Welcome from the editor: the beauty of food

Chinese art: plum tree in bloom

Welcome and thank you for joining me this weekend.

In the last couple of weeks I’ve found myself looking at more and more art. I love art, but I suspect my increase in interest is due to a need for beauty in the midst of the current state of the world.

What’s more beautiful than nature and its generous bounty? Art curator and historian Dr Giorgia Bottinelli (yes, relation) looks at the representation of food in art and its meaning in A feast for the eyes: food in art, from table to wall, and for 10 minutes allows us to immerse in a magical world, and briefly forget about our chaotic one.

Food never tastes as good as when we grow it or forage it ourselves. With spring just around the corner, we look at edible plants, where to find them and what to do with them in Nature’s wild harvest: how to forage and cook edible plants.

This week’s podcast takes us east, and we discover how Japan tackles food poverty without handouts and without making those in need feel like charity cases. We need to take a leaf out of Nippon’s book, I think.

In this edition of Food Matters Weekly, I even have positive news for you: the UK Government is handing out the largest ever grant to projects tackling plastic pollution. Now, I think that’s something to smile and be hopeful about.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend,

Stef