''The Food Programme'' is a

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

programme investigating and celebrating good food, founded by

Derek Cooper Major George Derek Cooper OBE MC (28 May 1912 – 19 May 2007) was a British Army officer, campaigner for refugees, and supporter of the Palestinian people. Early life and career Cooper was born in Bromley in Kent. He was the third of four c ...

and currently presented by

Sheila Dillon Sheila Dillon is a British food journalist who began her career writing for the New York food magazine ''Food Monitor''. She is known to listeners of Radio Four as presenter of ''The Food Programme'', on which she has appeared for more than 20 ye ...

, Dan Saladino, Leyla Kazim and Jaega Wise. The series is produced by

BBC Audio AudioGO (formerly BBC Audiobooks) was a publisher of audiobooks and a range of spoken word and large-print titles. It was majority owned by AudioGO Ltd, and minority owned by BBC Worldwide. It was formed in 2010, when AudioGO purchased a majori ...

in Bristol. It is a programme about food production, consumption and quality rather than a cookery programme with recipes. It looks at the food industry (usually that of Britain) at the macroscopic level. ''Farming Today'' covers the upstream section of the British food industry and ''The Food Programme'' covers the downstream section.

History

The programme has run since 1979 and was initially broadcast at 12:30 on a Sunday afternoon, immediately preceding '' The World This Weekend''. It is repeated the following day (i.e. on Monday afternoon) at 3:30 p.m. In November 2019 The Food Programme celebrated its 40th anniversary. A live show was broadcast from the

BBC Radio Theatre The BBC Radio Theatre (originally named The Concert Hall) is a theatre situated within the BBC's Broadcasting House complex. It is used for live broadcast and audio recordings. History Originally named The Concert Hall, the theatre was desi ...

with guests

Rick Stein Rick may refer to: People *Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name *Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality *Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...

, Leyla Kazim,

Yotam Ottolenghi Yotam Assaf Ottolenghi (born 14 December 1968) is an Israeli-born British chef, restaurateur, and food writer. He is the co-owner of seven delis and restaurants in London and the author of several bestselling cookery books, including ''Ottolengh ...

and

Grace Dent Grace Dent (born 3 October 1973) is an English columnist, broadcaster and author. She is a restaurant critic for ''The Guardian'' and from 2011 to 2017 wrote a restaurant column for the ''Evening Standard''. She is a regular critic on the BBC' ...

Structure

Programmes are usually devoted to discussion of a single topic, from a consumer angle, such as: * Topical issues related to food, such as institutional cookery or dealing with

food waste Food loss and waste is food that is not eaten. The causes of food waste or loss are numerous and occur throughout the food system, during production, processing, distribution, retail and food service sales, and consumption. Overall, about o ...

; * A specific food item, such as a particular fruit or traditional dish; * Food of a certain geographical area or of certain ethnic peoples; * Health issues in relation to food. Sometimes, the theme of a programme may fit into several of the above categories. For example, the programme broadcast on 14 and 15 August 2011 dealt with institutional policies to improve the diets of people in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

so as to make their diets more salubrious, a topic which is at once a topical issue related to food, a health issue related to food and a topic relating to the diet of people in a certain geographical group. All the most recent programmes are now available indefinitely at the Radio 4 website to listen again.

BBC Food and Farming Awards

The show hosts the annual BBC Radio Food and Farming Awards, and in so doing has been praised by

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

as a "national institution".Speech by the Prince of Wales at the BBC Radio Food and Farming Awards 2000
/ref>

2009

* Bob Kennard won "Best Campaigner".

2019

* Best Streetfood/Takeaway, Liberty Kitchen

Awards won by The Food Programme

The Food Programme, which celebrated its thirtieth anniversary in November 2009, has won multiple UK radio awards.Glenfiddich Food & Drink Awards
/ref>
/ref>

References

External links

BBC Radio 4 Food Programme homepage

Programme topic list 2004-2007

News items

1999 Interview with former presenter Derek Cooper

Derek Cooper on the programme's 20th Anniversary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Food Programme BBC Radio 4 programmes 1979 radio programme debuts Radio programs about food and drink