Table Talk

2022 marks 70 years since Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne, making Her Majesty the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee. Royal celebrations have often been associated with food, banquets and street parties, with this year following the script. In May 2022, Jemma Melvin created a lemon and Swiss roll amaretti trifle which beat around 5,000 other entries to be named the official pudding for the Jubilee. In this episode of the Food Matters Live podcast, we're looking at the traditions and recipes of British Royal celebrations of the past. We ask why some dishes capture the public's imagination, while others don't. We look at the parallels between the Platinum Jubilee celebrations and those that took place at the Queen's coronation in 1953. Today, like then, the celebrations are taking place at a time of hardship for many.  Food prices are rising today as the cost of living crisis deepens. In 1953, we were still a year away from the end of rationing after the Second

“Monbiot has that most aggravating of gifts, the ability lucidly to point out things that people desperately do not want to be true." That's a quote from Henry Dimbleby, the man who proposed the UK's new national food strategy. He is, of course, talking about journalist, author and activist George Monbiot. In this episode of the Food Matters Live podcast, George joins Stefan Gates to discuss the future of food production both in the UK and around the world. "We are looking at the possibility of systemic environmental collapse," George says. "We tell ourselves we put our survival above everything else. I see no evidence of that at all." He raises many concerns about the current food system in his new book “Regenesis: feeding the world without devouring the planet”. But the most pressing concerns centre around soil and the use of land for agriculture. He says the book came about through his newfound "obsession with soil", something he describes as being "the most complex ecosystem on Earth.

The images of suffering in Ukraine as Russia's invasion continues are some of the most horrifying seen in Europe for decades. The war has already led to the deaths of thousands, caused to the destruction of homes, and completely destroyed many people's way of life. Among the terrible scenes in Ukraine, we see a country which is a linchpin of the global food system, undergoing catastrophic change. The ripples will be felt across the world. The World Bank has warned it will cause the "largest commodity shock" since the 1970s and, of course, the impact will be felt acutely in Ukraine for decades to come. The global response has been to impose punishing sanctions on Russia, that too will have consequences for the food sector. So how is the global food system adjusting? And just what will be the effect on global food insecurity? In this edition of the Table Talk podcast, Stefan Gates is joined by Professor Tony Heron and PhD researcher Paulina Flores Martinez, from the University of York, to d

Stu Henshall has cooking in his bones, but it didn't always look as though he would end up being Executive Chef at two of the world's biggest meat-free brands. His early years were spent helping out his mum and dad, who owned a farm and a restaurant. He tells Elisa Roche in this episode of the Career Conversations podcast series, that he learned a lot in those early days, as much about front-of-house and pot washing as anything else. Alongside his love of food, he also had a passion for music and launched a successful career, working with The Prodigy, touring Europe, and gaining a gold disc for making a number one album. But he says he started to find that whilst on tour, he was more excited about the restaurants they were visiting than the gigs they were playing: "I realised something wasn't quite right." Then came a new moment in the limelight, and the start of the journey which has led to him becoming Executive Chef at Quorn and Cauldron - he appeared on the Great British Bake Off in 2015.

The history of English wine has been a bumpy one, and it starts much further back than many people would believe. There is evidence that the Romans grew grapes for wine in English soil some 2,000 years ago. For many hundreds of years after that there have been numerous attempts to make English wine the preferred choice amongst drinkers, with varying degrees of success. In fact, its fair to say that until relatively recently, English wine had a bad reputation both at home and elsewhere in the world. But today, the white and sparkling wines produced in England are often rated among the best. So how did we get here? In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, Stefan Gates is joined by wine writer, Liz Sagues, to find out exactly that. It's easy to dismiss early attempts at making English wine as being blighted by cold weather and too much rain, but there's more to it than that. Easy access to European wines, a lack of expertise, and a love of beer have also played their part. But if it was

Blair Bowman thinks there is something magic about whisky, and when you look into its history, it's hard to argue with him. "A single cask, single malt whisky, is totally unique," he tells Stefan Gates in this episode of the Table Talk podcast. "The fact that a cask is organic, means every cask is different. If you try one that you like and there's only going to be 200 bottles from that cask, once they're drunk it's extinct.  "You can't recreat that. That's the magic of whisky." There's no doubting that Blair knows his stuff. He is the founder of World Whisky Day, author of the bestselling "Pocket Guide to Whisky: featuring the WhiskyTubeMap", and he holds the world record for the most distilleries visited in one day. Whisky is booming at the moment, with production surging into new territories including Japan, India, and even the Arctic Circle! But how did we get to this point? What were the key events that shaped the drink we have today? And where might the whisky market be heading? Bl

"I really love to see a client that's satisfied," says Tessa Anderson. "That they're in a much better position than when I first met them." Tessa is a qualified food technologist and is Managing Director of Pack Copy Sent Consultancy. She knows just about everything there is to know about food regulations and labelling, and helps companies get their consumable products safely approved for sale. Tessa says relationships are critical to the work she does, and says networking is a big part of her job. "I love helping people and I love meeting people," she tells Elisa Roche in this episode of the Career Conversations podcast series. Reading up on the latest legislation also takes up a lot of her time. It's crucial that she stays on top of any new rules around food packaging, wherever in the world they might be introduced. But it's not all "reaching out" and reading up, Tessa says there's no such thing as a typical day for her. Her journey began at Manchester Metropolitan University, where

For years, the Netherlands has had a particularly important role to play in the global food system - but how is that role changing as sustainability becomes an ever more pressing issue? The Dutch food production system has historically been the envy of the world, a small country but a big exporter. That has usually meant some pretty intensive farming practices, but now the Netherlands is becoming a global exporter of sustainable ideas. It's in no small part down to some of the work being done at Foodvalley, an independent international organisation, working to accelerate the transition to a sustainable food system. In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, Stefan Gates is joined by Foodvalley Managing Director, Marjolein Brasz. She explains what the organisation does, why it exists, and some of the challenges it hopes to overcome. The crux of it, is that Foodvalley identifies problems in the food system that can only be solved by bringing people together from across different sectors. Th

Whenever there's a conversation taking place about the cutting edge of the food industry, the name of one country keeps cropping up - Israel. Whether it's discussing plant-based innovations, start-ups and investment, or lab-grown meat, we’re always drawn back to Israel. For a long time, home to a sparkling array of hi-tech industry, and now a global centre of food and agri-tech.     But why is Israel so central in helping to shape the future of our global food system, and how did it obtain this position? In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, we try to answer that question with the help of the Israel Innovation Authority. The Israel Innovation Authority is a government agency designed to foster the development of industrial R&D. Listen to the full episode to find out how they go about it, why it has been so successful to date, and what others countries might be able to learn. And take a peak at what's on the horizon, the projects that are getting people really excited about the fu

"I feel privileged to be occupying a role... where you get to be emersed in all the brand love," says Micah Douglas, Content and Community Manager at Tony's Chocolonely. Micah has only be in the role for two-and-a-half years but he can't speak highly enough of the place. In this episode of the Career Conversations podcast series, he reveals all about how he ended up working for at the chocolate company. He says he didn't initially see himself working in the food industry: "It's been a pretty winding path, food never seemed like the obvious choice to me." Tony's Chocolonely is going on tour - find out where and when In fact, Micah initially got into events marketing, something he studied at Bournemouth University. But after doing a work placement at Mr Lee's Pure Foods, he realised it was the sector for him. He was eventually drawn to the lights of London and, despite still being relatively inexperienced, he took a huge gamble.  He quit his jobs, "probably a bit too prematurely," he sa

After two years of a pandemic, and the massive behaviour change it forced on all of us, how do companies in the food industry look to the future and identify opportunities for positive innovation? In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, made in partnership with Accenture, we talk to the people behind the influential Fjord Trends report to find out. Fjord Trends 2022 might be the most fascinating to date, coming at a moment when huge sections of society are emerging from a period when we were forced to pause, reflect, and re-evaluate many of our relationships. That has affected the way we think about all sorts of things, self-care and the environment among them. It has also affected the way many of us think about the brands we engage with. So much has changed for so many people, but this episode isn't just about spotting the latest trends, it also looks closely at how the information compiled in Fjord Trends 2022 can be used by companies to make real-world decisions. This year's report has f

The right to food is recognised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but in 2019 in the UK 5m people were living in food poverty. Many of those affected are children, and in this episode of the Table Talk podcast, we meet two extraordinary teenagers who are campaigning to make the food system fairer for everyone. Yumna Hussen and Saffron Stedall are both Young Food Ambassadors for the Food Foundation, campaigning for Children’s Right2Food. They believe that young people are not being heard when it comes to food poverty, and are working to implement real change. Their campaigning has taken them to COP26 and Downing Street. They have also met and worked alongside Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, Henry Dimbleby, and England footballer Marcus Rashford. As part of their work, they have produced The Children's Right2Food Charter, which sets out a roadmap for tackling food poverty. A big part of the charter is a call for the expansion of free school meals, which Yumna and Saffron point out

Max Tobias is co-founder of The Dusty Knuckle, a social enterprise bakery in London. "It's not for the feint-heart," he tells Elisa Roche in this episode of the Career Conversations podcast series. Max says the jobs is "very demanding" and really is a 24/7 endeavour: "People need their daily bread." It's fair to say Max has been slogging his guts out along with his two best friends to set up a community bakery that helps young people with difficult backgrounds to get back their confidence and learn new skills. Max now has a cookbook on sale, but he's very clear about how hard it has been to reach the stage he has. So, with all that hard work, is he a millionaire? "I haven't made any millions yet, and neither have my business partners."  Listen to the full episode to find out how the bakery came into being, and why they decided to call it The Dusty Knuckle. Max Tobias, Managing Director, The Dusty Knuckle Bakery Max Tobias is the Managing Director of The Dusty Knuckle Bakery. Prior to

There are fewer challenges bigger than trying to transform the global food system to make people and the planet healthier, but for Dr Gunhild Stordalen it's a challenge worth taking on. In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, Stefan Gates meets the founder of non-profit organisation EAT to discuss what motivates her, and how she stays driven to achieve her goals in the face of stiff opposition and vested interests. Gunhild started her career with a PhD in pathology/orthopaedic surgery - so what took her from being a doctor to taking such a keen interest in making the global food system sustainable? She says that whilst she was on the board of one of Scandinavia's biggest hotel companies, she tried to change the menu to be good for people and good for the planet. But her research turned up very little in the way of research and, crucially, no forum where all key stakeholders could meet. That led to her forming EAT, the non-profit platform for food system transformation. It held its first f

When Ben Christopherson was travelling, shortly after going to catering college, he knew he wanted to work in pastry - but nobody would let him have a go. "On the continent they just would not let you in the pastry kitchen if you didn't have experience or a qualification. I didn't have either of those," he tells Elisa Roche in this episode of the Career Conversations podcast series, made in association with the University of West London (UWL). But Ben says that experience is what drove him to get some qualifications in patisserie and go on to have a hugely successful career as a Head Pastry Chef. He ended up working at places like the luxury Goring Hotel, Harrods, and eventually launching his own business. All of that experience feeds into the work he does now as a lecturer in Food Studies and Hospitality at UWL. Ben describes the role as being a mix of teaching, competition training, creating new modules, liaising with industry, and of course, some admin. He says the variety is what he love

Millions of Muslims around the world have been marking the holy month of Ramadan, with celebrations reaching a crescendo with Eid al-Fitr. Food is central to Ramadan, and in this episode of the Table Talk podcast, we look at some of the history and tradition, but also the vital role of nutrition. We also pose some questions: Is the food industry in the UK doing enough to cater for people observing Ramadan? And is it missing an opportunity? Ramadan contributes more than £200m to the UK economy - but is enough being done to cater for specific needs? Listen to the full episodes to find out about the many different ways Ramadan is celebrated around the world, and why dates play such a central role in the breaking of the fast. We also look at the types of foods that are helpful when fasting during daylight hours, how some traditional dishes are being given a modern twist, and get some tips on how to make the traditional Turkish dessert Gullac. Mursal Saiq, Director and Co-Founder, Cue Point M

Just how important is the history of beer when it comes to looking at the history of human civilisation? It might seem like a flippant question, but there's evidence that beer-making has played a crucial role in our species' past. The art of beer making is thought to go back as much as 12,000 years, with different cultures and societies all around the world brewing their own varieties. In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, we delve into the history of one of the world's most popular drinks and look to what the future of beer might look like. Listen to the full episode to learn about different methods for making beer in far-flung parts of the world, find out the proper way to taste beer (and why an early start can be useful!), and why prohibition never took off in the UK. We also look at the history of the British pub, why they've played such a central role in our culture, and what their future prospects look like. Pete Brown, Author, Broadcaster, Consultant, Beer Lover Pete Brown is

What's it like to be Head of Sustainability at a huge company like Nestlé UK and Ireland? To mark Earth Day 2022, we've been speaking to the woman who holds that role, Dr Emma Keller. Emma started out doing a biology degree at Imperial College London but, by her own admission, "was useless in a laboratory". She says that's when she realised she was "much more interested in the bigger picture, the systems-change piece". After doing a Masters in Environmental Technology, she went on to get a PhD in Environmental Strategy and Sustainable Systems at the University of Surrey. So, is studying an environmental subject the key to landing a job like Head of Sustainability at a multinational conglomerate such as Nestlé? Not so, says Emma: "We need a whole wealth of different talents and skills. There are lots of ways to get into this space." Listen to the full episode to find out how Emma rose to the top of her profession - including successful stints at Unilever and the WWF - what she loves most a

Could adopting a climatarian diet be the biggest single change each of us could make to reduce global warming? It's a big question, and possibly a big change for many of us, but James Hand, Co-Founder of Giki Zero, thinks it could have the biggest impact. In this episode of the Table Talk podcast, James sets out why and attempts to bust some myths around climatarian diets. He says that the average person in the UK has a carbon footprint of nine tonnes per year, and in order to meet CO2 reduction targets, that needs to come down to two tonnes. Our diet is one of the areas we have a lot of control of, and when you consider that food makes up around 25 per cent of the average person's carbon footprint, it's clear that making a positive change would have a big impact. But how easy and how realistic is it to expect everyone to make such a change? What are the main challenges for the average consumer? And can those challenges really be overcome? When thinking about the carbon footprint of the food

The destruction of tropical rainforests to make way for palm oil plantations is a growing environmental crisis. It's forecast that by 2050, worldwide production of palm oil will triple, leading to the continued large-scale loss of habitat and rising CO2 emissions. So if it is so damaging to the environment, why is it so widely used and isn't the answer simply to ban it? In this episodes of the Table Talk podcast, we look at the reasons why palm oil has gained such a foothold, not just in the food industry but in other industries too, and investigate why banning its use might not be the panacea it's sometimes put forward as. Palm oil is in a huge number of products, with estimates suggesting it is in around 50% of all processed food. It is used as a primary cooking ingredient, an ingredient to increase viscosity, and it's also used in some biofuels. Part of the reason it is so popular, is because it is a very high-yielding crop - it produces five-times more oil per hectare than rapeseed, and