''The Food Programme'' is a

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

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 ch ...

and currently presented by Sheila Dillon, Dan Saladino, Leyla Kazim and Jaega Wise. The series is produced by BBC Audio in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. 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 with guests

Rick Stein Christopher Richard Stein, (born 4 January 1947) is an English celebrity chef, restaurateur, writer and television presenter. Along with business partner (and first wife) Jill Stein, he runs the Stein hotel and restaurant business in the UK. T ...

, Leyla Kazim,

Yotam Ottolenghi Yotam Assaf Ottolenghi (; born 14 December 1968) is an Israeli-born British chef, restaurateur, and food writer. Alongside Sami Tamimi, he is the co-owner of nine delis and restaurants in London and Bicester Village and the author of several be ...

and

Grace Dent Grace Georgina Dent (born 3 October 1973) is a British 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 t ...

Guests

* 1987

Lady Eve Balfour Lady Evelyn Barbara Balfour, (16 July 1898 – 16 January 1990) was a British farmer, educator, organic farming pioneer, and a founding figure in the organic movement. She was one of the first women to study agriculture at an English university ...

founder of the

Soil Association The Soil Association is a British registered charity focused on the effect of agriculture on the environment. It was established in 1946. Their activities include campaigning for local purchasing, public education on nutrition and certificat ...

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 The causes of food going uneaten are numerous and occur throughout the food system, during food production, production, food processing, processing, Food distribution, distribution, Grocery store, retail and food service sales, and Social clas ...

; * 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. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

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. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, a ...

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

External links

BBC Radio 4 Food Programme homepage

Archive on Four September 1999

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 Food policy in the United Kingdom Radio programs about food and drink