We step into the world of a sinister gourmand, in John Lanchester’s novel of 90s hedonism, The Debt to Pleasure, take a trip to Florida’s orange groves in the genial company of John McPhee, and globe trot with our guest, the veteran BBC food journalist, Dan Saladino, author of Eating to Extinction, a timely and endlessly fascinating study of some of the world’s rarest foods and why we need to save them. A recipient of a James Beard Award, Saladino has spent the last two decades tracking down Indigenous and ancient foods that are on the brink of extinction, often hanging on with the help of a few dedicated farmers. “Food shows us where real power lies,” he writes. “It can explain conflicts and wars; showcase human creativity and invention; account for the rise and fall of empires; and expose the causes and consequences of disasters. Food stories are perhaps the most important stories of all.”
