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The Food Foundation Podcast
A Hostile Environment: An asylum seeker's Christmas
In this episode, we’re at the front line of food insecurity as we visit some of the food banks feeding migrants and asylum seekers who don’t have recourse to public funds this Christmas.
We’re looking at the key findings of a new report by researchers at the University of Hertfordshire and commissioned by the Food Foundation. It shows a pretty bleak Christmas for over a million migrants and asylum seekers waiting for their legal status to be approved.
The Food Foundation wants the Healthy Start food voucher scheme to be made permanent, and to actively promote access to it among families with no recourse to public funds (NRPF)
We want the Government to provide local authorities with the resources they need to ensure families with no recourse to public funds to get the support they need. And that includes accommodation with adequate kitchen and cooking facilities for asylum seekers. And we want the govt to collect data to establish real levels of food insecurity among families and individuals with NRPF.
Listen to why it matters with Claire Thompson at University of Hertfordshire, Ray Woolford from We Care at Kath's Place, Juliet Sekitoleko at Brighton Minority and Ethnic Community Partnership
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3. Pod Bites: A Michelin-star school food stunt
06:36||Season 13, Ep. 3In 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.
2. Pod Bites: Is meat losing its appeal?
06:46||Season 13, Ep. 2Sarah 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.
1. Pod Bites: Can prison food change lives?
09:47||Season 13, Ep. 1Freya Harapp, a registered nutritionist at Food Matters, tells us how food is being used as a powerful lever for rehabilitation in prisons. Click here for more details about the charity's work in prisons, here for its latest report and here to sign up to The Food Foundation newsletter.
60. Pod Bites: Who controls our food?
06:44||Season 12, Ep. 60Nésa Depeza Njie, part of the Recipe for Change team at Sustain is back to update us on We're Fed Up! campaign, a people-powered call for healthy, affordable food.Click here for more information on We're Fed Up, and here for the Food Foundation newsletter.
59. Pod Bites: Can the UK grow enough food?
08:44||Season 12, Ep. 59Alice English, a senior project officer in the Place Base Food Systems team at the Food Foundation tells us about a new report published this week called Farming for Five a Day, which looks at the resilience of the UK's supply of fruit, vegetables, and beans in a changing climate. Click here for more information and here for the Food Foundation newsletter.
58. Breaking the food bank cycle
46:10||Season 12, Ep. 58Leon Ballin, Place-based Food System Manager at the Food Foundation is joined by a panel of experts to explore household food insecurity.Andrew Forsey, National Director of Feeding Britain, Penny Walters, Food Ambassador at the Food Foundation, Susanne Jaspers, Senior Research Fellow with the SOAS Food Studies Center and Elaine Morgan, the Principal for Strategy Reform at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority debate the question of whether the government's commitment to ending mass dependence on emergency food parcels can be achieved through change in local food support systems. Click here for the Food Foundation newsletter.
57. Pod Bites: Holiday hunger warning
07:06||Season 12, Ep. 57Hannah Abrams, Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer at the Food Foundation, argues the case for the HAF (Holiday Activities and Food) Programme that keeps kids on Free School Meals properly nourished during the school holidays. She argues that with the Government's pledge to expand school meals to an additional half a million children from the September 2026 school term, the expansion of HAF is a missing link.If you'd like to support Feeding Britain's campaign to expand HAF alongside free school meals, click here, and here for the Food Foundation newsletter.For further reading check out The Children's Society report: Walking into nothing: The hidden cost of the school holidays for families | The Children's Society and Feeding Britain's briefing here: https://feedingbritain.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Feeding-Britain-HAF-Briefing.pdf
56. Pod Bites: Next-gen farmers speak out
07:44||Season 12, Ep. 56Anna Wylie, a beef and arable young farmer, is on the pod this week to tell us about a new crop of young farmers who want their voices heard. Founder and chair the UK Youth Food and Farming Forum, Anna tells us about why strengthening youth participation in food and farming policy is essential to building a more sustainable food system and how to make this happen.Click here for more information on the Forum and here for the Food Foundation newsletter.
55. Pod Bites: A fresh start for food?
08:38||Season 12, Ep. 55Sophia Greenblatt, Public Affairs Lead for the Food Foundation unpacks the latest food insecurity data from The Food Foundation, and what it reveals about this significant political moment as Andy Burnham settles into Downing Street.Click here for more information on food insecurity data, and here for the Food Foundation newsletter.