The Food Chain

Catering on film and TV sets is notorious for being one of the toughest jobs in the hospitality industry. Imagine feeding hundreds of people in a different location every day, running your kitchen in some of the world’s most remote places, and accommodating the varied diets of the planet’s biggest stars. Tamasin Ford speaks to three caterers to find out what it takes to succeed in Hollywood, Bollywood, and the world of reality TV, and finds out how vital food can be to the success of a shoot. If you would like to get in touch with the show please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk.Producer: Simon TulettContributors:Sid Ghai, director of Ghai Caterers Ltd, London; Antonia Crowley, executive chef and event stylist at Flying Trestles, Auckland; Wayne Brown, co-founder of Red Radish, London.(Picture: A stack of pizza boxes next to a film director's chair. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Rationing looms large in the memories of a generation who lived through World War Two. Basic groceries were limited and getting enough food on the table became a daily challenge that went on long after the last bombs fell. Ruth Alexander brings together a German and an English woman, who grew up on opposite sides of the world’s deadliest ever conflict, to share their recollections of wartime eating. What was it like struggling to find food, how did they adapt, and how has it changed their approach to food forever? (Picture: Ingeborg Schreib-Wywiorski and Beryl Kingston, Credit: BBC) If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email thefoodhchain@bbc.co.uk Contributors: Ingeborg Schreib-Wywiorski and Beryl Kingston. Presenter: Ruth Alexander Producer: Sarah Stolarz

Gabriella D’Cruz, from Goa, wants to improve diets, transform livelihoods, and protect the planet using an often-overlooked marine vegetable - seaweed.Ruth Alexander speaks to the 29-year-old about her big plans for the underwater crop, and her hope that it could bring lasting economic and environmental change to India’s coastal communities. Gabriella’s passion and her project’s potential saw her chosen by a panel of international judges as the winner of The Food Chain Global Youth Champion Award 2021.If you would like to get in touch with the show please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk.Producer: Simon TulettContributors:Gabriella D'Cruz, founder of The Good Ocean; Ismahane Elouafi, chief scientist at the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.(Picture: Gabriella D'Cruz in the sea holding a basket of seaweed. Credit: Gabriella D'Cruz/BBC)

How is a new cuisine created? Ruth Alexander explores two unique cuisines in South Africa and the USA: ‘Cape-Malay’- a 300-year old tradition born out of colonialism and slavery that unites Indonesian and Dutch tastes; and ‘Viet-Cajun’ - a more recent phenomenon that has seen the Vietnamese diaspora experimenting with Cajun flavours in Texas. We explore how history’s darkest episodes can lead to some of the most captivating flavour combinations and ask why some people will cringe at the term ‘fusion food’. (Picture: Pot lid being opened. Credit: Getty/BBC)If you would like to get in touch with the show please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.ukContributors:Cass Abrahams: Chef and Author, Cape Town, South Africa Mai Pham: Food writer, Houston, USA

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic some people discovered a solace and comfort in cooking, but for many others the opposite was true - the joy they had once felt in the kitchen evaporated.Tamasin Ford speaks to three formerly passionate cooks to find out what it’s like to lose the love of the thing you enjoy doing the most.What’s really behind their ‘cooking burnout’, how have they tried to reignite that spark, and has this experience changed their relationship with food for good?If you would like to get in touch with the show please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk.Producer: Simon TulettContributors: Helen Rosner, food correspondent for The New Yorker, New York, USA; Yamini Pustake Bhalerao, author and ideas editor at shethepeople.tv, Pune, India; Wayne Barnard, chef and ambassador for The Burnt Chef Project, Cardiff, Wales.(Picture: A woman making cookies. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

The pressure to tackle climate change by altering what we eat is huge, and it can be a daunting prospect. But you don’t have to go vegan, shop 100 per cent local, or start your own allotment to make a difference. This week, as world leaders gather for a key climate conference in Glasgow, we’re asking you what small changes you’ve made to your everyday food habits to make them a little bit greener. Plus, Tamasin Ford hears from a chef in Nigeria about the special role he thinks the professionals have to play, and we ask for one life-changing piece of advice from an expert and writer on food waste.(Picture: Hand reaches for apple, Credit: Getty/BBC)If you would like to get in touch with the show please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.ukContributors:Michael Elégbèdé: chef, ÌTÀN Restaurant and Test Kitchen in Ikoyi, Nigeria Tamar Adler: author ‘An Everlasting Meal’, New York, USAAnd Food Chain listeners:Annabell Randles: London, UK Mike Hoey: Berkely, California Simone Osman: Maputo, Mozambique Yael Straver Laris: Geneva, Switzerland Kate Minogue: Lewes, UK Karine Young: Cape Town, South Africa Jeremy Okware, Uganda Rebecca Neo: Singapore

The UK food industry relies on foreign workers, but what happens when they stop coming? A combination of COVID-19 and Brexit has led to fewer workers available to pick, process and transport food. For some farmers it has led to heartbreaking dilemmas. Tamasin Ford speaks to two pig farmers who face having to kill thousands of healthy pigs, and a salad farmer who has seen millions of lettuce heads rot in his fields.(Picture: farmer in field, Credit: Getty/BBC)If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.ukContributors: Vicky Morgan, pig farmer, Pockthorpe Hall Farm, East Yorkshire, UK Kate Morgan, pig farmer, Pockthorpe Hall Farm, East Yorkshire, UK Nick Ottewell, Farming and Commercial Director at LJ Betts Ltd, Kent, England

The hospitality industry is facing a staffing crisis, but why have thousands of chefs and waiters quit, and why now?Tamasin Ford speaks to three former restaurant and bar workers to find out why the coronavirus pandemic prompted them to leave, and what they're doing instead. We find out what, if anything, might tempt them back - higher pay, more sociable hours, or better work culture, maybe kinder customers? And we ask whether Covid-19 might really be the moment for industry reform.If you would like to get in touch with the show please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk.Producer: Simon TulettContributors: Adam Reiner, New York; Melissa Sosa, Miami; Renée Harper, Phoenix.(Picture: Upset waitress leaning on a bar. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Alcohol is part of the fabric of life in many cultures. It’s associated with socialising, dating, networking, even commiserating . But what happens if you take it away? Tamasin Ford brings together three people who decided to give up alcohol in a drinking culture. We ask them why and how they did it. What effect did it have on their lives professionally, socially, physically and emotionally? And would they ever want to drink again?If you Would like to get in touch with the show please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk.If you have found any of the issues raised in this programme upsetting and are looking for further information or support - please visit BBC Action Line by clicking on the link below.Contributors: Annie Grace - Author and founder This Naked Mind Colorado, USA Andy Ramage - Performance coach, Essex, UK Kate Gunn - Author 'The Accidental Soberista' Whitlow, Ireland(Picture: Hand on empty bottle. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Insects are cheap, packed full of nutrients, and farming them for food could help save the planet. Convincing more people to eat them, though, remains a big challenge.Tamasin Ford speaks to three insect entrepreneurs trying to persuade the squeamish, especially in Europe and North America, to overcome their fears of crickets, worms, and spiders, and instead see them as a tasty, sustainable, alternative source of protein.We also hear that it’s not just the ‘yuck factor’ holding this fledgling industry back - should governments, chefs, and climate campaigners be doing more to support it?If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email thefoodchain@bbc.co.ukProducer: Simon TulettContributors:Joseph Yoon, chef and executive director of Brooklyn Bugs; Marjolaine Blouzard, former co-owner of Bugs Cafe; Andy Holcroft, founding director of Grub Kitchen and Bug Farm Foods.(Picture: A dish of peas, carrots and worms prepared by chef David Faure. Credit: Didier Baverel/Getty Images/BBC)