The Food Foundation Podcast

Did you know beans can boost athletic performance and recovery? England Rugby World Cup winner Sarah Bern explains why and shares insights on elite performance in our latest Bang in Some Beans podcast.We also hear from Jeffrey Boadi, a semi-professional footballer and tennis player who went plant-based eight years ago and author of Plant Fuel: 80 Easy and Energising Recipes Packed with Protein and Fibre, about how protein can power up our game.Presenter Chef Melissa Hemsley follows us to Hove Rugby Club to meet six players from one of the UK’s top under-14 girls’ teams to see what fuels their game, and surprises them with a visit from Sarah Bern herself. Food writer and cook Claire Thomson, aka 5 o'Clock Apron, shares her Black Bean Brownies recipe, which is taste-tested by the competitive athlete family, the Goldenbergs.You can find the recipe for Claire's Black Bean Brownies here and more delicious bean recipes here.Sign up to our newsletter to ensure you get all our updates.

Professor Aled Jones, director of the Global Sustainability Institute at Anglia Ruskin University, tells us how global conflicts can impact food prices and reveals concerns that disruption to food supplies could lead to social unrest in the UK.We believe a Good Food Bill is vital to protect citizens, farmers and food businesses from such shocks, read why here.Keep up to date with all our latest news by signing up to our newsletter.

What comes to mind when you think of the Great British Breakfast? Chef Melissa Hemsley delves into one of Britain's most iconic meals: the full English to explore its traditions for our latest Bang in Some Beans podcast.Food writer and Guardian columnist Felicity Cloake, author of Red Sauce, Brown Sauce: A British Breakfast Odyssey, reveals the surprisingly modern story of baked beans at breakfast - and how clever marketing helped cement them as a fry-up staple.We also hear from super-storyteller Hannah Wilding of Bold Bean co who shares ideas for reimagining beans beyond the classic sugary sauce and pop over to The Upper Dicker Village Shop in the heart of Sussex to chat with locals about what really belongs on a breakfast plate.Meanwhile, food writer and nutritionist Emma Bardwell, author of The Fibre Effect, The Surprising and Easy Way to Transform your Health makes the case for fibre-rich beans as the breakfast upgrade we didn’t know we needed - and Team Bean’s Dan Bradley puts her miso beans on toast to the test.You can find the recipe for Emma's Miso Beans on Toast here and more delicious bean recipes here.Sign up to our newsletter to keep up to date with all our latest news

Dr Hannah Brinsden, Head of Policy and Advocacy at the Food Foundation, leads a panel of experts to talk about Early Years nutrition, drawing on some of the findings of the Food Foundation's recent Early Years report series.She is joined by Food Foundation Ambassador, Glory Omoaka, Corin Bell, the new CEO of Alexandra Rose, and Amy Brown, Professor of Public Health at Swansea University. Sign up to our newsletter to keep up to date with our latest news and events, and here for more information on our Early Years reports.

Once a staple in British kitchens for more than 2,000 years, the fava bean has been all but forgotten - until now! Known for its versatility and low-carbon footprint, this ancient legume is making a comeback on plates and in farms across the country.In episode two of our Bang in Some Beans podcast series, chef Melissa Hemsley hears from Josiah Meldrum of Hodmedod's and farmer Emma Loder-Symonds tells us why she mills her fava beans; and the University of Reading's Raising the Pulse project presents a vision of how fava bean flour could change the conversation around white sliced bread, while chef and author Tim Anderson gives us his recipe for miso twists.You can find the recipe for Tim Anderson's Miso Twists here and more delicious bean recipes here.Sign up to our newsletter to keep up to date with all our latest news.

Anna Taylor, Executive Director of the Food Foundation tells us about the launch of the campaign for a Good Food Bill. The Food Foundation, with partners Green Alliance and Sustain, are calling on the government to introduce this new bill to transform the UK's food system and ensure food and nutrition security for current and future generations.For the latest on the campaign click here. You can also keep up to date with our latest news by signing up to our newsletter.

In this major new podcast series as part of The Food Foundation, Veg Power and Beans in How's three-year mission to get the UK eating more beans, chef and writer Melissa Hemsley shows us how these little powerhouses of goodness are so good for our health, good for the planet and such good news for stretched family budgets.In this first episode, Ian Theasby, one half of the super-influencer recipe developer and food writing team, BOSH! tells us how and why supermarkets can change the conversation about beans; Dr Jo Lunn, head nutritionist at Waitrose takes us behind the scene to show us what's happening in the aisles of power; and Food Foundation ambassador Jani Clarke and her Nan and Grandad try out BOSH!'s Ultimate Chilli recipe - and it more than lives up to the hype.You can find the recipe for BOSH!'s Ultimate Chilli here and more delicious bean recipes here.Sign up to our newsletter to ensure you get all our updates.

Welcome to Bang in Some Beans, the six-part mini series from The Food Foundation and Veg Power, who have partnered on a three-year mission to get the UK eating more beans.Presented by chef Melissa Hemsley, it’s part of a major new project to challenge the way we think about beans.The series is a deep dive into the stories behind beans. We need to eat more beans; beans, pulses and lentils are little powerhouses of goodness. They’re good for our health, good for the planet and good news for stretched family budgets.Over six episodes, we find out why there’s so much innovation in beans, why athletes are all over them and how they can even help our mental and hormonal health.We see beans as a serious, surprising cultural topic, prodding conversations about the bean that’s as much about taste and cost as it is about public health, planetary health, British food culture and class and identity.We want to show that beans are more than a lifestyle choice — they’re a system solution. They provide accessible affordable protein in a cost-of-living crisis, they’re a low-carbon food in a climate emergency and could fix the fibre deficit in UK diets.Join us every Tuesday as we bang in some beans...

Katherine Jenner, Executive Director of the Obesity Health Alliance tells us about the new nutrient profile model that has finally been published by the government, and the very real consequences of how food and drink will be advertised and promoted, especially to children.Click here to sign up for The Food Foundation newsletter.