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BBC Radio 4


Investigating every aspect of the food we eat


The Food Programme

It's twenty years since the Aldeburgh Food Festival began. Sheila Dillon examines its impact in this small Suffolk seaside town where food producers work together to forge strong local supply chains. She speaks to the festival's co-founder Lady Caroline Cranbrook who has been a passionate advocate of Suffolk's rich food ecosystem. She goes on a shopping trip with local restaurateur and hotelier George Pell, a self-styled "blow-in" from London. They visit a fishing family, a butcher and a farmer supporting a start-up serving crullers in a town where collaboration is king.

Produced in Bristol for BBC Audio by Robin Markwell

Keeping It Local: A Suffolk Story

Sheila Dillon and this year’s head judge of the BBC Food and Farming Awards, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, hit the road to meet the finalists in the Best Food Producer category. From sourdough pioneers Aidan Monks and Catherine Connor at Lovingly Artisan in Kendal, and regenerative grower Calixta Killander at Flourish Produce in Cambridgeshire, to cheese champions Andy and Kathy Swinscoe at The Courtyard Dairy in North Yorkshire — they explore how these exceptional producers might hold clues to a more resilient food future. Inspired by Professor Tim Lang’s recent report, Just in Case: narrowing the UK civil food resilience gap, the episode asks: could these small but significant businesses be part of the solution to Britain’s food security crisis?

Presented by Sheila Dillon
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Natalie Donovan

Feeding Britain: Can Our Best Food Producers Deliver?

Dan Saladino meets people behind pioneering projects rethinking the future of chocolate, seafood and food forests. Which one will win this year's BBC Best Food Innovation Award?

Produced and presented by Dan Saladino.

The Food Innovators: 2025

Five years ago, after 160 years in Norwich, the Colman's factory shut its doors for the last time. 

John Osborne is a writer, a poet and a performer - he's called Norwich home for 25 years. But last year, while writing a show about his city, he began to learn more about the depth of the history of Colman's, and he started to wonder why more people don't know about it.

Between Jeremiah Colman, James Colman, Jeremiah James Colman and many many generations since, an entire empire was built on the back of these humble seeds. The company had a cradle-to-grave ethos, providing education, housing, healthcare and leisure for workers and their families. All of which means the factory, the school buildings, the churches, even the entire village of Trowse is still a part of the fabric of the city. Now, everywhere he looks in Norwich, from the double yellow lines, to the big yellow boxes on the pavement full of sand for de-icing the concrete in winter... John sees mustard. 

Hundreds of people worked at the factory, and as its doors shut in 2020, a crowdfunder was underway to launch a new Norwich mustard. Five years on, the mustard is nowhere to be found. Even the famous mustard shop, where everyone went for Christmas presents for their relatives, is gone. So John wants to rediscover this history, and along the way find out what's happened to Norwich's mustard. After all, the bright yellow labels on shelves all over the world still proudly read Colman's "of Norwich". As it turns out, thanks to the determination of the local mustard farmers, mustard never really left Norwich at all...

Presented by John Osborne
Produced in Bristol by Polly Weston

In Search of Mustard in Norwich

Sheila Dillon is joined by four guests who each have a deep connection with Welsh food and farming for a panel discussion recorded at the 2025 Abergavenny Food Festival. Beca Lyne-Pirkis is a food writer and broadcaster; Patrick Holden is an organic farmer and founder of the Sustainable Food Trust; Carwyn Graves is a Welsh food historian and author; and Sue Pritchard leads the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission. Together, they explore what is currently making Wales’s approach to food distinctive — and what lessons it might offer for the future of food across the UK.

Presented by Sheila Dillon
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Natalie Donovan

Wales's Secret Ingredient: Lessons from Cymru on the Future of Food

As sales of matcha continue to boom, Leyla Kazim traces the story of the powdered green tea from centuries-old Japanese tradition to global health trend phenomenon. We look behind the social media videos and headlines to find out more about the reported matcha shortage, how the matcha supply chain is reacting, and ask what might happen next. 

Also in the programme Leyla learns about some of the misconceptions we have about matcha, including the issues around the term 'ceremonial grade'; we have a report from Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms in Japan about how tea farmers are coping with the sudden boom; and Leyla digs into the health claims about matcha with dietician and scientist at King's College London, Dr Emily Leeming.

Presented by Leyla Kazim and produced by Sophie Anton for BBC Audio in Bristol.

The Rise of Matcha

Sheila Dillon investigates the growing number of food tours and trails in the UK as consumers show more and more interest in the provenance of what is on their plate. She heads to Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire – a town that boasts the title of Rural Capital Of Food - and joins a walking tour that spans pork pie producers, stilton sellers, a samosa wallah and a prizewinning brewery. 

Produced by Robin Markwell for BBC Audio in Bristol

Follow the Food: The Rise of Food Tourism

Jaega Wise heads to the Isle of Man to find out what’s driving a growing movement to produce more of the island’s own food, and why its approach might matter beyond its shores. She hears about the challenges facing producers, how the fishing industry is adapting, and what it means to work within a UNESCO biosphere. Just 6% of food bought in Manx shops is locally produced — a figure the Manx NFU is campaigning to change. Meanwhile, the Government has announced reforms to primary school meals after discovering half of the food served was ultra-processed, and very little was locally sourced. 

Contributors: 
Chris Waller, NOA Bakehouse
Sue King, author of "Ham & Eggs and Turtle Soup: A Slice of Manx Culinary History"
Jack Emmerson – Sea Fisheries Policy Manager, Isle of Man Government (DEFA)
Dr David Beard – Chief Executive, Manx Fish Producers Organisation
Elizabeth Townsend and Nick Scarffe, Kerroo Brewing Co
Helen Crosbie, Isle of Man Sea Salt
Jenny Shepherd and Rawdon Hayne – Isle of Man Charcuterie
Sarah Comish, Manx National Farmers’ Union (NFU)
Shirley Callow, Isle of Man Creamery
Daphne Caine, Minister for Education, Sport and Culture, Isle of Man Government
Pippa Lovell, Chef, The Laxey Glen. 

Presented by Jaega Wise
Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Natalie Donovan

Manx Made

Historian Polly Russell and chef Pam Brunton explore Scotland's landscapes to answer the question, 'what is modern Scottish food?'. 
On a road trip through landscapes, old and new, they encounter deer stalkers, robot milking machines and a bean to bar chocolate maker. 

Why is it we end up with a fixed view of what a nation's food culture looks and tastes like and how easy is it to create a change? 

Produced by Dan Saladino.

Cooking From Landscape: Rethinking Scottish Food

Butter superfan Felicity Cloake asks whether the movement against ultra-processed foods is linked to a recent rise in popularity of her favourite kitchen staple. Her investigations take her to the rich grasslands of the West Country as she visits Wyke Farms, Quicke's and Ivy House Farm Dairy. She looks at how flavoured butter is taking off and finds out more about the tradition of cheesemakers making whey butter.

Professor Sarah Berry from King's College London gives advice on how much butter we should be eating as part of a healthy diet and food historian Regina Sexton looks at the relationship between butter and Ireland. Felicity also has a turn at making her own butter using an historic dash churn at The Butter Museum in Cork. 

Presented by Felicity Cloake
Produced in Bristol for BBC Audio by Robin Markwell
The programme features a short excerpt of the song "Please Leave My Butter Alone" by Elsie Carlisle.

Butter Is Back

Sheila Dillon investigates the role malt plays in our drinks and diet. Malt has been around for millennia and is a natural ingredient in many but many people won't realise how ubiquitous it is. As well as being the foundation of beer and whisky, its flavour and richness makes it a favourite for uses in bakery, breakfast cereals and confectionary as well as being an important export for the country. Sheila talks to a distiller, a baker and a brewer about malt's remarkable properties and visits a traditional maltster to find out how malt is made.

Producer: Harry Parker.

Malt

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