The Food Foundation Podcast

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.

Freya 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.

Nésa 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.

Alice 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.