In this episode we're heading out of town And by 'out of town, I don't mean the countryside I mean suburban Auckland, on New Zealands North Island. This is a bit of a family affair, as the tour guide is my sister, and you hear the odd interjection from my Dad.

You'll also need a brief orentation session, so here we go. I was there at Christmas, which is coming into summer, and when talk about the climate up north, that's closer to the equator, with hotter summer and milder winters. 

So join me on on a tour of the The Lucida Place Community Orchard.The crops might be different - I mean olives and avacadoes for goodness sake - but a lot of the issues around running a community orchard are pretty much identical.

This was recorded on the fly, so expect lots of wildlife, wind, and the odd plane.

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This episode is a follow on from the previous episode, During our visit to the Action Day for Nature I went on a guided tour around the site. I must say it was an inspirational guide to what can be done to share our amenity spaces with nature. Full credit needs to given to the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, and Andy Steele, who has done such sterling work at the rugby ground.

But that isn't really what this episode is about, even though it takes place in that wonderful naturally managed space. Nor is it really an interview. At the end of the tour I fell into conversation with Janna, as we took a woodland walk around the edge of the field, ending back at the exhibition stalls. We'd both been invited to contribute some of our expertise by Andy during his talk, so it wasn't surprising that we should end up in conversation.

As it happened I'd left my mic on. Don't get me wrong I am a pro! and towards the end of the chat it became a formal interview, of sorts,.The recording starts at the end of the tour, with Janna recommending a bird identifier app, it's an unedited start - and it was just as spontaneous as it sounds This is a wide ranging conversation; about wild food, nature recording and our relationship with nature, even in the heart of a city

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The food system is never just about food - that's why it's so damnably complex. And that's why, as a food partnership, we are as likely to be found doing outreach at a health fair as seed swap. And that's why this month we were at an Action Day, where Yorkshire Wildlife Trust West Hull community Hub were showcasing some of the amazing changes they have made to the grounds of a local rugby club. We were there running a stall alongside with several other organisations, mostly with an environmental bent.

It seemed like a perfect opportunity to grab my mic, and spent half an hour talking to some of those who are working so hard to to bring nature and an ecological mindset into the heart of the city.

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We present "The Gourmet's Guide to Europe", a truly remarkable book, in many ways the Rough Guide or Lonely Planet of it's day; if you were an Edwardian Gentleman of refined tastes and deep pockets.

Replete with the attitudes and opinions of the day, this is a book that reveals the historical roots of what we might still call "fine dining"

So sit back and enjoy a bill of fayre that includes: when to avoid the restaurants at Trouville , a warning of what to expect at when dining at a German inn, and invaluable advice on where it is safe to take one's wife.

We are indebted to Mr Harry Goodwin, fir his role as Lt Colonel Newnam-Davis.

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Cheese, Not everyone likes it, but those that do like it, tend to love it. Along with it's sometime partner, wine, it is one of those ancient foodstuffs that takes a few simple ingredients and seems produce infinite variety; thanks to traditional craft skills, and latterly, applied sciences.

A few months ago I was sharing an Uber with Carlos, on the way home from a conference, and he let slip that he was in international cheese judge. Intrigued and delighted, I knew we just had to get him on the podcast 

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I'm going to go out on a limb and say that many of the listeners to this podcast will have a fair idea of what a community food organisation is, and what is does. Some of you at least will work for one. But for those of you less familiar with what they are and how they do it , prepare for a bit of a deep dive into the whys and wherefores of a sector that has increased massively; in numbers, and in social importance, over recent years.

For those of you most familiar with this sector, it is always worth listening to another story. Because you know what they say, if you've met one community provider , then you've met just one community provider. The problems may be the same, but the solutions are as varied as they are inventive.EMS is a charity that has worked to reduce food and fuel poverty in Hull and the surrounding area for over 25 years.

If, as you listen to this interview, it sounds vaguely familiar, they were finalists in the BBC Food and Farming awards in 2022. They also appear regularly in the national media and just this year won a BBC make a difference award.

The keen eared among you may also realise that the John, who is mentioned at some point, appeared as a guest in episode 8.

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This is the final episode of this mini-series .

It marks 20 years since Hull City Council decided they would provide free school meals for all Primary pupils, saw that the regulations didn't allow for this, and then set about getting those regulations changed.

We've spoken to the policy maker and the policy deliverer. In this episode it's time to hear from one of the teachers who worked in school when the Eat Well Do Well initiative came into being.

Maureen Hulme was a primary school teacher in one the those neighbourhoods that benefited most from Eat Well Do Well. You may not recognise the names of Marfleet or Orchard Park, but the descriptions will be more than familiar.

We opened this series with a politician's belief in how food could benefit his fellow citizens. We've closed the series with a teacher proving how right he was.

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In the last episode of the pod cast we spoke with Colin Inglis, The Hull City Council leader who implemented the country's first ever provision of Universal Free School meals. Not only this, the council's catering department brought in a policy of providing healthy and nutritious meals, years before Jamie Oliver thankfully shamed the government into re-establishing minimum school food standards.

In part 2 of this 3 part mini series it made sense to talk with someone who delivered these much improved, and universally free, school lunches.

This where a bit of good luck plays it's part. Mike Clayphan was one of the managers of Hull Catering at the time of Eat Well Do Well, and after retirement he decided to spend a couple of years back in the kitchens working as a school cook. It just so happens he chose a school where I also work. So at the end of the summer term last year we got together in the school garden to say goodbye, and to talk about school food in general, and very much Eat Well Do Well in particular.

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As I'm sure many of you are aware, there is a campaign to to implement universal free school meals for every school pupil, whatever their circumstances.

perhaps, just perhaps, this is an idea whose time has come. It is, for the the being at least, already in operation in both Scotland and London.It may be a current consideration, but it's by no means a new idea.

20 years ago, here in Hull, the council showed the political will necessary to make it happen, going as far as getting the law changed to allow this to happen.The Eat Well Do Well Scheme provided free school meals for every primary school pupil, and more than this, the council also ensued that the meals were of high quality, and nutritious at a time when successive government had abandoned the principle of maintaining school food standards.

This is the first of three episodes about the Eat Well Do Well scheme, and examine how and why it was implemented, it's effects, and what we can learn for the current campaign

In this episode I talk with Colin Inglis, the council leader who initiated this scheme, despite scepticism even from within his own party, So settle in for a story of high ideals and bruising politics.

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I love a good trade show. I know they aren't everybody's cup of tea, so I went so that you don't have to. There is a scale as well as a complexity to the food system. Standing in the centre of the huge show, which is also a tiny part of a small section of just catering, you get an inkling of how big it is.

In this episode I talk tp some of the exhibitors about food, but also some of the other businesses that serve the food industry, from packaging to software.

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Community growing is a two handed endeavour, on the one hand you need to know how to care for your brassicas, and on the other you need to nurture the community. John Pickles has both skillsets in spades.

In this episode we talk about managing a community allotment, and an exciting new project funded by Friends of the Earth, which will see community led rewilding in several neighbourhoods, including two in Hull.

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The term 'Intensive farming' brings to mind unsustainable and un-natural practices - although to the fair all, forms of farming are actually un-natural if you think about it.But intensive can also mean a highly controlled growing system, that uses resources as efficiently as possible to maximise harvests. Like all farming methods, the sustainability and environmental impact of intensive farming will depends on how it is done, as well as the specifics of the particular farming system.

Aquaponics is a self balancing system that is almost impossible to do badly, and in this episode we find out just how well it can be done.

Henry Dimbleby, in his excellent book 'Ravenous', suggests that we need a the whole range of farming in order to secure our national food supplies; from regenerative farming and rewilding at one end , to highly intensive farming at the other.

What Dave and Lucie are creating sits at both ends of this spectrum; with design principles reminiscent of the "Small is Beautiful" ethos of E F Schumacher (and even permaculture), and they are doing this working on one of the most cutting edge farming methods out there.

I for one can't wait for my first taste of traditional New Forest caviar.

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I'm sure we all have memories of school dinners - if you ever get the chance to visit a school in adulthood, two odours that will drag you straight back to childhood, floor polish and the dining hall. Some of us are old enough to remember school lunches before the food and nutritinal standards were repealed, and some of you may have attended at the height of the turkey twizzler craze.

These days, apparently, school food standards are back. But with around 40% of primary schools, and over 80% of secondary schools run as academies, who is checking up. Actually the answer is effectively no-one.

But the quality of the food is only one aspect of lunch. The time pupils are given to relax, socialise and importantly eat, has shrunk significantly recently - sometimes as low as 30 minutes. Quite apart from the loss of lunchtime clubs and activities, this turns the dining hall into a refuelling station.

In this episode students from several local schools tell us about their school lunches and lunchtimes, followed by in interview with someone who has been schooled in both France and the UK.

If you are unaware of the current state of school dinners, be prepared to have your ears opened.

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How, and what, we teach the next generation about food is a mammoth subject, so expect us to return to this issue more than once. But for now, we are going to dive straight into middle. this is where we address past failures; and face that one last chance to put things right, before adulthood.

In this episode I talk to 2 different guests, who are both delivering food eduction to young people (by which I mean around 16-25 years old) in non-formal educational; settings.

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No market is perfect, and when it comes to the international food trade, any well considered examination must conclude that it is not equitable, even when examined under the most free market ethos.

We can either rail against these iniquities, or we can do something about it. In this month's podcast we're going to talk about an organisation that is doing something about, and enables us to do something, about it too.

I met Joanna Fianu when she came over to Hull to talk about both Fairtrade and some of her own projects. She was an inspiration, as is the work Fairtrade do- it's one of the oldest and most effective accreditation schemes of it's kind.

So, on the its 30th aniversary year I invited Joanne to talk to us about the scheme, and to share a personal story of how she used Fairtrade to launch one of her one projects

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Do we really know where our food comes from? Can we guarantee how is is grown, how it is processed and what it actually contains? Once a supply chain becomes so long that no-one can see from one end to the other, there are opportunities to game the system, or worse.

Food Crime is comes in several forms, it ranges from mis-labeling or substituting for cheaper ingredients all the way to using ingredients that harm consumers, or producing food in a way that abuses the workers.

In this month's episode we talk with Alice Rizzuti, lecturer in criminology at the University of Hull - about the anatomy food crime, and why public harm doesn't always qualify as a crime.

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I think we all love the idea of locally grown organic food, freshly harvested and delivered to our door. But what does it take to make this happen. Is it scaleable; is it even viable.

I took a tour of one of only a handful of local organic market gardens in our region.

If you are interested in the case studies behind the podcast, you can find the original recordings at our youtube channel: Veg Cities Hull, or the edited write-ups on our website

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Feeding children well has benefits that are almost too numerous to count. But what if the children you are feeding lack the confidence or experience to try new foods. Taste Ed is a charity that offers a brilliant and effective solution.

In this episode, I talk to Fran Box about what Taste Ed has to offer schools, community projects and families, to help their children develop a taste for good food.

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