Housemates

Housemates

Author: BBC World Service October 17, 2024 Duration: 27:38

Did you share a flat, house or kitchen as a student or professional? Is it the shared meals and conversation that stay with you, or the piles of dirty dishes and missing food?

This week Ruth Alexander has a look around shared kitchens all over the world.

We hear the good, bad and dirty – and give advice on how to build cooperation in your shared kitchen. Ruth hears from a former housemate what she was really like to share with, as well as a surprise revelation about her unappetising meal of choice.

If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk

Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Hannah Bewley.

(Image: five students sat on sofas in their shared living space eating a meal they have cooked together. Credit: BBC)


There’s a story behind every meal, and The Food Chain from the BBC World Service goes out to find it. This isn’t just a series about recipes or restaurant reviews; it’s a deep and often surprising exploration of how food shapes our world. Each episode follows a single thread, whether it’s the economic forces that decide what grows in a field, the hidden science in your kitchen, or the profound cultural traditions carried in a family dish. You’ll hear from farmers, chefs, economists, historians, and scientists, all contributing pieces to a larger picture about our global relationship with what we eat. The conversations reveal the complex journey from source to table, unpacking the labor, innovation, and sometimes the controversy, involved in feeding communities. Tuning into this podcast feels like joining a well-reported global conversation, one that changes how you think about the next thing you’ll eat. It connects the personal act of eating to vast systems of business, culture, and science, making the everyday subject of food endlessly fascinating.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

The Food Chain
Podcast Episodes
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Stunning cakes, colourful salads and intricate garnishes use flowers to entice customers, but there’s more to this trend than just beautiful social media pictures. Many cultures around the world have eaten flowers for ce…
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Duration: 26:23
Do you know how much salt you should be eating? And if I tell you it’s less than 5 grams a day, do you know how much that is? Ruth Alexander explores the wonder of salt and why chefs think their job would be pointless wi…
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Duration: 26:29
Over two million people work in the international shipping trade, and they are often at sea for months at a time. That’s a lot of meals being made by the cook on board, and their work is crucial for keeping the crew happ…
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Duration: 29:23
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Duration: 26:18
These are tough times for restaurants. If the pandemic's rolling lockdowns were not bad enough, independent eateries now find themselves caught on a conveyor belt of crises: inflation, labour shortages and high rents. Th…
The real Willy Wonkas [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:13
Step inside the chocolate factory to hear the secrets of what it’s like to invent sweet treats for a living. Find out why chocolatiers think the raw material is like a “needy child”, but can also bring great joy to peopl…
Fasting and feasting [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:39
Fasting has been a religious and cultural practice for thousands of years, why do people do it? What happens to your body when you fast? The Food Chain speaks to a British family breaking their fast during Ramadan, a wom…

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