The Food Foundation Podcast

New figures show 750,000 pregnant women and children in households on Universal Credit are missing out on the government's Healthy Start scheme due to strict eligibility criteria. Our Policy and Advocacy Manager Shona Goudie tells us about a Food Foundation-led campaign, involving more than 100 organisations, calling for the scheme to be urgently expanded.Watch the campaign animation video here, and sign up to The Food Foundation newsletter here.

From cocktail bars to coffee cups to the fields of Britain, this episode, presented by Melissa Hemsley, tracks the frontier of bean innovation. World-renowned bartender Ryan Chetiyawardana (aka Mr Lyan) reveals how caramelised beans unlock unexpected dessert-wine flavours, while Koppie's beanless “coffee” convinces Brighton taste-testers who can't quite place what they're drinking. Kew's Dr Caspar Chater and young farmer Anna Wylie make the case for beans as a genuine answer to climate volatility in British agriculture.In this episode:● The blackened bean technique that turns haricots into dessert-wine flavours● Beanless “coffee” that fooled a Brighton taste test● Why climate change could make Britain a chickpea and lentil country● The business case for British-grown fava bean proteinFeaturing: Ryan Chetiyawardana (Mr Lyan), Daan Raemdonck (Koppie), Dr Caspar Chater (Kew), Anna Wylie (UK Youth Food & Farming Forum), Adam Palmer (Honest Bean), Paul Donegan (Atura Proteins). Produced by Gilly Smith. Click here for more information on Bang in Some Beans, and here for all the recipes in the series.Click here for series 1 of Bang in Some BeansProduced by Gilly Smith

The question isn't whether food matters, it’s whether policymakers are prepared to treat it with the urgency it deserves.So what role did the food system play at this year's political party conferences? Our Public Affairs Lead Sophia Greenblatt reflects on this after attending events by Reform, Labour, the Greens, Liberal Democrats, and Conservatives in our latest podcast.Click here for the Food Foundation newsletter.

What if every child had access to a school meal that fuels concentration, boosts their fibre and protein intake and doesn't break the bank?In the first episode of Series 2 of Bang in Some Beans, the voice of the Food Foundation and Veg Power's mission to get the UK eating more beans by 2028, Melissa Hemsley looks at the role that beans can play in school food.As new school food standards take effect, this episode visits the classrooms and kitchens already ahead of the curve. Dr Fatma Sabet of the University of Exeter has spent the summer trialling Feed, a school-dinner staple made from Devon venison and UK-grown legumes, winning over the toughest critics of all: primary school pupils. In Birmingham, coach Mohammed Uddin's bean cupcake workshops are teaching children the nutrition case for beans in their own words.In this episode:● Meet Feed: wild venison and UK legumes, disguised as a school meatball● What the kids actually thought (7.5 out of 10, and a request for pasta)● Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall on why school food policy needs teeth● Inside a Birmingham bean cupcake workshop with primary-age criticsFeaturing: Dr Fatma Sabet, Ellie Fairchild, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Mohammed Uddin, Pam Noel, and Shivi Ramoutar. Click here for more information on Bang in Some Beans, and here for all the recipes in the series.Click here for series 1 of Bang in Some BeansProduced by Gilly Smith

Our Bang in Some Beans podcast series is back - and this time it's bigger than ever. Series two features a star-studded line-up, including longevity expert Dan Buettner, Happy Mondays frontman Bez, and actor Peter Egan, among others.They'll explore some intriguing questions, such as what do the world's longest-lived populations actually eat? And can better food improve behaviour in prisons? But there's plenty of fun too, from entrepreneurs using beans to unlock dessert-wine flavours and create beanless 'coffee', to the beetroot and bean hot dog winning over Premiership football fans.Click here for more information on Bang in Some BeansClick here for series 1 of Bang in Some BeansProduced by Gilly Smith.

What does campaigning to improve the food system look like through the eyes of a youth activist?We invited Food Ambassador Jacob Kennedy and our Citizen Engagement Assistant Maki Ramaditya onto the podcast to share some insight and spill the beans on this year's annual 'Resi' for young ambassadors. The Food Ambassador Programme is for volunteers aged between 14 to 25, many of whom have lived experience of food insecurity and can report from the front line on how the food system can be made fairer and should be made fairer. The residential is their opportunity to meet up and share their experience and their wins in a year of campaigning.Click here for more information on the food ambassadors and here for the Food Foundation newsletter.

This week, Gilly Smith, award-winning food journalist and the producer of The Food Foundation Podcast tells us about BrightonFoodStory, an ideas-led food festival aimed at transforming how a city eats which soft launches on October 2-4.Click here for more information and here for the Food Foundation newsletter.

In the week the Government announced updated school food standards for the first time in over a decade, Zainab, a youth activist at Bite Back, tells us about the School Food Project's bold prank involving Michelin-starred chef Angela Hartnett and youth activists shining a light on the reality some children still face at lunchtime. The stunt also demonstrated the potential the new standards can have in ensuring ensure every child has a nutritious meal at lunchtime.Watch the stunt here, find out more about the project here for more information and here to sign up to The Food Foundation newsletter.

Sarah Ayech, the UK director of Madre Brava, a climate and food non-profit campaigning for affordable, sustainable, and healthy food for all, tells us about the rise in plant protein sales, and especially beans.Click here for more information on Madre Brava, and here for the Food Foundation newsletter.