Good Food
type: channel
link: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com
date: 2025-11-07T14:15:47.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: How close are we to living forever – and do we want to?
items: Top 5 foods that are surprisingly bad for the planet
items: Top 10 sustainable foods
items: Protect your kitchenware to avoid microplastics
items: The Good Food sustainability glossary
items: What is water-based cooking – and why it's better for you
items: The facts about fake food
items: I ate a low-meat diet for a week - this is what I learned
items: Which diet is the most environmentally friendly?
items: How to recycle (nearly) every item in your home

How close are we to living forever – and do we want to?
type: item
date: 2025-11-07T14:15:47.000Z
creator: Rosalind Ryan
subject: Guide
subject: How to
description: Tech bros want to live forever, but is this even possible? Science may be closer to finding the answer, but immortality may not be all it’s cracked up to be.
encoded: Even if you don’t know his name, you’ll know of him: Bryan Johnston, the man who wants to live forever. The 48-year-old tech billionaire from California, and subject of Netflix documentary Don’t Die, spends $2million every year trying to reverse his age. This includes taking a huge range of vitamins, minerals and herbal supplements, a strict 1,950 calorie diet, cosmetic procedures, prescriptive exercise regimes, regular tests to monitor how his brain and body is performing, and experimental treatments including an infamous blood-plasma exchange with his teenage son. On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, Russian president Vladimir Putin was recently overhead telling Chinese president Xi Jinping that “human organs can be constantly transplanted, to the extent people can get younger – perhaps even immortal”. Xi replied that living to 150 may be possible by the end of this century. But are we actually getting any closer to living forever – or at least a lot longer than we ever imagined? How long could we live for? How many years do scientists currently estimate we could be around for? Professor João Pedro de Magalhães from the University of Birmingham, believes humans could live for 1,000 years. And if the tech arrives that eliminates ageing at a cellular level, he says we could be celebrating our 20,000th birthday. Taking things one step further, Google AI visionary and ‘futurist’ Ray Kurzweil says we can cheat death – we just need to merge our brains with AI. And he predicts this will happen in the next 10 years. “In the 2030s, robots the size of molecules will go into our brains, non-invasively, through the capillaries, and connect our brains directly to the cloud. Think of it like having a phone, but in your brain,” he says. By 2045, this will lead to a version of immortality, where our brains ‘live’ forever in new bodies built from 3D-printed parts. However, Venki Ramakrishnan, author of Why We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality, believes…

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Top 5 foods that are surprisingly bad for the planet
type: item
date: 2025-07-11T13:05:56.000Z
creator: Rosalind Ryan
subject: Sustainability
description: We know meat and dairy are the worst foods for the environment, but some others are slipping under the radar. Discover the top five unexpected foods with a negative impact on the planet – and their eco-friendly alternatives
encoded: It’s well established by now that meat and dairy products are bad for the environment – the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization says they’re responsible for 14.5% of all global greenhouse gases. But they aren’t the only foods causing ecological harm. Find out how your morning coffee or one of the most popular foods in the world – rice – could be damaging the environment, and their alternatives if you want to eat more sustainably. Problematic prawns What’s the impact on the environment? We love these little seafood staples; the WWF says we eat about 2lb of prawns per person, worldwide, every year. To keep up with demand, there’s been an explosion in tiger prawn and king prawn farms in countries like Thailand, Indonesia, India and Vietnam. The Marine Conservation Society says these farms often use illegal chemicals, including antibiotics, which pollute the local water; destroy mangroves that support many essential ecosystems and rely on fish pellets made from wild fish that are, in turn, depleting local fish stocks. Many of the boats catching the ‘trash fish’ used for these pellets have also been accused of human rights abuses, including slavery and human trafficking. If your prawns haven’t come from a fish farm, they may have been caught by a trawler. This is when a giant net is dragged across the seabed to catch prawns and langoustines for scampi – and anything else in its way, known as ‘by-catch’. The practice causes incredible harm to the marine ecosystem, and campaigners are currently calling on UK supermarkets to take greater responsibility for how and where the scampi they sell is caught. What’s the alternative? If you are going to eat prawns, the MCS says small Northern or coldwater prawns are the most sustainable option. Farmed prawns with an EU organic or Soil Association label are also a good bet. For scampi, look for creel-caught langoustine or Dublin Bay prawns – a creel is a type of pot or wicker basket. Seafood with a ‘blue tick’ from the Marine Ste…

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Top 10 sustainable foods
type: item
creator: Rosalind Ryan
subject: Guide
subject: How to
subject: Sustainability
subject: Grains
subject: intentional-climate
subject: leafy greens
subject: Mushrooms
subject: Mussels
subject: Oats
subject: Pulses
subject: Rosalind Ryan
subject: Seaweed
subject: Sustainable
description: If you’re not ready to go vegan, there are other ways you can change the impact your diet has on the environment. Discover the top 10 most sustainable foods in the world – and which one you should avoid
encoded: Eating a healthy, balanced diet is no longer just about getting the right mix of vitamins, minerals, protein and fat into your meals. Today, it can also mean balancing your needs with the needs of the planet. So, how do you do that? You could decide to go vegan – research shows cutting out meat and dairy is one of the best ways to reduce your impact on the planet; flexitarian – a ‘casual vegetarian’ diet; or plant-based – any diet that focus on eating food from plant sources. They all sound great in theory, but what does that actually look like on your plate? What foods should you be eating if you want to follow a sustainable diet? We’ve found the 10 most sustainable foods everyone should eat, and the worst food in the world from an environmental perspective. What is a sustainable food? Good question. The World Health Organisation says sustainable diets ‘promote all dimensions of individuals’ health and wellbeing [and] have low environmental pressure and impact’. In other words, they keep you and the planet healthy. This means you’ll need to put some thought into how your food is produced and where it comes from; we know not all vegan food is environmentally friendly. Essentially, a sustainable food should have a low carbon footprint, and not contribute to deforestation, water scarcity, overfishing or loss of biodiversity. It should also provide you with enough nutrients to live a healthy, happy life – not just stop you from getting ill. It sounds a lot to ask, but there a number of foods that fit the bill. 1. Pulses Pulses include lentils, chickpeas, peas and beans: these tiny plants are nutritional powerhouses. The UN says they’re packed with protein, low in fat, rich in soluble fibre and have been found to help reduce your risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity and heart disease. Pulses also have an incredible ability to ‘self-fertilise’ the soil; their roots contain bacteria that convert nitrogen in the air into a different form that can be used by p…

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Protect your kitchenware to avoid microplastics
type: item
date: 2025-04-10T13:05:35.000Z
creator: Rosalind Ryan
subject: Information
description: Panic inducing headlines are everywhere, but what’s the science behind these claims? We look at non-stick pans, black plastic utensils and what makes a good chopping board.
encoded: We all think about whether the food we cook is fresh and good to eat, but we don’t often think about whether our utensils and cookware are at peak fitness. Is your kitchen kit working as well as it can for you? There’s been lots of news coverage about kitchen equipment that could be adding unwanted ‘extras’ such as micro plastics and chemicals to your food. While there is good science behind these claims, the headlines have been a little click-baity. So, we’ve taken a deep dive into the studies to find out what’s really going on with your cookware. Here’s our guide to looking after different bits of kit, and a quick reminder, the one thing that you should ALWAYS do, is read the instruction manual. Even on something that seems as basic as a frying pan. Non-stick pans The science: Non-stick cookware is made with ‘non-sticky’ chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs) or, a newer type of PFA called PTFE: you might know it as Teflon. PFAs are great for non-stick pans because they’re incredibly resistant to heat, and can repel water and grease. PFAs are known as ‘forever chemicals’ because they last for so long in the environment. There’s an overwhelming amount of evidence to show PFAs are harmful to health – they’ve been linked to thyroid disease, heart disease, liver damage, diabetes, fertility problems and some types of cancer. One of the most dangerous, PFOA, is now being banned from use in cookware in both the US and Europe. The good news is that so far, research shows PTFE is a ‘safe’ PFA – most of the harmful chemicals are burned off during the manufacturing process. But you still need be careful how you heat these pans – when PTFE gets over 260°C (500°F), it can start to break down. If this happens– and this temperature is a lot higher than you’d normally use for frying food – this ​​releases toxic fumes into the atmosphere that could trigger a condition called ​'Teflon flu’; symptoms include fever, headache, coughing and​difficulty breathing. Mo…

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The Good Food sustainability glossary
type: item
creator: Rosalind Ryan
subject: Guide
subject: How to
subject: Sustainability
subject: environmental
subject: ethics
subject: greener
subject: intentional-climate
subject: recycling
subject: Rosalind Ryan
subject: Sustainable
subject: Tony Naylor
description: From ‘food miles’ to ‘mindful meat’, our sustainability glossary explains some of the most common green concepts to help you make informed purchasing choices
encoded: We all want to make greener choices in what we eat and drink, not just to reduce our carbon footprint, but to encourage sustainable farming, protect wildlife and our beautiful rural habitats, and nurture ecosystems for future generations. For all our good intentions, navigating the often baffling terminology can be a headache. A 2024 report, by communications agency Fleet Street and market researchers, Trajectory, found that fewer than 50 per cent of people completely understand concepts such as “locally grown” or “single-use plastics”. Science terms, such as “biodiversity” or “carbon offsetting”, were clear to just five per cent of consumers. To help clarify, we’ve compiled a sustainability glossary that explains some of the most common green concepts you may encounter when you’re shopping, eating out or reading about food’s sustainability. Read on to empower yourself to make the right choices for you and the planet. Next find out which diet is the most environmentally friendly, what a green diet look likes and what would happen if everyone went vegan. The Good Food Sustainability Glossary Biodiversity The wide variety of life on Earth encompassing different animals, insects, plants, the ecosystem they live in – forest, desert, grasslands or coral reef, for example – and the microorganisms that help support life in that environment. Biodynamic Low-intensity farming with a spiritual edge, popular with winemakers. Shares many methods with organic and regenerative farming, but biodynamic farms also use nine treatments (called “preparations”, fermented from natural ingredients) to improve soil and compost health. The efficacy of such treatments has not been scientifically verified. Some biodynamic farmers also rely on the lunar calendar, charting the position of the moon, to choose the best time for sowing and harvesting. Bioplastics Plastics derived from renewable plant matter, such as corn starch or sugar cane, which produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Popular i…

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What is water-based cooking – and why it's better for you
type: item
date: 2025-02-13T13:06:55.000Z
creator: Rosalind Ryan
subject: Health
subject: Sustainability
subject: Wellness
subject: goodhealth
description: Forget air fryers – the latest healthy way to cook is using water. Find out why chefs are switching over and the health benefits of water-based cooking
encoded: Water-based cooking sounds like a complicated technique involving sous vide machines and water baths. But the great news is that many of us are already doing plenty of it: steaming, boiling and poaching are all some of the classic ways you can cook with water. These tried and tested methods have been around for centuries across lots of cultures, so why is water-based cooking (WBC) now having a moment in the health spotlight? And is it worth increasing your repertoire to focus more on these techniques? Why is everyone talking about water-based cooking? The number of people searching for WBC or methods for cooking with water has slowly increased over the past year, but the trend really took off at the end of 2024. Some of this was thanks to food influencers on Instagram making recipes like puris – which are normally deep fried in hot oil – in boiling water. And some of it was down to the ‘air fryer effect’; as calorie-conscious cooks started to learn more about how to make their favourite fried foods without using so much oil, they started searching for other ways to create these dishes. But WBC has more benefits for your wellbeing than simply reducing the amount of oil you use. The health benefits of water-based cooking Steaming, boiling, braising or poaching your food all have their own benefits. Steaming your vegetables helps preserve vital vitamins and minerals. If you're poaching your veggies in a broth (for instance if making a ramen) then you're also making sure you're not losing any nutrients. Delicate proteins (especially fish) work particularly well poached, and this method can also help them absorb subtle flavours if they're poached in a sauce. Braising is a technique that involves flash frying meat in a bit of oil, to lock in the flavour, then simmered for some time in a sealed pot in stock, wine or another liquid. Think of a classic lamb tagine or a beef casserole. It is ideal for tougher (and often cheaper) cuts of meat because they're cooked for longer …

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The facts about fake food
type: item
date: 2025-01-16T12:14:37.000Z
creator: Rosalind Ryan
subject: Guide
subject: Sustainability
subject: How to
description: Food fraud is on the rise, from olive oil to tomato purée. But what's driving this increase and how can you tell if you're eating the real deal?
encoded: When you hear ‘fake food’, you might imagine the hugely successful Netflix TV series Is It Cake? where contestants have to guess whether random objects – including handbags, vegetables or cheeseburgers – are made of cake. But actual food fraud is far less entertaining. It means some products on our shelves are mislabelled, blended or bulked out with cheaper ingredients, or could even contain substances that are harmful to our health. Fake food now costs the UK economy up to £2 billion a year, and some experts say it’s costing the global economy $40 billion every year. Find out what’s behind the worldwide rise in food fraud and the five most common fake foods to watch out for. What is food fraud? In technical terms, food fraud is “the intentional misrepresentation of the true identity or contents of a food ingredient or product for economic gain”. In plain English, this means deliberately adding, removing or replacing ingredients, using illegal processing methods and/or making misleading claims on the label (such as where it’s from or the percentage of a certain ingredient) to increase the price. You may have seen news stories about rotting meat being mixed with fresh and then repackaged, counterfeit vodka, olive oil gangs or fake honey flooding the market. These are all examples of food fraud, and they’re becoming increasingly common. Why is fake food on the rise? Between 2016 and 2019, the number of suspected food fraud cases in the EU increased by 85%. And industry experts say numbers will keep rising worldwide. According to The Financial Times, higher food prices are tempting more criminals to pass off cheap or contaminated foods as better-quality versions. These price rises are driven by mounting stresses on global supply chains, such as the war in Ukraine and the effects of climate change on harvests, like drought and wildfires. Food safety expert Professor Chris Elliott told industry publication The Grocer that one of the biggest issues fuelling food fraud is …

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I ate a low-meat diet for a week - this is what I learned
type: item
date: 2025-01-16T12:13:51.000Z
creator: Rosalind Ryan
subject: Guide
subject: How to
subject: Sustainability
subject: intentional-climate
description: Research shows reducing our meat intake to 50g a day can dramatically reduce our carbon emissions. So how easy is it to stick to a low-meat diet?
encoded: If you’ve always been intrigued by the idea of Veganuary, but giving up all animal products for an entire month feels like a step too far, let me introduce you to the ‘low-meat diet’. Scientists at Oxford University recently discovered that if heavy meat eaters – those eating 100g of meat a day – reduced their intake by half, this saved the same amount of carbon emissions as taking eight million cars off UK roads. As a meat eater, I was intrigued to find out if cutting my consumption down to 50g a day would be easy to do. And could I keep it up for a week? Why follow a 'low-meat' diet? If you eat meat, your diet has a huge impact on the environment. We know that livestock (cows, pigs, chickens, etc) account for 11.2 per cent of all the greenhouse gases produced worldwide, while meat also has a giant water footprint; it takes 15,400 litres of water to produce just 1kg of beef, for example. But what about your personal impact on the planet? Professor Peter Scarborough, who led the research, explains that this is the first study based on real people’s diets rather than abstract models. He says, “We looked at the diets of 55,500 adults in the UK and divided this up into: heavy meat eaters (100g a day), medium meat eaters (50-100g) and low meat eaters (50g); fish-eaters; vegetarians; vegans.” The results were shocking; a meat-eater’s diet led to 75 per cent more carbon emissions, water pollution and land use than a vegan’s. And when a high-meat diet was compared with a low-meat diet, there was still a 30 per cent difference. I eat meat four times a week, sometimes twice a day, so I’m definitely eating 100g a day – if not more. This new study was a wake-up call, and it gave me the push I needed to cut down my meat consumption. How much is 50g of meat? This was the first thing I needed to work out: what does 50g of meat look like? In keeping with the study, I included all animal meat – chicken, pork, lamb and beef – but not fish or seafood. I also included processed meats,…

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Which diet is the most environmentally friendly?
type: item
date: 2024-12-02T17:30:21.000Z
creator: Rosalind Ryan
subject: Health
subject: Special diets
subject: Sustainability
subject: eating sustainably
subject: Environmentally friendly
subject: goodhealth
subject: intentional-climate
subject: planet healthy diet
subject: planet-friendly tips
description: Find out what your diet is doing to the planet and if going vegan really is the most environmentally friendly choice.
encoded: Your diet has a huge impact on the planet. From overfishing to rainforests being ploughed up for soy plantations, the food we choose to eat can have a far-reaching effect. Is your diet negatively affecting the planet without you realising? Keto may be good for gains – all that protein – but livestock alone accounts for 11.2 per cent of the entire world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Going vegan obviously cuts out meat and dairy products, but plant-based alternatives can have their own issues; almonds, for example, need 130 pints of water to produce one glass of almond milk. Before you decide on the way you want to eat, find out how your diet could be impacting the environment – and if, given this information, you should switch. Is going vegan best for the planet? Yes, essentially. A new study by Oxford University found vegan diets massively reduce our impact on the environment – they lead to 75 per cent less greenhouse gases, water pollution and land use than a meat-eater’s diet. Vegan diets also reduce the destruction of wildlife by 66 per cent and water use by 54 per cent. But we know going vegan isn’t perfect. Plant-based milks do have lower carbon emissions and use less land than dairy milk, but they’re a very ‘thirsty’ product that needs a lot of water. Vegans are often accused of contributing to deforestation, too, as forests are razed to make way for soy crops. But in fact, humans only eat six per cent of the soy produced, while 81 per cent goes to feed animals like cows, pigs and chickens. Studies repeatedly find that veganism is the best diet to follow if you’re concerned about the environment – if we all went vegan, this would reportedly cut food-related CO2 emissions by 68 per cent within 15 years, allowing us to limit global warming to just 2°C. A vegan diet can be good for you, too, reducing high blood pressure and your waistline. However, going vegan is a big commitment and may not be right for everybody. Find out more about vegan diets and the environmen…

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How to recycle (nearly) every item in your home
type: item
creator: Rosalind Ryan
subject: Guide
subject: How to
subject: Sustainability
subject: intentional-climate
description: Not sure what goes in your recycling bin? You’re not alone – the Good Food Nation 2024 survey revealed 14% of us can't recycle everything we want to. So, we found out which items you can recycle, from aluminium foil to yogurt pots.
encoded: Rinsing out a tin can and putting it in the recycling bin is now second nature to many of us, but what about those bits and pieces you’re not so sure about? Can you recycle crisp packets? Do light bulbs go in with the rest of the glass? And is there a definitive answer on pizza boxes? Luckily, you can recycle almost every item in your home – you just need to know how and, most importantly, where. Why are we still confused about recycling? The simple answer is it’s a confusing issue! Several studies and reports over the past few years have highlighted key problems for shoppers, such as being unsure what the symbols on packaging mean, what the proper recycling guidelines are, and the differences in recycling collections across the UK. This has led to the term ‘wishcycling’; putting items you’re not sure about in the recycling bin in the hope they can be recycled. But this could contaminate the whole lorry load, so everything gets sent to landfill rather than being recycled. If you’re not sure what to do, this guide will help but always check with your local council to find out what can and cannot be recycled where you live. Organisations like Recycle Now can also help you find local recycling points for different items. The most common items we’re not sure about The Good Food Nation survey revealed the most common items we find difficult to recycle are soft plastics, electrical items and hard plastics. But these can be safely and successfully recycled, along with many other items you might not be aware of. Soft plastics This doesn’t mean items like standard milk bottles but rather thin, flexible plastics such as bread bags, crisp packets, salad bags and film lids. Only 12% of local councils currently collect soft plastics but the majority of UK supermarkets have now signed up to a scheme to collect these types of plastics. Do the ‘scrunch test’ to check if your item is suitable – scrunch it up into a ball and if it pings back, it’s most likely a soft plastic. Some ite…

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