These days, Christmas and New Year have become such important celebrations and holidays that it's strange to realise that they weren't always so, Charmian Smith writes.
There has been an enormous amount on social media and a little bit of science around the story that low carbohydrate diets are good for diabetes and the world, Prof Jim Mann, professor of medicine...
Charmian Smith reports on the move to more sustainable diets.
Fermented foods are becoming increasingly trendy, and there's evidence the fermentation and the compounds produced are linked with physical and mental health.
For most Kiwis, seaweed does not spring to mind as a food although many of us have eaten nori wrapped around sushi.
Many of us would prefer our food to come with less packaging, Charmian Smith writes.
When we buy food, we expect it to be what it says it is and to be safe to eat, but things may not always be what they seem.
While out for coffee the other day, I had a savoury muffin and found it disappointingly salty. Lunching at another cafe a few days earlier, I'd had a BLT sandwich that was so salty - both the bread...
These days you may well find a few ants, locusts or huhu grubs turning up on plates in some of New Zealand's leading restaurants.
Gales of laughter come from All Saints' church hall early on Thursday morning.
If you walk round the grounds of the Otago Polytechnic in Dunedin you’d be forgiven for thinking they don’t look like normal institutional gardens, writes Charmian Smith.
Healthy eating resolutions are best approached with small bites.
Wherever you go in New Zealand, there's likely to be a local farmers' market. They are wonderful places to visit and connect with the local community and food culture.
Food connects people, but it's more than just sitting round a table together.
There's a plethora of diets around these days: wheat-free, vegan, dairy-free, raw, paleo, bone broth, among others. Many have origins in the weight-loss industry.
We all know that food high in sugars, fats and salt are not good for us. Yet, as a community we keep buying it and eating it in ever larger portions.
What will we be eating in 30 or 40 years? With an extra couple of billion more people on the planet, how will everyone be fed, Charmian Smith asks.
Waste not want not: we all know the old aphorism. And it may never have been more relevant, as waste becomes a major global issue. Charmian Smith talks to Dr Miranda Mirosa about the scale of the problem.
Given our love of Mediterranean cuisines it's surprising we haven't embraced fresh figs as readily as we've taken wine, olives and olive oil into our kitchens. Charmian Smith talks to Murray Douglas, who grows and processes fresh figs in Hawkes Bay.
Charmian Smith investigates what is in the food we routinely pull from the supermarket shelf or buy ready made to eat.
