The Death of Three Square Meals?
The Food Programme
BBC
4.4 • 976 Ratings
🗓️ 25 February 2013
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Hectic lifestyles are increasing the demand for ready-made, 'grab n go' convenient foods. Today's time pressed commuters buy bagels at the station or carry breakfast bars in their briefcase. Retailers have led this change - offering snack size portions and handy grab packs to stave off hunger. Gourmet 'food on the go' has been identified as a key growth sector and sales are increasing. Sheila Dillon asks if, in our hurry, we've forgotten the value of three square meals a day, eaten at a table at set mealtimes.
She meets restaurant guide writer Richard Harden who takes her on a whistle-stop tour of the speedy choices on offer including the fashion for "the small plate menu". There's now no distinction between lunch and dinner - if you fancy a steak at 4pm most cities will be able to help. Consequently people seem to be losing track of when and how much they can eat. It's all just one long munchfest.
Sheila also hears from staff and children at a Nottinghamshire school where pupils were arriving having had no breakfast and sometimes no dinner. Their response was to offer free breakfasts to those from families on low incomes but their experience offers some revealing insights into the eating habits of children across all incomes.
With so many snacks to choose from, do those "on the go" have more nutritious options than simply crisps and a chocolate bar or should we be asking if there is a more serious cost to this new bite-sized way of eating? What is the true cost of speed and convenience?
Produced in Bristol by Anne-Marie Bullock.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You don't need us to tell you there's a general election coming. |
| 0:04.6 | So what does it mean for you? |
| 0:06.4 | Every day on newscast we dissect the big talking points, |
| 0:10.1 | the ones that you want to know more about. |
| 0:12.3 | With our book of contacts, we talk directly to the people you want to hear from. |
| 0:16.8 | And with help from some of the best BBC journalists, |
| 0:19.4 | we'll untangle the stories that matter to you. |
| 0:23.0 | Join me, Laura Kunsberg, Adam Fleming, Chris Mason and Patty O'Connell for our daily podcast. |
| 0:29.0 | Newscast, listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:32.0 | Hello, I'm Sheila Dylan and welcome to this BBC download of the Food Program. |
| 0:39.0 | For information on the BBC's terms and conditions of use, |
| 0:42.0 | visit W.W. BBC. the BBC's terms and conditions of use, visit |
| 0:43.0 | W.W. dot B.co. UK slash Radio 4. |
| 0:49.0 | And now, enjoy the podcast. I'm Briany, I'm 29 and I live in a house share in Bristol. I'm a legal assistant. I blow the edges of mealtime because I'm pretty much hungry all the time and I don't really have time to sit down and eat proper meals like a proper big breakfast and proper big lunch. |
| 1:18.0 | So I just have like little bits keep me full. |
| 1:22.0 | My name is Pam and I work as a nurse. So I work shifts. When I'm at work, I guess I tend not to eat so well. I would probably have like porridge or cereal, which would be my breakfast, |
| 1:36.1 | but the way work is is not normally before 11 o'clock, which means I probably won't eat until |
| 1:40.8 | my evening meal, so I guess I probably snack more to be honest. |
| 1:44.0 | Enough to make you weep, guilty recognition or do you just feel superior? |
| 1:52.0 | What's happened to us |
| 1:54.0 | and to those three square meals a day |
| 1:56.0 | eaten at a table with other people? |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.