The Food Chain
The Food Chain
BBC World Service
Making care home food better
26 minutes Posted Aug 20, 2025 at 11:01 pm.
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Show notes

The quality of food in care homes for the elderly can be underwhelming.

Ruth Alexander talks to the people highlighting the issue and finding ways to bring nutrition and comfort back on the menu.

Dr Lisa Portner, a medical doctor and researcher at the Berlin Institute of Health at Charite, outlines the inadequate diet offered by three nursing homes she studied in Germany.

Australian restaurateur and food writer Maggie Beer tells how she came to set up the Maggie Beer Foundation, which aims to research the issues, raise awareness and offer culinary training.

Ronald Marshall explains the simple ways he found to help carers understand the food preferences of his mum, who was diagnosed with dementia in 2020.

And Navgot Gill Chawla recounts the conversations she had as a PhD student at the University of Waterloo in Ontario with South-Asian Canadians living with dementia and their families and care partners. When the subject of care homes came up, she says food was uppermost in their minds.

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

Producer: Beatrice Pickup.

(Image: Two cooks in a care home kitchen are preparing roast vegetables. Credit: Sam Kroepsch)