Eat the System

As I'm sure many of you are aware, there is a campaign to to implement universal free school meals for every school pupil, whatever their circumstances.perhaps, just perhaps, this is an idea whose time has come. It is, for the the being at least, already in operation in both Scotland and London.It may be a current consideration, but it's by no means a new idea.20 years ago, here in Hull, the council showed the political will necessary to make it happen, going as far as getting the law changed to allow this to happen.The Eat Well Do Well Scheme provided free school meals for every primary school pupil, and more than this, the council also ensued that the meals were of high quality, and nutritious at a time when successive government had abandoned the principle of maintaining school food standards.This is the first of three episodes about the Eat Well Do Well scheme, and examine how and why it was implemented, it's effects, and what we can learn for the current campaign In this episode I talk with Colin Inglis, the council leader who initiated this scheme, despite scepticism even from within his own party, So settle in for a story of high ideals and bruising politics.

I love a good trade show. I know they aren't everybody's cup of tea, so I went so that you don't have to. There is a scale as well as a complexity to the food system. Standing in the centre of the huge show, which is also a tiny part of a small section of just catering, you get an inkling of how big it is.In this episode I talk tp some of the exhibitors about food, but also some of the other businesses that serve the food industry, from packaging to software.

The term 'Intensive farming' brings to mind unsustainable and un-natural practices - although to the fair all, forms of farming are actually un-natural if you think about it.But intensive can also mean a highly controlled growing system, that uses resources as efficiently as possible to maximise harvests. Like all farming methods, the sustainability and environmental impact of intensive farming will depends on how it is done, as well as the specifics of the particular farming system.Aquaponics is a self balancing system that is almost impossible to do badly, and in this episode we find out just how well it can be done.Henry Dimbleby, in his excellent book 'Ravenous', suggests that we need a the whole range of farming in order to secure our national food supplies; from regenerative farming and rewilding at one end , to highly intensive farming at the other.What Dave and Lucie are creating sits at both ends of this spectrum; with design principles reminiscent of the "Small is Beautiful" ethos of E F Schumacher (and even permaculture), and they are doing this working on one of the most cutting edge farming methods out there. I for one can't wait for my first taste of traditional New Forest caviar.

I'm sure we all have memories of school dinners - if you ever get the chance to visit a school in adulthood, two odours that will drag you straight back to childhood, floor polish and the dining hall. Some of us are old enough to remember school lunches before the food and nutritinal standards were repealed, and some of you may have attended at the height of the turkey twizzler craze.These days, apparently, school food standards are back. But with around 40% of primary schools, and over 80% of secondary schools run as academies, who is checking up. Actually the answer is effectively no-one.But the quality of the food is only one aspect of lunch. The time pupils are given to relax, socialise and importantly eat, has shrunk significantly recently - sometimes as low as 30 minutes. Quite apart from the loss of lunchtime clubs and activities, this turns the dining hall into a refuelling station.In this episode students from several local schools tell us about their school lunches and lunchtimes, followed by in interview with someone who has been schooled in both France and the UK.If you are unaware of the current state of school dinners, be prepared to have your ears opened.

How, and what, we teach the next generation about food is a mammoth subject, so expect us to return to this issue more than once. But for now, we are going to dive straight into middle. this is where we address past failures; and face that one last chance to put things right, before adulthood.In this episode I talk to 2 different guests, who are both delivering food eduction to young people (by which I mean around 16-25 years old) in non-formal educational; settings.

No market is perfect, and when it comes to the international food trade, any well considered examination must conclude that it is not equitable, even when examined under the most free market ethos.We can either rail against these iniquities, or we can do something about it. In this month's podcast we're going to talk about an organisation that is doing something about, and enables us to do something, about it too.I met Joanna Fianu when she came over to Hull to talk about both Fairtrade and some of her own projects. She was an inspiration, as is the work Fairtrade do- it's one of the oldest and most effective accreditation schemes of it's kind.So, on the its 30th aniversary year I invited Joanne to talk to us about the scheme, and to share a personal story of how she used Fairtrade to launch one of her one projects

Do we really know where our food comes from? Can we guarantee how is is grown, how it is processed and what it actually contains? Once a supply chain becomes so long that no-one can see from one end to the other, there are opportunities to game the system, or worse.Food Crime is comes in several forms, it ranges from mis-labeling or substituting for cheaper ingredients all the way to using ingredients that harm consumers, or producing food in a way that abuses the workers.In this month's episode we talk with Alice Rizzuti, lecturer in criminology at the University of Hull - about the anatomy food crime, and why public harm doesn't always qualify as a crime.

I think we all love the idea of locally grown organic food, freshly harvested and delivered to our door. But what does it take to make this happen. Is it scaleable; is it even viable.I took a tour of one of only a handful of local organic market gardens in our region. If you are interested in the case studies behind the podcast, you can find the original recordings at our youtube channel: Veg Cities Hull, or the edited write-ups on our website