalised
The sisters who can 'taste' words
The weird and wonderful world of synaesthesia - a puzzling neurological phenomenon
Cancer, food and me
Three women discuss how chemotherapy has changed their relationship with food
How not to feed a dog
What we feed our four-legged friends and what it reveals about our relationship with food
Sleep, eat, repeat?
The vicious circle of too little rest and too much of the wrong food
So, you think you can quit caffeine?
Three people who tried giving up the world’s most commonly-used psychoactive drug
The Food Chain unwrapped
Revisiting some of the most powerful food stories from the pandemic
Why I chose to live on rations
What powdered eggs and tinned ham can teach us about our modern food system
An alternative Christmas
Japan's love affair with fried chicken and the story of a very Chinese Jewish Christmas
(Film) Set menu
The gruelling job of feeding cast and crew on a major movie or TV production
How rationing changed me
A German and a Brit share food memories of growing up during World War Two
Gabriella D'Cruz: Global Youth Champion
This year's award-winner and her mission to change lives and revive oceans using seaweed
How a new cuisine is born
The evolution of ‘Cape-Malay’ and ‘Viet-Cajun’ cuisines
How to cope with cooking burnout
Three food lovers on why the Covid-19 pandemic has sucked the joy out of the kitchen
One small change
Your stories of small, achievable changes around food to help the environment
A farmer's nightmare
A major worker shortage leaving UK farmers with heartbreaking choices
Last orders: Why I quit hospitality
Three former restaurant staff on why the pandemic prompted them to leave
The drinking experiment
What happens when you give up alcohol in a drinking culture?
The bug business
How do you convince more people to eat insects?
Cooking by computer
How Covid-19 inspired a new world of virtual cooking classes
OCD, the kitchen, and me
Cooking, eating and living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
The power of a photograph
Can a still image change the way we think about our food?
The unstoppable rise of starch
The most important processed food ingredient you’ve probably never thought about
Is there a ‘chefsplainer’ in your kitchen?
Why some people can’t resist telling others exactly how to cook
Is it time to kill the calorie?
Why many of us misunderstand calories, and why it matters.
Should 'junk food' sponsor sport?
The fizzy drink and burger brands backing everything from the Olympics to junior football
Life lessons from the honey bee
What can these tiny pollinators can teach us about our world and ourselves?
The endurance diet
How athletes feed themselves during extreme sporting events
The lure of on-demand groceries
The obvious next step in our busy lives, or a cause for concern?
The school that food built
One headteacher's mission to put food at the heart of all learning
Raymond Blanc: My life in five dishes
The renowned French chef tells his life story through five dishes.
Inside the mind of a kitchen gadget
The philosophy and passion behind your kitchen tools.
Do we need to talk about ‘ultra-processed food’?
The debate over ultra-processed foods and whether we should avoid them
What's the appetite for gene edited food?
Scientists claim it’s the future, but can they convince us to eat it?
Dan Barber: My life in five dishes
How true flavour will revolutionise food and the mistake that re-focused his life's work.
The blind cooks
Learning to cook after sight-loss and empowering others to do the same
America's 'food apartheid'
Life without easy access to affordable, fresh food in Albany and St. Louis
The man taking on fast food
Carlo Petrini, founder of Slow Food, on the movement's relevance in a post-pandemic world
How to love chillies
Three cooks explain how you can teach a child to embrace hot food.
Portion distortion
How the food industry convinced us to upsize, and why shrinking portions is so hard
A year in the life of a Chinese restaurant
The food businesses trying to stay afloat through coronavirus and a storm of racist abuse
Should the US abandon tipping?
As coronavirus batters restaurants, is now the time to shake up their unique wage system?
The food that broke through lockdown
Four stories of love, friendship and food during lockdown
Is it time to add vitamin D to food?
Coronavirus has strengthened calls for action on the 'sunshine vitamin' problem
How to feed a footballer
How football affects food for players and the people around them
Alice Waters: My life in five dishes
The influential chef and activist explains how she started a food revolution
Sourdough love stories
We meet some very old (bread) mothers and the families that care for them
Has coronavirus changed school meals for ever?
How a school meal is so much more than food
Nigella Lawson: My life in five dishes
The British food writer and TV cook tells us about her life through food
Divided by drink: A tale from dry America
The other big vote that took place in the US last November
The power of food emojis
How food emojis make it to your keyboard and why it matters
The arctic eating adventure
The Yukon mother who fed her three teenagers on local food for a year
Yotam Ottolenghi: My life in five dishes
The ‘philosopher chef’ on the pandemic, the magic of pastry, and finding peace in cooking
Too many cookbooks?
Two women, 8000 cookbooks
What's food got to do with destiny?
The power of superstition, ritual and the belief in magic
Lockdown food fails
Coronavirus has sent more of us into the kitchen, but has it taught us how to cook?
The chef who took on hospital food
How do you put the hospitality back into hospital food?
Why the whale hunt continues
The real reasons some countries swim against the tide of international opinion
Selassie Atadika: My life in five dishes
The humanitarian aid worker-turned chef trying to empower a continent through its food
Opening a restaurant in a pandemic
Three people who braved opening a food business during the pandemic
How to enjoy eating with your own children
Three parents explain how they persuaded their children to behave better at mealtimes
One election, two farmers
The human stories of the battleground farms of Wisconsin
How does food make a president?
How food is used to win over voters in the US election
Facing fat hatred
Why do fat people experience so much hatred?
Plundering the planet under cover of coronavirus
The animals and forests being used for survival and profit in the pandemic's shadow
Coronavirus: Obesity's defining moment?
Could the pandemic make the world tackle its obesity problem?
The preppers and the pandemic
Has coronavirus shown we should all be preppers now?
The fertiliser that blew up Beirut
A little-known chemical that changed the world
Margarita Forés: My life in five dishes
The Filipina chef on privilege, battling bulimia, and finding her identity through food
Sean Sherman: My life in five dishes
The chef fighting to bring true Native American cuisine back from the brink of extinction
Food media's moment of reckoning?
Resignations, racism and revolt changing the way we write about food
Meatpacking's coronavirus problem
The unique conditions that have led to global outbreaks at meat processing plants
Single parents: Cooking solo
The loneliness, the responsibility, the money, and food's power to create unique bonds
Dominique Crenn: My life in five dishes
How a six-month-old orphan went on to become a three Michelin star chef
Does comfort food really comfort us?
It’s something many of us intuitively believe, but it’s not always that simple
Asma Khan: My life in five dishes
A disregarded daughter who defied expectation to run one of London's top restaurants
Jacques Pépin: My life in five dishes
How a near fatal car crash set an immigrant French chef on the path to US TV stardom
Losing your taste to coronavirus
The common Covid-19 symptom that's often overlooked, but can be permanent.
Is lockdown good news for fish?
What coronavirus means for ailing fish stocks.
Antonio Carluccio: My life in five dishes
The 'Godfather of Italian cooking' in his final interview.
Coronavirus: The survival business
The food entrepreneurs forced to innovate to stay afloat during the pandemic.
Has the crisis made us more generous?
The anatomy of empathy in a crisis.
Is our food creating pandemics?
How farming can release deadly viruses from the wild.
Should China ban 'wet' markets?
They’ve been blamed for coronavirus, but some say calls to close them are misguided
What next for restaurants?
What will it mean to be a restaurant after coronavirus?
Coronavirus: Chefs fight back
Some of the world’s top restaurateurs are refusing to take lockdown lying down
Death by coronavirus or hunger?
The tough question being faced by many in developing countries.
My quarantine kitchen
Stories of comfort, solidarity and hope behind closed doors in the coronavirus pandemic.
Coronavirus: Food’s frontline heroes
The people stepping up to keep food flowing
Coronavirus: Where did all the food go?
The impact of stockpiling and lockdown on the global food supply chain.
How not to run a brewery
Three craft brewers on why they walked away from their dream job.
The mystery of mukbang
Why do millions of people go online to watch total strangers binge-eat junk food?
The end of the road for street food?
Why a much-loved and much-needed part of life in South East Asia is under threat.
Fried chicken: Fast food champion
The power of battered poultry and how it has come to achieve global domination
Made in space
How answers to some of agriculture's biggest questions could be found beyond Earth
Why are people putting chemicals in our food?
Three food scientists tell us how they manipulate flavour, shelf-life and appearance
Nobu Matsuhisa: My life in five dishes
How the chef went from considering suicide to running a restaurant empire with De Niro
Why is wheat making people sick?
The emerging condition linked to gluten and the fight over how to treat it
The tipping point
Two restaurant owners trying to change two very different dining cultures
Fantasy, fiction and food
How to create characters, meaning, and even entirely new worlds through food.
What's climate change doing to cows?
Farm vets are seeing worrying signs - can they help make livestock greener?
Eat the year
Three women who went to extraordinary lengths in search of change
Samin Nosrat: My life in five dishes
The Netflix star and best-selling author rising to the top of the culinary world
I hate Christmas pudding!
Why do some of us still serve traditional holiday foods even though we don't like them?
Can chocolate be clean?
Artisan chocolatiers are on a mission to make our favourite treat more ethical
Sommeliers: Wine waiters uncorked
What the person serving your wine is really thinking
Marcus Samuelsson: My life in five dishes
A culinary adventure from Ethiopia to Sweden to Harlem
Can palm oil be sustainable?
Borneo's bold plan to clean up a controversial industry
Bakers: Earning a crust
Why running a bakery is like doing a triathlon, and why we've been eating bread all wrong
Can you have your plate and eat it?
Could we eat our way out of the packaging pollution problem?
How dangerous is your food delivery?
Who pays the real price for your takeaway?
Will robot pickers change our fruit?
How a shortage of fruit pickers is affecting our food.
How to date a vegan
What to do if you hate the way your partner eats
How to cook for a megastar
Private chefs take us into the extravagant and sometimes disturbing world of celebrity
Down on the farm: Suicide, stress and farmers
Why mental illness is a big problem for global agriculture
Ken Hom: My life in five dishes
The famous Chinese-American cook tells us about his life through food
Eating with Etna
Farming and food on one of the world's most active volcanoes
Foraging: Pleasure or profit?
Should we be worried about money changing hands for wild ingredients?
Ritual slaughter under threat
The debate over animal welfare and religious freedom.
The young pub bosses reviving the British boozer
A new generation's plan to preserve a cultural institution in decline.
Dynasties
How well do family and work really mix when it comes to the food business?
Blogs! Money! Power!
How food writers are using blogs and social media to change what and how you eat.
Food under siege
When eating well becomes an act of defiance
Baristas: The daily grind
What the person making your coffee is really thinking.
Angela Hartnett: My life in five dishes
The top UK chef on her Italian roots and surviving in Gordon Ramsay's kitchen
The pig plague
A deadly virus is devastating the world's biggest pork producers - how can it be stopped?
When is a burger not a burger?
Why meat and plant-based food producers are at war over words
The quest for black gold
How to encourage more people to compost their food waste and persuade farmers to use it
How not to run a restaurant
Three restaurateurs on why they walked away from their life-long dream.
Lunches changing lives
Akshaya Patra, the world's largest school meals programme, is our 2019 Global Champion
Finding a food champion: The finalists
The people changing the way we produce, consume and think about food.
Samin Nosrat: My life in five dishes
The Netflix star and best-selling author rising to the top of the culinary world
Bitter sweets
Sugar is under attack - will candy be next in the firing line?
Food on the streets: London and Los Angeles
How do you eat when you have no home?
Organic Inc
Who really owns organic?
Widowed: Food after loss
The difficult mix of food and widowhood.
Raw grief
A tale of food and loss.
The pot washers
The little heard voices who wash the world's dishes.
An inspector calls
Guns, knives, and safety alarms. Being a food safety inspector is a risky business
How to tell a food story
How we use fiction to talk about our food, and how food can help tell stories
Gut feelings
The race to develop food supplements that could treat depression
When breast isn't best
Three mothers on why they quit breastfeeding, and the stigma that followed
How to feed the Falklands
The struggle to eat a varied diet on a remote island in the South Atlantic
When foods get famous
Who cashes in when a fruit or vegetable reaches celebrity status?
A senseless generation?
Should children be taught to smell, taste, touch and even listen to food?
Untold food stories: Rohingya and Uighur cuisine
Rarely-heard voices on little-known cuisines
High Stakes Cakes
Cake makers feel the heat.
André Cointreau: My life in five dishes
The CEO of Le Cordon Bleu on privilege, French cuisine and kangaroo meat.
Uncut: Butchers Talk Chop
What your butcher is really thinking.
Is Product Placement Getting in Your Face?
When showbiz meets 'foodbiz'
The New Food Bank Frontline
The peculiar challenges of giving away food in different economies.
After Party: A Look Back
How some of our strangest food stories panned out.
Taking the Buzz out of Coffee
The complex art of caffeine extraction and why taste is not the only challenge
Can a Strong Drink Revive a City?
Should bourbon be used to reinvigorate Louisville, Kentucky?
Why the Heat about Meat?
Who stands to gain from all the fury?
Million Dollar Mouths
The people who decide how your food tastes
Inside the Abattoir
A meat-eater watches a cow become beef.
Behind the (Food) Scenes
The people who make TV chefs look good.
I Took on the Food Industry
A fierce and powerful opponent?
I'm with the chef
What is it like to live with a Michelin-starred chef?
Aristocrats and Archaeo-Food Nerds
Who cares about 2,000 year old bread?
Not Just a Rich White Woman’s Problem
How stereotypes about eating disorders can have life-threatening consequences
Unseen: The Rise of Eating Disorders in China
Are eating disorders inevitable with economic development?
Restaurant Critics: The Ungarnished Truth
Three critics from across the globe swap notes.
Going Off Cow's Milk?
Why not all of us are lapping it up
Widowed: Food After Loss
The difficult mix of food and widowhood.
Raw grief
A tale of food and loss
Rethinking the Celebrity Chef
The curious metamorphosis of the celebrity chef.
The Invisible Ingredient
From crops that grow in 8 weeks, to meals that can sit at room temperature for 3 years.
José Andrés: My life in five dishes
The winner of our 2018 Global Food Champion award
Kelis: My life in five dishes
Meet pop sensation turned Cordon Bleu-trained chef, Kelis Rogers
Claudia Roden: My life in five dishes
An extraordinary life story of love, courage and food
Gordon Ramsay: My life in five dishes
An insight into the world-famous chef and the food that made him
Antonio Carluccio: My life in five dishes
The 'Godfather of Italian cooking' gives his final interview
Madhur Jaffrey: My life in five dishes
The most unforgettable meals from an extraordinary life
Jeremiah Tower: My life in five dishes
The man some call the first modern celebrity chef
#MeToo Food
The hidden dangers of agriculture.
The Real Junk Food
One man's mission to end food waste. Oh, and world hunger.
Pony Tales
Why is horse meat taboo in some parts of the world, and should we eat more of it?
I am the Bread Man
Nathan Myhrvold on one of the biggest bread research projects ever undertaken.
Kelis: My life in five dishes
Popstar Kelis Rogers on 20 years in music and why food is her new calling
Critical Mass Catering
The art and science of cooking for lots of people
Absolute Food: Part II
Food is politics, as we look at authoritarian regimes, extremist groups and propaganda.
Absolute Food: Part I
How authoritarian regimes control food, and what it's like to eat in their countries.
Fussy Old World
How do attitudes to 'fussy eating' vary across the globe?
Claudia Roden: My Life in Five Dishes
An extraordinary life story of loss, courage and food
Food Confidential
How the food industry keeps its trade secrets.
Eating Blockchain
Could blockchain disrupt the global food system?
A Poisonous Business
The toxic mix of food poisoning and economics
Do Not Feed the Animals
How food waste impacts wildlife and can bring animals into conflict with us
This Food Will Save Your Life*
Why are humans especially vulnerable to big promises about food?
Eat, Stay, Love
Three women who escaped war and conflict on how food helped them rebuild their lives
The New Animals
Who wants to put genetically engineered animals on your plate?
The Pig Problem
The battle to stop a deadly and contagious virus spreading through Europe's pig farms.
The Food Pilgrims
Tales from people who go the extra mile to get their food.
I Can't Taste!
The devastating impact of taste disorders, and what they can teach us about our food
Gordon Ramsay: My life in five dishes
The world-famous chef tells us about his life through five dishes
In Search of Wine's 'Holy Grail'
The quest to curb rising alcohol levels in wine without losing flavour.
The Comedy of Food
Is food getting funnier? Do modern diets make it a richer sauce of comedy?
Big Tech Wants Your Food Shop
What will this mean for food producers, and the quality and sustainability of your food?
Food Chain: The Quiz 2017
Do you think you know about food? Think again.
How to Make a Farmer
Match-making websites, reality TV or smart tech - what would persuade you to be a farmer?
I Won't Farm!
The average age of a farmer is 60. So where have all the young farmers gone and why?
Where's my African Takeaway?
Why many African cuisines are yet to make it on the global stage.
The 'Disneyland' of Food?
Can Italy claim back the authenticity of it's food with a giant shopping mall?
The Boundless Ambition of Gum
Could Chewing gum save your life?
Contain Yourself!
How what we eat and drink can change depending on what it's served in.
Competitive Eating: Chewing it Over
What happens to your body when you eat 70 hot dogs in 10 minutes?
Competitive Eating: The 'Gurgitators'
Meet some of the world’s fastest eaters, and find out why they do it.
Madhur Jaffrey: My Life in Five Dishes
The most unforgettable meals from an extraordinary life.
A Fly Future?
Could maggots hold the key to satisfying the planet’s growing demand for meat?
The Maggot Masters
Could these squirming little creatures solve a global food problem?
Cow Candy
Let them eat cake? Why farmers feed their cows sweets.
Finding a Food Champion
Meet the people changing what and how we eat.
The Art of Fermentation
We travel to Tennessee to meet Sandor Katz, a man fascinated by fermentation.
Upper Crust?
What the bread we eat can tell us about ourselves.
Is Social Media Putting You Off Your Lunch?
Is social media kindling or killing our relationship with food?
Stockpiles? What Stockpiles?
Is your government stockpiling enough food?
What Will You Eat if the Apocalypse Comes?
Meet the people stockpiling food for any eventuality.
Have We Cracked the Nut Problem?
Drugs to treat peanut allergy are close to getting approval. But why now?
Health lessons with the Hadza
Could East African hunter-gatherers lead us to the ideal human diet?
Hunting with the Hadza
Eat with one of the last remaining hunter-gatherer communities
Fortification: Too Much of a Good thing?
Who is putting micro-nutrients in your food - and who really benefits?
The Unlikely Power of Cookbooks
How cookbooks have been used to demonstrate power, ideology and divide society
Food Secrets of Centenarians
To what extent can your diet help you live longer?
What Time is Dinner?
How social class has determined when we eat.
Much Ado About Michelin
The allure and mystique of the Michelin star
Talking Rot
When does old food become bad food?
Hands Off My Food!
When is it OK to profit from the cuisine of a culture you were not born into?
The Real Value of a Cup of Tea
Do you pay enough for your cup of tea?
Foodunnit?
How does food help solve crime?
I Don't Cook
This is definitely not a cookery programme
The Fish Japan Ate
The wild bluefin tuna is being eaten to extinction. Can Japan afford to keep serving it?
Liberte, Egalite, Gastronomie?
What does French food tell us about the country's future?
Little Kitchen of Horrors
The scary, frightening, and spooky stories that we like to tell about what we eat.
Orthorexia Nervosa: When 'Healthy' Food Becomes Harmful
When the pursuit of quality food destroys quality of life.
Hey, Hey We're The Food Chain
The best pick of our award-winning programme which explores everything you eat.
One Potato More
Is the humble spud the solution to the global food supply?
Poor Old Potato
Is the potato the 'food of the poor'?
The Food We Breathe
How your next meal might affect your next breath
McAsia?
What fast food can tell us about the changing global economy.
Post-Truth Food
Understanding the truth about food shortages and how they are reported.
Wheelchair Fajitas and Talking Scales
A look at the important role food plays for people who have, or acquire, a disability.
The Plankton Problem
The organisms at the centre of our food web are stressed - and it affects your plate.
Got Gumbo?
What can one single dish tell you about America's history?
Should You Drink Your Food?
We speak to a man who drank his food for 30 days, and explore liquefied food.
Of Maize and Men: Unpicked
The most abundant crop on earth is maize. We ask if we consume too much of it.
Of Maize and Men: The Rise
The story of how one crop came to be the world's most important ingredient.
Food Chain: The Quiz
Take part in the ultimate test of culinary trivia in our inaugural quiz
Food Chain: The Musical
How we view our food - and ourselves - through song.
Survival Stories: ‘We Ate Spiders, Flies and Worms’
Two students tell us their survival diet whilst lost in a remote part of Turkey.
Hunger in the Rich World
Why do people struggle to feed themselves in wealthy societies?
The Hidden Cost of a Home-Cooked Meal
The sacrifices made by some women to put a meal on the family table.
Full English Brexit
What happens to food on the British breakfast table in a post-Brexit world?
Burnt
The story of what happens when we turn up the heat on what we eat.
In Search of Lost Foods
What happens to a food when people stop eating it?
Plate of the Union
What does our diet say about our politics?
Dining with the Dead
Death's role in centuries of food culture, from corpse cakes to Mexico's Day of the Dead.
Vegan Babies: Should You Restrict Your Child’s Diet?
Are parents wrong to impose their own restrictive diets on their children?
Should We All Be Vegans?
What would happen if everyone stopped eating animal products?
Stories from Syria
How do people living through the Syrian conflict find food?
The Olympics of Chinese Food
Can a team of UK chefs win gold in the ultimate test of Chinese cuisine?
Pestatarians
Rats, squirrels camels, pigeons and snakes are considered vermin so should we eat them?
The New Sushi
Some say insects will be the next food fad. How do you feel about crunching on a cricket?
Food on the Open Road
Why is it so hard for truckers to eat well?
Big Beer
We look at one of the world's biggest ever corporate takeovers, and it's all about beer.
Naturally Misleading?
What does 'natural' mean when it comes to food?
Survival Stories: Fish bacon for breakfast
Our second episode to explore our relationship with food in extreme circumstances.
Survival Stories: Lost in the Desert
The story of Ann Rodgers, who went missing in the Arizona wilderness back in March 2016.
Fertile Food
How much could your diet help you have a child? We separate the facts from the fiction.
Food on the Move: What We Want, When We Want It
How does our food move around the world?
Inside the Kitchens of Power
We enter an arena usually hidden from public view - the kitchens that feed world leaders
Beauty from Within?
The rise of nutricosmetics - foods that are claimed to make you beautiful
Can Cheese Help Save an Economy?
Could cheese be the answer to some of Albania’s economic woes?
Plough Your Own Furrow?
After the UK vote to leave the EU, we look at models for agriculture around the world
Mind your Manners
Has there been a global shrugging off of table manners?
Seeds, Syrup and Subversion
The rebels and revolutionaries fighting against what some see as a food dictatorship
Faster Food
As the Rio Olympics edge closer, we explore how food can make you a better athlete
Extreme Farming
How a tiny country has become the world's second biggest exporter of farmed food.
Is Junk Food the New Smoking?
Is the junk food industry like the big tobacco companies when it comes to marketing?
Fish Fight
With fish stocks dwindling and illegal fishing rife, how do you police the oceans?
A Dog's Dinner?
The pet food industry, and its striking similarities to the human food chain
Disaster Food: Feeding a Country in Crisis
The impact of natural disasters on a country's ability to feed itself.
Bottled Water: Do We Really Need It?
Is bottled water the ultimate marketing con, or a potential lifesaver?
Animals on Antibiotics: Could Pigs on Pills Make us Ill?
Amid warnings we are heading into post-antibiotic era, we ask if farmers are to blame.
Food Chain Late Night
We explore the characters and cuisines that come out after dark .
Front of House
Manuela Saragosa looks at the business of serving and pleasing the ever-fickle customer.
Food and Nostalgia
The power food has to evoke memory and how memory impacts the food we eat
Is Convenience Killing Us?
Processed, packaged, flavoured and often pre-cooked food is now a norm but at what cost?
Food Waste: How Low Can it Go?
Exploring a problem that is costing one in three of the world's calories.
No Such Thing as a Free Lunch?
The relationship between food and the workplace
Food, Power and Punishment
What part should food play in punishment?
The Truth About Diabetes
Unpicking the issues of a global disease that is spiralling out of control
Down with 'Foodies'?
Hipsters, food fads, and the culinary class wars
Breast Practice
The economics of breastfeeding and working mothers.
Chinatown
From Manila to Havana, we explore the story and legacy of Chinatowns around the world.
Back of House
Want to be a chef? Low entry level wages along with culinary college debt makes it hard
Food Far From Home
How to feed the biggest refugee crisis since World War Two
Food of War
What does it take to eat on the front line?
India: How to Feed a Nation
Can the world’s largest democracy guarantee its citizens the right to their next meal?
India: Faith, Food, and Politics
Faith, food, and politics in the world's largest democracy.
Food of Love
From a baby’s first cry to the funeral feast: food as the language of love.
Chicken: Too Much of a Good Thing?
The Food Chain returns to explore one of the world's most important foods: the chicken.
How to (Not) Grow Your Food Business
Can a food company stay small and still survive?
Sexual Politics in the Kitchen
How does gender affect what we eat, cook and what food we buy and why does it matter?
The End of Eating Wild Fish?
Most of our food is farmed. Should fish be, too?
How Do We Know What’s Good For Us?
The mixed messages of the science of eating and why not all experts agree.
Spice and Status
The global network of commerce that flavours our food
Coffee: Globalisation’s Drink of Choice
How the coffee industry is changing for growers, sellers, and consumers around the world.
Fighting Food Crime
The risks of food fraud sourced via a complicated global supply chain
Picky Eaters
Should you force feed a fussy child?
Eating For Two?
Exploring the medical and cultural dimensions of the prenatal diet
Farm and Fortune?
Do you have what it takes to be a farmer? Is a job in agriculture a smart career choice?
Should the Government Pay for our Food?
The controversies behind hand outs to hungry citizens
Tech at the Table
Is technology at mealtimes too disruptive?
Eat my words!
Why it can take nine months to name a new apple and has "foodie" jargon gone too far?
Dinner for One
Do you take a hit to your wallet, your social life and even your health by dining alone?
The Cold Chain
The business of keeping food cool, from farm to fork
Variety Pack
Turning straw into sugar, Lesotho's trout farms for Japanese sushi, healthy Dunkin Donuts
Sugar: A Love-Hate Relationship
Does a little of what you fancy do you good - or should we avoid it at all costs?
Feast
What does feasting say about human nature - and is it good for us?
Food Technophobes v Technophiles
Food is increasingly engineered - who decides if a new food technology is safe?
Whose Food is it Anyway?
What happens to a cuisine's national identity once it crosses international borders?
Food and the Fall of the Berlin Wall
As politics changes - does our food follow suit?
Why Do We Waste So Much Food?
Can business and science provide a solution to why we waste so much food?
Super Foods or Super Fads?
Is our appetite for the trendiest health foods based on science, or clever marketing?