0:00:04 > 0:00:08Meet the Robshaws - Brandon, Rochelle, Miranda, Ros and Fred.
0:00:10 > 0:00:12Let's go!
0:00:12 > 0:00:16For one summer, this food-loving family embarked on an extraordinary
0:00:16 > 0:00:18time-travelling adventure...
0:00:18 > 0:00:21to discover how a post-war revolution in what we eat
0:00:21 > 0:00:23has transformed the way we live.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28That is just amazing. Look at them.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31Britain has gone from meagre rations to ready meals at the touch
0:00:31 > 0:00:33of a button in just 50 years.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36But how has this changed our health...
0:00:36 > 0:00:38We've got a pull out larder!
0:00:38 > 0:00:40..our homes and our family dynamics?
0:00:40 > 0:00:43I can't do it any more. This is what would make a woman break.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48To find out, the Robshaws have shopped, cooked and eaten their way
0:00:48 > 0:00:49through history.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51It's 1974!
0:00:52 > 0:00:53Whoa!
0:00:55 > 0:00:57I think that is enough sugar now there, darling.
0:00:57 > 0:00:58No, I hardly put any on!
0:00:58 > 0:01:02Starting in 1950, their own home became their time machine.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05Oh, my goodness!
0:01:05 > 0:01:08This carpet hurts my eyes. Who designed that?!
0:01:08 > 0:01:10Someone who was colour blind.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13Fast forwarding them through a new year every day,
0:01:13 > 0:01:17as they experienced first hand the culinary fads,
0:01:17 > 0:01:19fashions and gadgets of each age.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21THEY LAUGH
0:01:21 > 0:01:24- Can I have some chips? - You can have some chips.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26Now, at the end of their time travelling adventure,
0:01:26 > 0:01:30I'll be discovering the impact it's had on the Robshaws...
0:01:30 > 0:01:34and giving them a sneak preview of what the future might look like.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36Have you seen those worms in there?
0:01:36 > 0:01:37I am kind of repulsed.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52For the last five weeks,
0:01:52 > 0:01:54the Robshaws have eaten only the food of the past,
0:01:54 > 0:01:56living an accelerated version of the journey
0:01:56 > 0:01:58we've all been on for the past 50 years.
0:01:58 > 0:01:59Oh, God, look at that go.
0:01:59 > 0:02:04We left them in 1999, celebrating the birth of a new millennium.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07Now I'm going to be bringing us right up to date, discovering
0:02:07 > 0:02:10how our food habits have changed since the end of the experiment.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12And then, with a bit of luck and from what we know about the way
0:02:12 > 0:02:15that food history unfolds, perhaps making a few predictions
0:02:15 > 0:02:18about the way we're going to shop, cook and eat in the future.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29We'll see how we've arrived at how we eat now
0:02:29 > 0:02:32and how that is made up of the last 50 years.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34You can kind of see the evolution,
0:02:34 > 0:02:39so I think people are always curious about the future.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41It's made me wonder a lot about the future.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44I've become aware how much we're sort of ruled by trends,
0:02:44 > 0:02:47by shifting culture and technology,
0:02:47 > 0:02:50and all those sorts of things are going to carry on happening.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53It's the constant changes the Robshaws experienced that
0:02:53 > 0:02:55give us valuable insights into how our eating habits might
0:02:55 > 0:02:57develop in years to come.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02Throughout their time-travelling adventure,
0:03:02 > 0:03:04the family's diet was guided by real meals
0:03:04 > 0:03:07recorded in the National Food Survey.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11This is bread and dripping, this is plain bread, this is bread
0:03:11 > 0:03:13and pilchard.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17Established in 1940 to ensure that people were getting enough
0:03:17 > 0:03:20to eat under rationing, the food survey asked families to write down
0:03:20 > 0:03:23what they ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day of the week.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26Mum 32, Dad 41...
0:03:26 > 0:03:31In Bradford North in 1960, and it's corned beef hash.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35The survey continued until 2000 and gives us an extraordinary insight
0:03:35 > 0:03:38into how the eating habits of real families evolved over decades.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46But to understand how we eat now and how it might change,
0:03:46 > 0:03:50food historian Polly Russell and I have had to think again.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52Well, the thing is, up until now, we've been very fortunate
0:03:52 > 0:03:55because we've had the National Food Survey as a kind of basis,
0:03:55 > 0:03:58a sort of detailed account of what people were eating
0:03:58 > 0:03:59over the past 50 or 60 years,
0:03:59 > 0:04:02and that's how the Robshaws are able to live their life.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04For the present and for the future, we don't have that.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08No, that's right. The Food Survey stopped in 2000
0:04:08 > 0:04:12and the surveys that have replaced that, rather than using diaries,
0:04:12 > 0:04:15look at till receipts to see what people are spending on food.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17Just looking at receipts tells you what people buy,
0:04:17 > 0:04:20but it doesn't tell you how they actually consume that food.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22Cos we're just more concerned about people, aren't we?
0:04:22 > 0:04:25It's not just about the money. The whole point of this programme,
0:04:25 > 0:04:28the whole point of this series has been to...from the way people eat,
0:04:28 > 0:04:31to learn about how they live, which you can't do from till receipts.
0:04:31 > 0:04:32Yeah, that's right.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35So our options are basically either to generalise wildly,
0:04:35 > 0:04:37which I love doing and that always seems to work,
0:04:37 > 0:04:40or to commission a new study,
0:04:40 > 0:04:42which is what we've done.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44So this is a bit like the National Food Survey
0:04:44 > 0:04:49but it's, you know, this is the 21st century, so it's all got sort of different colours and fonts
0:04:49 > 0:04:51and stuff like that, it's not just lists.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54But basically, it's asking people what they had for breakfast,
0:04:54 > 0:04:56lunch and dinner, the snacks between...
0:04:56 > 0:04:58You can see this person had a Jammy Dodger biscuit
0:04:58 > 0:05:00and a Blue Riband, so they were actually,
0:05:00 > 0:05:02this is from the 1970s, this family.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04And then what did he drink with that meal?
0:05:04 > 0:05:06Who cooked or prepared the meal?
0:05:06 > 0:05:09Cos I guess we want to know about whether women are still doing all the work, even now.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12And then also we've asked them about shopping habits,
0:05:12 > 0:05:15electrical appliances, what did they...? Were they using microwaves,
0:05:15 > 0:05:17kettles or new exciting things we didn't know about yet?
0:05:17 > 0:05:20It does give us snapshots of what people do.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23With a bit of luck, we'll back up our wild generalisations.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26So, Polly, this is, I assume,
0:05:26 > 0:05:29one person's lunch in obesity-stricken Britain?
0:05:29 > 0:05:31No, it is not one person's lunch.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34This is a selection of different meals that people
0:05:34 > 0:05:38have eaten from our study over the course of a week.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42I think what strikes you is there's a great deal of variety
0:05:42 > 0:05:43from all around the world.
0:05:43 > 0:05:48It would have looked extraordinary to the Robshaws in the '50s
0:05:48 > 0:05:50and the '60s, even the '70s.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53And what it shows is we don't have a national diet any more.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55If you'd looked at the diets of British people in the 1950s,
0:05:55 > 0:05:57it would have looked very British.
0:05:57 > 0:05:59Oh, and it would have been so boring,
0:05:59 > 0:06:02and you'd look at it and think, "I'll eat that once.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04"Please don't make me eat that every Monday, every Tuesday,
0:06:04 > 0:06:05"every Wednesday."
0:06:05 > 0:06:09I suppose one of the things you do see and you could pick up on this
0:06:09 > 0:06:11in terms of a national diet is convenience.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13It's all really quite quick to prepare.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19The quest to save time in the kitchen was a recurring theme
0:06:19 > 0:06:22during the Robshaws' journey through the decades.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27When we began the experiment in the 1950s,
0:06:27 > 0:06:31Rochelle spent over four hours a day cooking meals from scratch.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35Bran's got absolutely no idea what it's like
0:06:35 > 0:06:39to be in the kitchen for the whole day.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42Basic equipment and ingredients meant even simple jobs
0:06:42 > 0:06:44were time-consuming.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46It's taking a bit of a while.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50We'll probably be in 1954 by the time this boils.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59The family's first fish finger offered a tantalising
0:06:59 > 0:07:01glimpse of the future - convenience foods.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03Wow!
0:07:04 > 0:07:09The product is very convenient, I heat it up and that is it.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12Nothing to do, nothing else to do. It's fantastic.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18In the '60s, it took an average of an hour and 40 minutes
0:07:18 > 0:07:20to cook a meal.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23But over the decade, new time-saving technology...
0:07:23 > 0:07:24Isn't it lovely?
0:07:24 > 0:07:27It's really going to revolutionise my life.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31..and innovative products started to bring this time down.
0:07:31 > 0:07:32Oh, my goodness!
0:07:32 > 0:07:34That's a totally new kind of food, isn't it?
0:07:38 > 0:07:39Look at those!
0:07:39 > 0:07:42Look, look, look at them, have you seen them?
0:07:42 > 0:07:43Yeah.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45That has just made my day.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53The arrival of the freezer was another time-saving innovation,
0:07:53 > 0:07:57heralding a host of new products that barely needed any preparation.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01Oh, I have fond memories of cod in butter sauce -
0:08:01 > 0:08:03it's one of the first meals I had with Brandon.
0:08:03 > 0:08:05I thought they were quite sophisticated,
0:08:05 > 0:08:08so I think the kids are in for a treat.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10And by the '80s, the average cooking time for a meal
0:08:10 > 0:08:12had shrunk to an hour...
0:08:12 > 0:08:14- It's six minutes, isn't it, this one? - No, it's five.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17..if you bothered to cook at all.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19But as the decades moved on, the Robshaws were starting to wake up
0:08:19 > 0:08:23to the potential cost of faster and faster food.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26The food that we were eating, it's got more and more processed,
0:08:26 > 0:08:31more and more salt, more and more fat, more and more sugar in the diet.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35Today the average time taken to cook a meal is just 20 minutes.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37But in case even THAT sounds too long,
0:08:37 > 0:08:40Polly's introducing the Robshaws to a brand-new food
0:08:40 > 0:08:42that does away with the need for cooking altogether
0:08:42 > 0:08:44and claims to be good for you.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49By 2000, the food they're eating is much more convenient,
0:08:49 > 0:08:53but it's also highly processed, highly manufactured.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55In a sense, what they've gained in time,
0:08:55 > 0:08:58they've arguably lost in terms of health.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00Hello, Robshaws.
0:09:00 > 0:09:01Hi, Polly.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03How nice to see you in 2014.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05Have you brought us something?
0:09:05 > 0:09:07- I have!- Sorry, I should...
0:09:07 > 0:09:08According to some people,
0:09:08 > 0:09:14what's in this bag is the solution to the inconvenience of food
0:09:14 > 0:09:17and the problem of processed food being unhealthy.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21A software engineer from San Francisco started to think that
0:09:21 > 0:09:26food was a really inefficient way of delivering what the body needs.
0:09:27 > 0:09:32Indeed, Rob Rhinehart seems to see food itself as an outdated concept.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35It takes a little bit of perspective to see that food really is
0:09:35 > 0:09:38made out of chemicals, it is reduceable,
0:09:38 > 0:09:42and we can build a backup and we can change it and we can make it better.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48Rhinehart came up with an alternative to his old diet of cheap junk food.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51He claims his invention provides all the calories and nutrition
0:09:51 > 0:09:53people need in liquid form,
0:09:53 > 0:09:56removing the pesky need for traditional meals altogether.
0:09:58 > 0:09:59Terrible name, though, isn't it?
0:09:59 > 0:10:03Soylent, it's like sort of a cross between soil and toilet,
0:10:03 > 0:10:04it sounds awful.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06The name is sort of on purpose because...
0:10:06 > 0:10:08LAUGHTER
0:10:08 > 0:10:10..he wants it to
0:10:10 > 0:10:14be almost anti everything we think about in terms of food.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19Fans of the concept have developed their own versions of the drink
0:10:19 > 0:10:22and the Robshaws are following one of their online recipes,
0:10:22 > 0:10:24using whey protein...
0:10:24 > 0:10:27249 grams - very precise.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30- ..oats, psyllium husks... - In it goes.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32..choline bitartrate...
0:10:32 > 0:10:33Let's have a sniff of it.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35- LAUGHTER - Oh, that's rank, isn't it?
0:10:35 > 0:10:37Oh, my goodness me!
0:10:37 > 0:10:38LAUGHTER
0:10:38 > 0:10:40..potassium gluconate, calcium,
0:10:40 > 0:10:43salt and ground-up pills of multivitamins D3 and K1.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49All the things that you associate with preparing food,
0:10:49 > 0:10:52like the delicious smells and the sizzling sounds,
0:10:52 > 0:10:54it's just not there, is it?
0:10:54 > 0:10:57You've got the sound of pills falling into a plastic jug.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59Yeah, great(!) LAUGHTER
0:10:59 > 0:11:02I just want to sniff this to see if it smells of anything.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04Yeah.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06It's meant to be drunk three times a day
0:11:06 > 0:11:10and claims to totally replace the need for ordinary food.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13It is actually making me feel slightly nervous.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15- Is it?- Yeah.- Really?- Yeah.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17But are you excited about the nutritional benefits of it?
0:11:17 > 0:11:20I'm not excited. - No, not at all.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22I'm starving, but this isn't food.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25- Well, I think I'm going to try it first.- OK.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30Really, really quite unpleasant.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32ROS: What does it taste like?
0:11:32 > 0:11:34Do you want to do it at the same time?
0:11:39 > 0:11:40LAUGHTER
0:11:40 > 0:11:44Is it that bad? Have you tasted it yet?
0:11:44 > 0:11:46- No. - That's disgusting.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51I...don't like it.
0:11:51 > 0:11:52LAUGHTER
0:11:52 > 0:11:54I just...
0:11:55 > 0:11:59Quick, let's just clear all this away and forget about it. LAUGHTER
0:11:59 > 0:12:01Could you subsist on it, every day?
0:12:01 > 0:12:02I couldn't do it.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06The way this is perceived is that the end, the purpose of eating food,
0:12:06 > 0:12:09is just to enable you to carry on functioning and doing your job.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12But food is about a lot more than that, isn't it?
0:12:12 > 0:12:15It's not just a means to an end, it is an end in itself,
0:12:15 > 0:12:17and that end is, you know, pleasure and giving pleasure.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22And it seems, looking at our food study,
0:12:22 > 0:12:26that most of you still get quite a lot of pleasure from eating.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30In fact, on top of your three meals a day, you can't resist a snack -
0:12:30 > 0:12:33a trend the Robshaws saw gradually evolve over the decades.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40SHE GASPS BRANDON: 'There was nothing in between the meals, there weren't any,
0:12:40 > 0:12:42'like, biscuits in the house or packets of crisps,
0:12:42 > 0:12:44'or things to snack on.'
0:12:44 > 0:12:47As soon as I get home, I'd usually have something to eat...
0:12:47 > 0:12:49and I'm actually really, really hungry.
0:12:51 > 0:12:56I'm missing crisps, chocolate, sweets, ice cream...
0:12:58 > 0:13:00..just everything nice.
0:13:00 > 0:13:01'70s was really
0:13:01 > 0:13:04when we felt like snacks were coming back into our lives.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08There were lots of new different types of crisps,
0:13:08 > 0:13:10there were Pot Noodles.
0:13:10 > 0:13:11HE SLURPS
0:13:11 > 0:13:13We had a biscuit tin in the kitchen.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16HE GASPS Whoo.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20- I'm pleased about being able to snack.- I've missed it.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25In the '80s, new gadgets meant it was even easier
0:13:25 > 0:13:27to treat ourselves between meals
0:13:27 > 0:13:30Wow, we did it. Can you hear the bubbles?
0:13:30 > 0:13:34- You can hear the bubbles. - I don't know. Can you?- Yeah.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37What started as an occasional treat has snowballed.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43Today, we're a confirmed nation of snackers.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45In the years of the experiment that the Robshaws
0:13:45 > 0:13:48lived through, the National Food Survey didn't even think it
0:13:48 > 0:13:51was important enough to ask about, but that's all changed.
0:13:51 > 0:13:53When we looked at our modern study,
0:13:53 > 0:13:56it became clear that we all snack, all the time.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58In fact, not a single respondent didn't snack over
0:13:58 > 0:14:01the whole course of their food diary.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04So let's take a look at some of the kinds of things the families
0:14:04 > 0:14:08taking part in our food study were chomping down between meals.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12A respectable showing of fruit - apples,
0:14:12 > 0:14:15blueberries, some raw carrot...
0:14:16 > 0:14:18..seeds.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21Mmm, all very healthy.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24One poor child was even eating raw seaweed.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29But let's not beat about the bush.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32Your most popular snacks are cakes, pastries, sweeties,
0:14:32 > 0:14:34chocolate bars and ice cream.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38But it's not just our habits which have changed,
0:14:38 > 0:14:41it's the world around us.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43It's impossible to avoid food.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45It used to be a thing you had to make room for in your life.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48At the beginning of the survey you had to shop,
0:14:48 > 0:14:49cook and eat a meal three times a day.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52Now, wherever you go, you're assailed with snack food.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55You walk down the road and there's kebabs, and there's hamburgers
0:14:55 > 0:14:58and there's fried chicken, and there's fish and chips, and there's...
0:14:58 > 0:15:01Walk into a newsagent to buy a newspaper, there's chocolates and cakes.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04You buy a coffee in a coffee shop - there are ten on every high street - it's not coffee
0:15:04 > 0:15:07they want to sell you, that's not where they make money,
0:15:07 > 0:15:10it's the 1,000-calorie blueberry muffin that you don't want,
0:15:10 > 0:15:13didn't need, didn't even know existed 20 years ago, rammed into your face.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16It's impossible to avoid food. It's impossible to avoid snacks.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19Food is thrust upon us night and day
0:15:19 > 0:15:21and it's left to us to make our own choices
0:15:21 > 0:15:23about what and when to eat...
0:15:24 > 0:15:25..and it's slowly killing us.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32It's a far cry from the world the Robshaws found themselves in
0:15:32 > 0:15:34at the start of the experiment,
0:15:34 > 0:15:38when the government controlled their diet through rationing.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40I feel, sort of, actually quite nervous
0:15:40 > 0:15:43because it's the thought of the limitation of food...
0:15:43 > 0:15:46so I'm feeling a little bit anxious.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48There's your rations for the week.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50- Oh, gosh, that's for the week?- Yeah.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53So that's just one egg for five people? Wow.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56Food then was basically made to give you 2,000 calories
0:15:56 > 0:15:57and nothing else.
0:15:57 > 0:16:01It wasn't for pleasure, it was just bland and tasteless.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04They're going to have some of this cold liver,
0:16:04 > 0:16:06which, I have to say, has gone a bit green.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12It's disgusting. I'm actually still hungry after dinner.
0:16:12 > 0:16:14I ate, like, potatoes and bread.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17It sounds quite filling, but it really wasn't because it
0:16:17 > 0:16:20was...just bread and potatoes, and I don't really want to eat that.
0:16:20 > 0:16:25- What was it? Potatoes, cauliflower and bits of liver - all cold.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27What's not to like, you know(?)
0:16:30 > 0:16:33There might not have been the choice they were used to from their
0:16:33 > 0:16:36modern lives, but even the Robshaws could see that government control
0:16:36 > 0:16:38of the food supply had its benefits.
0:16:38 > 0:16:43Although I didn't particularly rave about all of the food, it was,
0:16:43 > 0:16:45quite clearly, a healthier diet
0:16:45 > 0:16:47than we had later on in the experiment.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50Can you get your shears right round that green bit at the end?
0:16:50 > 0:16:52Not my finger.
0:16:53 > 0:16:54- Catch.- Whoa.
0:16:54 > 0:16:59The food was low sugar, low salt, and we had fresh vegetables,
0:16:59 > 0:17:04so I think we came out of it actually feeling quite healthy, quite good.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06- That was well nice. - Is it really nice?
0:17:10 > 0:17:13Food rationing finally came to an end in 1954,
0:17:13 > 0:17:14but one place the state did
0:17:14 > 0:17:18retain some control of our diet was in schools, where strict nutritional
0:17:18 > 0:17:22guidelines for school dinners stayed in place for nearly 30 years.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25MUSIC: School Day by Chuck Berry
0:17:25 > 0:17:27Right, children, your 1950s lunch is ready.
0:17:27 > 0:17:29What do you think of the food, then?
0:17:29 > 0:17:31Not nice. Disgusting.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33Do you think you might grow to love it?
0:17:33 > 0:17:35ALL: No.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38They might not have loved it, but it was unarguably good for us.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41In the 1950s, children's diets were healthier than at any other
0:17:41 > 0:17:42point in the experiment.
0:17:43 > 0:17:49I think it was healthy, but not very nice.
0:17:49 > 0:17:51As the decades moved on,
0:17:51 > 0:17:55other factors began to influence the food we bought.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57So have a look in the cupboard.
0:17:57 > 0:17:59- Quite a lot more branded food. - Uh-hm.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03Where, in the past, the government has been in the kitchen through
0:18:03 > 0:18:08rationing, what you're seeing now is the retailer, the manufacturer,
0:18:08 > 0:18:10the processor coming into the kitchen,
0:18:10 > 0:18:11muscling the government out.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13So somebody else gets into your cupboard
0:18:13 > 0:18:17and tells you what to eat, and it happens to be big corporations.
0:18:17 > 0:18:18By the end of the 1960s,
0:18:18 > 0:18:21virtually every British household owned a TV.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24TV: Birds Eye fish fingers - double delicious -
0:18:24 > 0:18:26that's something every eating expert knows.
0:18:26 > 0:18:30Food manufacturers had a direct line straight into the consumer's home,
0:18:30 > 0:18:33tempting him with delicious new products.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35JINGLE PLAYS
0:18:35 > 0:18:38TV: Bird's Angel Delight, the most delightful taste around.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47In 1981, the last vestiges of state control of our diets disappeared...
0:18:47 > 0:18:51when Mrs Thatcher's government contracted our school dinners
0:18:51 > 0:18:54out to private companies and abolished nutritional standards.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59Like many families, the Robshaws adopted the packed lunch.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04Wait, wait, that's not helping.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07- Yes, it is!- That is hindering.
0:19:07 > 0:19:08It's helping, Mum.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10So you've got about eight minutes.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12When you've only got a few minutes to prepare it,
0:19:12 > 0:19:15you're going to throw in prepackaged processed food.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17That's it, bye.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20That's an area that the government really should take
0:19:20 > 0:19:23care of, and I'm quite happy to have the state planning children's menus,
0:19:23 > 0:19:25just as it plans children's education.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28You wouldn't leave their education up to the parents, would you?
0:19:28 > 0:19:31In 2005, minimal nutritional standards for school dinners
0:19:31 > 0:19:34were reintroduced, and just last year, the government brought in
0:19:34 > 0:19:36free meals for every child under seven.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41If you are not a child, the government's role since
0:19:41 > 0:19:45rationing ended has simply been to offer advice.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47But is that enough?
0:19:48 > 0:19:51Since the Robshaws finished their time-travelling experiment
0:19:51 > 0:19:55in 2000, Britain has been in the throes of an obesity epidemic.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58Nearly two thirds of us are now overweight or obese, that's a huge
0:19:58 > 0:20:00drain on the National Health Service,
0:20:00 > 0:20:02and life expectancy in this country
0:20:02 > 0:20:05is in danger of coming down for the first time in 1,000 years.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10It's a crisis. We obviously need to do something about it,
0:20:10 > 0:20:12but what role should government play?
0:20:13 > 0:20:17I set up my own fast food stall with Dr Oliver Mytton,
0:20:17 > 0:20:21an expert on obesity, to try out some of the policies governments
0:20:21 > 0:20:24in other countries have adopted in the fight against fat.
0:20:24 > 0:20:25So when did this crisis start to happen?
0:20:25 > 0:20:28Because I've been on this time-travelling experiment
0:20:28 > 0:20:30with the Robshaws, from the '50s right through,
0:20:30 > 0:20:32I hadn't seen it coming, particularly.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34Suddenly, "Pow!" it's upon us. When?
0:20:34 > 0:20:36Well, in terms of obesity,
0:20:36 > 0:20:39we first really started to notice it in this country in the 1990s.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42- Right.- That was only when we started to measure it, and it's likely
0:20:42 > 0:20:46that pattern had been happening for a period of time before that.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48Fat tax is a phrase one hears banded around,
0:20:48 > 0:20:49they've tried it in some countries,
0:20:49 > 0:20:52it's a way of directly taxing the food that is making us fat.
0:20:52 > 0:20:54How does it work? Can it work?
0:20:54 > 0:20:56So, fat tax is all food taxes.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58The idea is to tax unhealthy food items
0:20:58 > 0:21:00and therefore discourage their consumption.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02- Could we do it here?- We could
0:21:02 > 0:21:04and it's something that some people have suggested we do.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07But it is controversial, a lot of people don't like it.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10The food industry would probably have some serious reservations about
0:21:10 > 0:21:13doing this because they're worried about how it would hit their sales.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16It's harder to make money from sunny, healthy food,
0:21:16 > 0:21:19and part of the idea behind food taxes is perhaps to start to
0:21:19 > 0:21:22shift that balance, so selling healthy foods becomes more profitable.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28Food taxes have already been introduced in parts of Europe
0:21:28 > 0:21:30and are under discussion worldwide.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33Figures range from the 10% already implemented in Hungary and Finland
0:21:33 > 0:21:36to 40%, as proposed by some groups in New Zealand.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41These taxes have seen consumption fall, though critics claim
0:21:41 > 0:21:45people are simply switching to other unhealthy products.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48The reason people eat these is because they taste good.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50You have to confess.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55I want to see if paying more for fast food would put the Robshaws
0:21:55 > 0:22:00off buying it, so today I've slapped a fat tax on my burgers.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05- My customers!- Hello, Giles.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07- Oh, my word, it's the Robshaws(!) - Have you got a new job?
0:22:07 > 0:22:10Yeah, it didn't pan out very well, the show...
0:22:10 > 0:22:12and so they had to cut me out, so now I'm...
0:22:12 > 0:22:14But it's good, I'm happy with my work.
0:22:14 > 0:22:15Is anybody in the mood for a burger?
0:22:15 > 0:22:17Well, I'm quite hungry,
0:22:17 > 0:22:20but everything's got two prices, I'm noticing.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23I've added a tax of 40% to the food,
0:22:23 > 0:22:26and my menu shows the prices before and after tax.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29Imagine a future world in which there is a fat tax
0:22:29 > 0:22:32and food that's going to make you fat is going to cost more.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34So, where it says, for example, five quid for a cheeseburger,
0:22:34 > 0:22:37it's actually not five quid, it's seven quid,
0:22:37 > 0:22:40cos the more fat there is in it, the more you're going to have to pay.
0:22:40 > 0:22:41- Can I have some chips?- You can.
0:22:41 > 0:22:43- How much are the chips, can you remind me?- £2.80.
0:22:43 > 0:22:45£2.80. And is that, that's the fat tax price, is it?
0:22:45 > 0:22:47- Yeah, that's a lot. - Is that worth it?- No.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50No. So you're not going to have chips, after all? How about that?
0:22:50 > 0:22:54You see, it works. Brilliant. So OK, no chips for the kid, great.
0:22:54 > 0:22:56- Ros, what do you think? - I want a hamburger.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59The trouble is that there's five of us. I actually haven't got
0:22:59 > 0:23:02enough money on us to get five hamburgers at that price.
0:23:02 > 0:23:04- That is over... That's like £30, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07You're going to be looking at about £30, £35
0:23:07 > 0:23:09and, if you want sugary drinks,
0:23:09 > 0:23:11you're probably going to be doing a 50.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13- Yes.- I can't get over that. £50.
0:23:13 > 0:23:15One hamburger, one cheeseburger and one chips.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18So on your cheeseburger, would you like some gherkins?
0:23:18 > 0:23:20- ROCHELLE LAUGHS Do they cost extra?- No,
0:23:20 > 0:23:23they don't, cos there's no fat in them. Some lettuce?
0:23:23 > 0:23:26- Yes, please.- Yummy, healthy lettuce. No tax on the lettuce.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28That looks fantastic.
0:23:28 > 0:23:32So that is £16.10 for two burgers and some fries.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35- That's painful to do that. - Does it take you back to the '50s?
0:23:35 > 0:23:38Because you had basically... At the beginning of the experiment, you had
0:23:38 > 0:23:41the government telling you what to do, what you could and couldn't eat,
0:23:41 > 0:23:44and then in the '70s and '80s and '90s, you could eat whatever you wanted.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48And now you are back in a world where the government controls what you eat, is that...?
0:23:48 > 0:23:52- It strikes me that this is going to affect people on low incomes more, probably.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55- But what about if we taxed unhealthy food and we used that
0:23:55 > 0:23:59money to subsidise healthy food, so the average effect would be nothing?
0:23:59 > 0:24:01Yeah, that'd be good.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03Would that drive you from unhealthy food to healthy food?
0:24:03 > 0:24:05- I think it would nudge you, wouldn't it?
0:24:05 > 0:24:07Which is the idea, I suppose.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09- Perhaps one of the concerns with taxing food is
0:24:09 > 0:24:11if people have less money to spend on other food items,
0:24:11 > 0:24:14do they cut back on healthy food items like fruit and vegetables?
0:24:14 > 0:24:17But perhaps we ought to be a bit more targeted in what we go for
0:24:17 > 0:24:20and sugary drinks have been one thing that have been particularly
0:24:20 > 0:24:22implicated with obesity.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24Can I get a Coke?
0:24:24 > 0:24:26LAUGHTER
0:24:26 > 0:24:28Whether or not they move on these taxes,
0:24:28 > 0:24:31- they're going to have to do something, aren't they? - ROCHELLE: Yeah.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34I think, because we cannot control ourselves, having the government
0:24:34 > 0:24:38control what we're eating now, it would probably be quite a good thing.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40I mean, it's a pretty sort of paternalistic view, isn't it?
0:24:40 > 0:24:43- You're handing over these... - It's maternalistic.
0:24:43 > 0:24:44It's maternalistic.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47The idea of government intervention in our diets is one lesson we
0:24:47 > 0:24:49could take from the past...
0:24:49 > 0:24:52But I think there's another - about the way we shop.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59With no car, and nothing but a larder to keep food fresh,
0:24:59 > 0:25:02shopping locally was the only option for Rochelle in the early '50s.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05Living without a fridge is the hardest part.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08You can see that it would have been absolutely necessary,
0:25:08 > 0:25:10it's not through a particular choice,
0:25:10 > 0:25:13but you would have to go shopping every single day.
0:25:13 > 0:25:14Although it took up lots of time,
0:25:14 > 0:25:17Rochelle could also see the benefits.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21I think the good bit about shopping locally in the '50s,
0:25:21 > 0:25:28sort of, experiment was that you would see the same face every day,
0:25:28 > 0:25:32you would start to have a connection with whoever's selling you the food.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38I've come for my liver.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40SHE LAUGHS
0:25:41 > 0:25:45In the 1960s, Dave Myers delivered the Robshaws' first fridge
0:25:45 > 0:25:48- Ta-da!- Oh, wow.
0:25:50 > 0:25:51When we got a fridge,
0:25:51 > 0:25:54I remember how delighted Rochelle was with that.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56It made a difference to shopping, you see,
0:25:56 > 0:25:58you didn't need to shop every day.
0:25:58 > 0:26:00It's really going to revolutionise my life.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05For the first time, they could stock up.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08Newly popular supermarkets offered a one-stop shop
0:26:08 > 0:26:09for all their groceries.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13Welcome to shopping, 1960s-style.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16'When I first went into a '60s supermarket,
0:26:16 > 0:26:18'I thought it was really exciting.'
0:26:18 > 0:26:21There's just so much to look at, isn't there?
0:26:21 > 0:26:25There's just so much to look at. It's absolutely extraordinary.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28The new self-service system transformed the way they
0:26:28 > 0:26:29shopped for food.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32I felt that we were much more in control of what we chose
0:26:32 > 0:26:33and I really enjoyed it.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36Later in the experiment, I became a bit more
0:26:36 > 0:26:39cynical about supermarkets, but when I first encountered them,
0:26:39 > 0:26:41I thought, "This is fantastic. What's not to like?
0:26:41 > 0:26:44"All these options. You can just, just get it, choose it, grab it."
0:26:49 > 0:26:50By the 1980s,
0:26:50 > 0:26:53the Robshaws did all their shopping at the supermarket.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57- ROCHELLE:- On the supermarket shelves,
0:26:57 > 0:27:00a lot of the produce is now in plastic.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02I'm definitely going to have a chicken madras
0:27:02 > 0:27:05and I'm not giving any to anybody else - I'm just saying that now.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08You couldn't see what you were buying any more
0:27:08 > 0:27:12because it was sort of hidden in a box, so you're buying a picture.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14You're buying a picture of something.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21I'm seeing this with new eyes.
0:27:21 > 0:27:23By the 1990s, supermarkets had supersized.
0:27:25 > 0:27:30Their combination of low prices and massive choice seemed irresistible.
0:27:30 > 0:27:32I do think this is amazing.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35This whole aisle, which must be about, like, 20 metres long,
0:27:35 > 0:27:38is all different varieties of cheese.
0:27:38 > 0:27:40But even just the cheddar... It is a wall of cheese.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43It is a great wall of cheese, it's probably visible from space.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46'But for Rochelle, it didn't feel like progress.'
0:27:46 > 0:27:50It was almost shocking in the amount of food that we
0:27:50 > 0:27:52could pile into the back of the car
0:27:52 > 0:27:57and I didn't find that a particularly pleasant experience.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00It was just more and more boxes and plastic bags.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04See, so much of this stuff is perishable. We'll have to...
0:28:04 > 0:28:07If we don't eat it soon, we'll have to just chuck it out.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10You are going to end up eating more, but simply by the fact that it is here.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13In the '90s, you think, "Oh, we're just going in the car to
0:28:13 > 0:28:15"get some shopping," because that's what we've chosen to do.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19But everyone's doing it, you're actually just following a herd.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22You don't realise it, but you are just completely falling
0:28:22 > 0:28:24in line with the spirit of the times.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28When we left the experiment in 1999,
0:28:28 > 0:28:32it seemed as though the rise of the big supermarket would be inexorable.
0:28:32 > 0:28:33But in the last 18 months,
0:28:33 > 0:28:35an extraordinary change has taken place.
0:28:35 > 0:28:38At the end of 2014, the amount of money being spent in the big
0:28:38 > 0:28:41four supermarkets went down for the first time since 1994.
0:28:41 > 0:28:42Our study holds a few clues
0:28:42 > 0:28:45as to why the big supermarkets might be in trouble.
0:28:53 > 0:28:57The last I left Rochelle, it was big out-of-town superstore shopping, it was killing off the high street,
0:28:57 > 0:28:59everyone was going to the supermarkets.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02I know, partly because you reflect it a little bit in the study,
0:29:02 > 0:29:05but also my own life, that the internet, online shopping, means that the
0:29:05 > 0:29:08massive weekly shop feels to me like it's not the thing that it once was.
0:29:08 > 0:29:12Yeah, that sort of going to the supermarket and your car actually,
0:29:12 > 0:29:16you know, groaning with the amount of shopping you had, seems to be over.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19What we're seeing is perhaps the death of the weekly shop.
0:29:19 > 0:29:21And when you look at the study, you can see some of that in the way
0:29:21 > 0:29:25that people are actually reporting their shopping habits.
0:29:25 > 0:29:29This woman has said, "I don't tend to do full shops, only now and again."
0:29:29 > 0:29:32They just call on supermarkets a few times to stock up,
0:29:32 > 0:29:37so in and out of shops rather than doing that once a week thing.
0:29:37 > 0:29:39It seems like people are sort of ducking
0:29:39 > 0:29:42and diving between online, a bit of supermarket,
0:29:42 > 0:29:45and then topping up on the high street in the smaller shop.
0:29:47 > 0:29:49Online grocery shopping took off in 2000
0:29:49 > 0:29:51and was heralded as the future.
0:29:51 > 0:29:55BROADCAST: Every day, 4,000 customers order their shopping from Tesco
0:29:55 > 0:29:58through its internet site, sending a list via computer to a local store.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01100 supermarkets, mainly in the south,
0:30:01 > 0:30:03have the equipment to receive such orders.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06Today Tesco announced, by the end of the year,
0:30:06 > 0:30:09300 stores nationwide will supply online shoppers.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12Internet orders are displayed on a trolley computer,
0:30:12 > 0:30:15collected and then delivered by staff.
0:30:15 > 0:30:17Tesco claims a million people will use
0:30:17 > 0:30:20the service by the end of the year.
0:30:20 > 0:30:22But supermarkets swiftly realised online wasn't great news for
0:30:22 > 0:30:24their profit margins.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28The genius of the supermarket was that we
0:30:28 > 0:30:32as customers drove to the shop, we picked the goods off the shelves,
0:30:32 > 0:30:35we put them in the bag, we drove them home and then we unpacked them.
0:30:35 > 0:30:38They didn't have to do anything except put it on the shelves.
0:30:38 > 0:30:39- We did all that work.- Yeah.
0:30:39 > 0:30:41Online shopping's different.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44Suddenly, the supermarket has to bear the cost of choosing the food,
0:30:44 > 0:30:47picking the food, putting it in the bag and also transporting it.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50Now that changes the cost basis for supermarkets.
0:30:50 > 0:30:52So, less profit, is that why they're failing?
0:30:52 > 0:30:55Yes, online might be one reason that they're struggling.
0:30:55 > 0:30:59But also, snapping at their heels, are these discount supermarkets.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05The rise of shops like Aldi and Lidl has been a big news story
0:31:05 > 0:31:07over the last couple of years.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10So you've got a Waitrose bag, Sainsbury's,
0:31:10 > 0:31:12a Tesco's bag, but you're also shopping at Aldi.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15- Why?- Yes. Though beforehand, conveniently you could go to one shop
0:31:15 > 0:31:17and get loads and loads of stuff,
0:31:17 > 0:31:20you're finding you're spending a heck of a lot of money.
0:31:20 > 0:31:22Whereas if you could split it between two shops,
0:31:22 > 0:31:25and one of those being Aldi, you save yourself a heck of a lot of money.
0:31:25 > 0:31:29Aldi arrived in the UK more than 20 years ago.
0:31:29 > 0:31:33It may have far fewer products than a traditional supermarket,
0:31:33 > 0:31:36but that gives Aldi huge buying power with suppliers.
0:31:36 > 0:31:40Discounters like Aldi are stealing a march.
0:31:40 > 0:31:44What's happening here on these aisles is sending shockwaves through
0:31:44 > 0:31:48an industry already grappling with huge change.
0:31:52 > 0:31:55But the internet and discount supermarkets aren't
0:31:55 > 0:31:57the only things that are changing the way we shop.
0:31:57 > 0:32:01I think there's another, potentially more interesting, transformation afoot,
0:32:01 > 0:32:03which may mirror the way things happened in previous eras,
0:32:03 > 0:32:07where a small number of foodier people get into a way of doing
0:32:07 > 0:32:09things which gradually become mainstream.
0:32:11 > 0:32:15And I think it's beginning to happen in the way we shop for food.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18So I've brought Rochelle to my local high street to see
0:32:18 > 0:32:20if I can persuade her that this is the future.
0:32:20 > 0:32:25I don't know really how that small local shopping
0:32:25 > 0:32:27can fit in really well to a busy lifestyle.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30You see, I think it can. I think the supermarkets are dying,
0:32:30 > 0:32:32the big four supermarkets are all losing money,
0:32:32 > 0:32:35their shares are all down, people are doing more and more of their
0:32:35 > 0:32:38shopping online, people aren't going to the out-of-town superstores.
0:32:38 > 0:32:41In the spare time we have that is made by doing the main
0:32:41 > 0:32:44shopping online, that leaves room to buy bread, fish,
0:32:44 > 0:32:46meat, you know, the daily things people need to buy locally,
0:32:46 > 0:32:49and so there is a resurgence of local shops.
0:32:49 > 0:32:51And I think that might well be the future,
0:32:51 > 0:32:53as we've learnt in this series, where the middle classes with
0:32:53 > 0:32:56a few quid lead, the masses do eventually follow, whether that's
0:32:56 > 0:33:00fast food, frozen food, microwaves, curries, you know...
0:33:00 > 0:33:03And I think because poncy middle-class people like me
0:33:03 > 0:33:05are starting to go back to local butchers and fishmongers,
0:33:05 > 0:33:08- that's how the future might be. - Right, I'll follow your lead.
0:33:08 > 0:33:11Yeah, I mean, you know, maybe you'll think the shops are rubbish.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17There's been an astonishing 25% increase in the number
0:33:17 > 0:33:19of independent food shops since 2012.
0:33:21 > 0:33:25Our first stop is the new fishmonger run by Jonathan.
0:33:25 > 0:33:27- How's business here? - It's been really good.
0:33:27 > 0:33:31We opened July 1st this year.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34Things are looking really nice, really comfortable now, yeah.
0:33:34 > 0:33:39For me, shopping more locally is about "How easy is it to do?"
0:33:39 > 0:33:42I live down the road. Walk in, boom, and you've shopped really quickly,
0:33:42 > 0:33:45and that's convenient, isn't it? I mean, you're open late...
0:33:45 > 0:33:47Yep, Tuesday through to Friday, until 7.30pm.
0:33:47 > 0:33:51There's a good burst at school run time, and then from 5pm
0:33:51 > 0:33:55through to 7.30pm is probably 40% of the day's trade.
0:33:55 > 0:33:59- Right.- If not more.- It's almost like a Mediterranean sort of idea,
0:33:59 > 0:34:00isn't it, shopping late?
0:34:00 > 0:34:03'Later opening hours have made them more convenient,
0:34:03 > 0:34:07'but I know Rochelle will need convincing about the cost.'
0:34:07 > 0:34:09You don't have to be particularly well off to come in here
0:34:09 > 0:34:10and buy a bit of fish.
0:34:10 > 0:34:13The things the supermarkets sell that we sell as well,
0:34:13 > 0:34:14we're priced almost identically.
0:34:14 > 0:34:17Are you? I was going to ask, who comes in, is it just rich people?
0:34:17 > 0:34:20No, not at all, no. People from all walks of life come in.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23This came up this morning from Newlyn,
0:34:23 > 0:34:25that's a really cracking bit of whiting.
0:34:25 > 0:34:27And how much would that piece of whiting cost?
0:34:27 > 0:34:29That piece of whiting, I'd say about £4.
0:34:29 > 0:34:31What would you do with that, then?
0:34:31 > 0:34:34That just needs seasoning, a little smattering of flour
0:34:34 > 0:34:35and frying in butter.
0:34:35 > 0:34:37Everything needs frying in butter, effectively,
0:34:37 > 0:34:39makes it anything taste good, really, doesn't it?
0:34:39 > 0:34:40THEY LAUGH
0:34:40 > 0:34:44OK, well, I think I'll maybe have two of those.
0:34:44 > 0:34:46- Two of those? OK.- Yes, please, yeah.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49- Brilliant, OK, lovely. - Thanks very much.- Thanks very much.
0:34:49 > 0:34:51Thank you. Cheerio.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54One of the factors driving customers back to local shops
0:34:54 > 0:34:56is that we want to have confidence in our food again -
0:34:56 > 0:34:58especially in our meat.
0:34:59 > 0:35:02- Good morning, how are you? - Hi.- Good to see you.
0:35:02 > 0:35:04How is business, how's it working out?
0:35:04 > 0:35:05We've had a really good start here.
0:35:05 > 0:35:08Lots of local shoppers, people have really taken to us, which is nice.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11People, you know, they want to be able to trust what they buy,
0:35:11 > 0:35:13and I can tell you where all these animals came from,
0:35:13 > 0:35:16where the farm was and how they're bred, and that's what we do here.
0:35:16 > 0:35:19This kind of reminds me of what it was like when I did the '50s
0:35:19 > 0:35:22- and I'd go locally to my local butcher.- Yeah.
0:35:23 > 0:35:26The importance of knowing where their meat came from
0:35:26 > 0:35:29was brought home to the Robshaws in the 1990s when BSE,
0:35:29 > 0:35:32known as mad cow disease, became a national talking point.
0:35:36 > 0:35:40'The so-called mad cow disease may pose a threat to humans.'
0:35:40 > 0:35:42It puts you off a bit, doesn't it?
0:35:43 > 0:35:46You wouldn't be happy giving Fred a load of beef
0:35:46 > 0:35:49knowing that there's not, how safe that beef is.
0:35:49 > 0:35:53How would you possibly feel safe giving it to him?
0:35:53 > 0:35:56But I don't like it, I don't like those farming methods.
0:35:56 > 0:35:58The fact is, we know that...
0:36:00 > 0:36:04..the food chain is violated at various points.
0:36:07 > 0:36:11Our trust in food was rocked and the bad news kept coming.
0:36:11 > 0:36:14In 2013, we learned that some supermarkets had sold us horse meat
0:36:14 > 0:36:18in convenience products labelled as containing beef.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22'More beef products were revealed to contain horse DNA yesterday.'
0:36:23 > 0:36:26'If you are just about to pop your dinner in the microwave,
0:36:26 > 0:36:29'don't be put off by the news tonight -
0:36:29 > 0:36:31'that's the official government advice.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34'They say we should keep on eating processed beef,
0:36:34 > 0:36:37'even though they don't actually know what's on our plates.'
0:36:37 > 0:36:42People are really keyed up now with food and I think
0:36:42 > 0:36:45they're starting to realise that, you know, cheap food comes at a cost.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48We're enjoying a little sort of resurge of people
0:36:48 > 0:36:50coming back to the farmer's market
0:36:50 > 0:36:52and, you know, coming and buying fresh meat,
0:36:52 > 0:36:53which is really heartening.
0:36:55 > 0:36:59People kind of wanted to learn from these scandals,
0:36:59 > 0:37:02why was it a problem, why were cows going mad,
0:37:02 > 0:37:05why were sheep getting foot-and-mouth and things like that,
0:37:05 > 0:37:08and they wanted to talk about what they were buying.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11And we saw a movement, people coming back to independent shops
0:37:11 > 0:37:14so they could speak to somebody and say, "What have you got?"
0:37:14 > 0:37:17Now, there are people who will be watching who would think,
0:37:17 > 0:37:20knowing where their meat came from, how they were bred and everything,
0:37:20 > 0:37:22this is a kind of poncy middle-class interest.
0:37:22 > 0:37:23Is that the case at the moment?
0:37:23 > 0:37:26I don't think it is a middle-class thing, it's about knowledge.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29It's about people wanting to know what they're eating,
0:37:29 > 0:37:32wanting to be secure in what they're spending their money on,
0:37:32 > 0:37:34and you can come and buy what you want.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37You haven't got to buy four lamb chops if you only want to eat two.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40So you're contributing to less waste, then, do you think?
0:37:40 > 0:37:42Yeah, absolutely.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45Less waste, good value, extended opening hours,
0:37:45 > 0:37:48I'm sold on local shopping as the future.
0:37:49 > 0:37:51But have I managed to convince Rochelle?
0:37:53 > 0:37:55I hope very much that we can,
0:37:55 > 0:37:59you know, resist the temptation of going to the supermarket.
0:37:59 > 0:38:04It's not like it's sort of like in the '50s, the housewife going out
0:38:04 > 0:38:08to buy food just for her family in-between the hours of daylight,
0:38:08 > 0:38:13now you can shop locally at any time, and it is a pleasant experience.
0:38:13 > 0:38:15It adds something to your life.
0:38:18 > 0:38:22It's not just where they shop that's been affected by their time travel.
0:38:22 > 0:38:25The Robshaws have changed the sort of food they're buying.
0:38:25 > 0:38:29One of the things we've taken away from the experiment as a whole
0:38:29 > 0:38:32is that we do have a regular veg box delivery now.
0:38:33 > 0:38:37This idea of good, fresh vegetables, that's really influenced us.
0:38:37 > 0:38:39- Veg box.- Veg box.
0:38:41 > 0:38:43- Nice and colourful, isn't it?- Hmm.
0:38:43 > 0:38:46Getting it seemed to be quite important,
0:38:46 > 0:38:51and just, it seemed to be an expense that I wanted to sort of...
0:38:51 > 0:38:52prioritise.
0:38:56 > 0:38:58Living through the experiment,
0:38:58 > 0:39:01the Robshaws saw a dramatic shift in their diet,
0:39:01 > 0:39:02from fresh ingredients...
0:39:02 > 0:39:05to food that was increasingly processed.
0:39:05 > 0:39:07What do you think of this?
0:39:07 > 0:39:10This beef curry is actually a little bit dry and powdery.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18With advances in food processing enabling novel new products,
0:39:18 > 0:39:23they were only too happy to embrace the appliance of science.
0:39:23 > 0:39:25We're all part of a massive experiment.
0:39:25 > 0:39:29Our food is being changed from a traditional
0:39:29 > 0:39:32to a new technologically-based diet
0:39:32 > 0:39:36and we don't know what the consequences of this are going to be.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40Isn't it amazing how it does this?
0:39:41 > 0:39:44I'm pouring into the Pot Noodles now, everybody. It's bubbling.
0:39:45 > 0:39:47See that? Bloop-bloop-bloop!
0:39:50 > 0:39:53- The cheese is quite bright orange! - Yes!
0:39:53 > 0:39:56That's the '80s for you, everything's bright orange.
0:39:56 > 0:39:57Nobody could do that.
0:39:57 > 0:40:01I do quite like the food that I've been eating in the '80s,
0:40:01 > 0:40:04but it's not exactly the healthiest of foods.
0:40:09 > 0:40:14The family's visit to an organic farm in 1996 was a wake-up call.
0:40:14 > 0:40:18- OK, so we're going to jump out and look at some lettuces.- Great.
0:40:19 > 0:40:21- So that's a cos lettuce. - It's fantastic.
0:40:21 > 0:40:22It's really, really beautiful.
0:40:22 > 0:40:24They just don't look as kind of...
0:40:24 > 0:40:28'For me, it was standing in Guy Watson's field'
0:40:28 > 0:40:32and just seeing food again, as it is, in its sort of raw state.
0:40:32 > 0:40:36It took us almost full circle to the '50s.
0:40:36 > 0:40:40The outer leaves are the most nutritious, where it's green.
0:40:40 > 0:40:42It's really got flavour.
0:40:42 > 0:40:45'Tasting that lettuce fresh from the field, and it was so flavoursome,
0:40:45 > 0:40:49'that is when I thought, "I'm not eating enough fresh food."
0:40:49 > 0:40:51'That was my Damascus moment.'
0:40:52 > 0:40:57Why on earth are we eating processed food?
0:40:59 > 0:41:01Two extremely fine leeks...
0:41:03 > 0:41:06The Robshaws are trying out new ingredients
0:41:06 > 0:41:10and Rochelle is finding a renewed enthusiasm for cooking.
0:41:10 > 0:41:12- What do you call that?- Kohlrabi.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15- Are they English? - It's not very English-sounding.
0:41:15 > 0:41:18- Looks like a teapot, doesn't it? - Yeah, it does, actually.
0:41:18 > 0:41:20Short and stout, here's its handle, here's its spout!
0:41:22 > 0:41:24"The Winter Minestrone."
0:41:24 > 0:41:25HE LAUGHS
0:41:25 > 0:41:29We are replacing the turnip with...
0:41:29 > 0:41:32- Kohlrabi.- Carborabi... - Carborabi?- What did I say?
0:41:32 > 0:41:34- You said, "carborabi"!- Carborabi!
0:41:39 > 0:41:43Before they started their time travel, Rochelle worked full-time
0:41:43 > 0:41:45and Brandon did the lion's share of the cooking.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51When I first went into this experiment, part of me
0:41:51 > 0:41:53was kind of fed up with work,
0:41:53 > 0:41:57and I kind of thought, "Ooh, it'll be very nice to be at home."
0:41:57 > 0:41:59- Bye, Rochelle.- Bye, Brandon.
0:42:00 > 0:42:03'All those years of women struggling to get out of the home,
0:42:03 > 0:42:05'I'm putting myself back into it.
0:42:08 > 0:42:12'I think what I had completely underestimated was the fact
0:42:12 > 0:42:13'that it is all hard work.'
0:42:15 > 0:42:17I suppose this is what would make a woman break.
0:42:17 > 0:42:22I didn't really, really want to be at home 100% of the time.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26In the mid-'70s, Rochelle got a part-time job...
0:42:26 > 0:42:28- You're back. How was your day? - Hello!
0:42:28 > 0:42:30- It was good, thank you. - Did you enjoy it?
0:42:30 > 0:42:32- Yeah, I did enjoy it, yeah. - Oh, well done.
0:42:32 > 0:42:35..but was still cooking virtually all the meals.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38- What about supper? - Haven't really thought about it.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41- No, and you haven't, have you? - No.- No. And you haven't?
0:42:41 > 0:42:43- No.- Right, better get on with it, hadn't I?
0:42:43 > 0:42:47Once we sort of hit the manic-ness of the '80s,
0:42:47 > 0:42:52life becomes a hell of a lot harder because you're out working
0:42:52 > 0:42:54and you're also doing a lot in the home.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59You're just part of a system, that you have no freedom,
0:42:59 > 0:43:01'you have to, you know, you're just caught up in this
0:43:01 > 0:43:05'manic-ness that is kind of overtaking you.'
0:43:05 > 0:43:08- Could someone get me the scraper for this?- Yeah.
0:43:10 > 0:43:14In the 1990s the balance finally began to be redressed.
0:43:15 > 0:43:20I do feel that Brandon is getting much closer
0:43:20 > 0:43:25to his contemporary role in the kitchen. He's happy to be there.
0:43:25 > 0:43:28- Oh, I tell you what, that's really nice.- Is it? Oh good.
0:43:28 > 0:43:29Really nice, yeah.
0:43:29 > 0:43:32With the pressure off, cooking could become a pleasure again.
0:43:32 > 0:43:35Oh, that's wonderful! Hang it up on the tree.
0:43:35 > 0:43:37Hang it on the tree, baby.
0:43:37 > 0:43:38That's so good.
0:43:40 > 0:43:43'I am cooking more and I don't know if that's'
0:43:43 > 0:43:45because I had felt that there were these
0:43:45 > 0:43:49sort of like rows of other mes behind me now telling me what to do.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52Well, this is going to be a nice chunky soup.
0:43:52 > 0:43:54It can't be chunked. It says chopped.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57Oh, don't... Look, who's making this, us or Guy Watson?
0:43:57 > 0:44:00Look, everybody likes a succulent chunk of leek.
0:44:00 > 0:44:04- If you really loved me...- Yeah? - ..you'd chop 'em fine.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06No, no, it's because I love you
0:44:06 > 0:44:08that I want to give you really nice leeks.
0:44:08 > 0:44:11You just feel like you've acquired that little bit of extra
0:44:11 > 0:44:15knowledge all the way through, so it's just sort of made me
0:44:15 > 0:44:18take more interest in it.
0:44:18 > 0:44:21Oh, that just smells so delicious, doesn't it?
0:44:23 > 0:44:25- Dad?- Yeah?
0:44:25 > 0:44:26It's very vegetable-y.
0:44:26 > 0:44:27It's really nice.
0:44:27 > 0:44:29It is nice.
0:44:29 > 0:44:30It tastes really good.
0:44:30 > 0:44:32- You can see it looks healthy.- Hmm.
0:44:32 > 0:44:36Where with the normal soup, it just tastes really salty.
0:44:36 > 0:44:39When you get one out of a tin, it tastes,
0:44:39 > 0:44:41like the whole soup tastes the same.
0:44:41 > 0:44:45But this, like, you can taste each little different part of it.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48Since the experiment ended, we have been eating together more, haven't we?
0:44:48 > 0:44:51It creates a space for conversation, doesn't it?
0:44:51 > 0:44:53It's just about being able to make a connection
0:44:53 > 0:44:57with somebody that you care about and that you love.
0:44:58 > 0:45:02'It's very much made me appreciate how food affects family life,
0:45:02 > 0:45:08'and you can see that as food changed, our family habits changed.'
0:45:08 > 0:45:11You can never have too many Pot Noodles.
0:45:11 > 0:45:13HE LAUGHS
0:45:14 > 0:45:18Fast forwarding through 50 years, the Robshaws saw sit down family
0:45:18 > 0:45:21meals become a rarity as informality crept in.
0:45:21 > 0:45:25The sort of order of sitting and eating at the table,
0:45:25 > 0:45:28which we'd done in the '50s and '60s, was broken up.
0:45:31 > 0:45:33You close the door and press time...
0:45:33 > 0:45:37The arrival of microwave ready meals revolutionised family dinner times.
0:45:37 > 0:45:39I'm going to play with my Nintendo.
0:45:41 > 0:45:45This is the very first evening when everybody is eating differently.
0:45:45 > 0:45:49You're standing up, she's sitting... They're sitting over there, Fred's in the other room.
0:45:49 > 0:45:52We're all sort of dispersed and displaced...
0:45:52 > 0:45:54and the microwave's doing it.
0:45:54 > 0:45:57But you do gain in convenience. It's quite nice.
0:45:57 > 0:45:59But what is the convenience?
0:45:59 > 0:46:01Well, you know what the convenience is.
0:46:01 > 0:46:04It's very quick and it minimises the washing up.
0:46:04 > 0:46:06Watch this.
0:46:07 > 0:46:09No washing up. How's that?
0:46:12 > 0:46:14Pushed for time in the 1990s,
0:46:14 > 0:46:19the Robshaws barely sat down to eat...let alone with each other.
0:46:19 > 0:46:22And if every meal is informal, eaten on your lap in different
0:46:22 > 0:46:25rooms of the house, then you lose something.
0:46:25 > 0:46:28THEY CHAT
0:46:30 > 0:46:34By the end of the experiment, we'd learned that it's very nice
0:46:34 > 0:46:37and it's very, very healthy and good to come together as a family
0:46:37 > 0:46:39and eat round the table several times a week.
0:46:39 > 0:46:43I hope that will always be a constant in the future, that we won't lose that.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52Where and when the Robshaws ate might have changed dramatically over
0:46:52 > 0:46:53the 50 years of the experiment,
0:46:53 > 0:46:55but there was one constant ingredient.
0:46:57 > 0:46:59- Is it a slice of pork?- Yeah.
0:46:59 > 0:47:00Meat.
0:47:07 > 0:47:10What we are looking at here is a family of five's weekly meat
0:47:10 > 0:47:15consumption in 1955, just after rationing.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18This is the sort of quantity they were eating, largely of beef
0:47:18 > 0:47:21and pork, carcass meat, stuff that was on the bone,
0:47:21 > 0:47:22and today's, specifically 2013,
0:47:22 > 0:47:25but it hasn't changed much in the last couple of years.
0:47:25 > 0:47:28Basically, and surprisingly to me, the same amount of meat.
0:47:28 > 0:47:31- It just looks different, lots of processed stuff.- Yeah.
0:47:31 > 0:47:34The key difference is here they didn't have chicken very often.
0:47:34 > 0:47:36This sorry little thing represents what would have been
0:47:36 > 0:47:39a very small amount of chicken, two or three a year
0:47:39 > 0:47:42because this was expensive and not a thing that people ate very much.
0:47:42 > 0:47:44Here, lots of boneless, skinless chicken breast.
0:47:44 > 0:47:48The cost of chicken, totally driven down by changes in technology
0:47:48 > 0:47:50and new ways of farming,
0:47:50 > 0:47:53have meant that people can afford to buy an inordinate amount more
0:47:53 > 0:47:56chicken than they would have been able to do in the past.
0:47:57 > 0:48:00- ARCHIVE:- 'Not many years ago,
0:48:00 > 0:48:03'the chicken was an expensive luxury for special occasions only,
0:48:03 > 0:48:07'but today it's an easily available and comparatively cheap food,
0:48:07 > 0:48:09'ready to be popped into the oven.'
0:48:09 > 0:48:13The arrival of factory farming in the '60s made chicken affordable.
0:48:13 > 0:48:17- Hey, look what I've found. Frozen chicken.- Wow.
0:48:17 > 0:48:20Look at that. That's the first time we've had it in this experiment.
0:48:20 > 0:48:21It is, yeah.
0:48:21 > 0:48:24In our normal lives, chicken is just a...
0:48:24 > 0:48:26It's a kind of everyday thing, isn't it?
0:48:26 > 0:48:30And new processed meat products mean that much of the meat
0:48:30 > 0:48:33we now consume would be almost unrecognisable to a family in the '50s.
0:48:33 > 0:48:36Clearly this glut of meat is not a situation that can last.
0:48:36 > 0:48:39In the future, meat supplies might be a problem.
0:48:39 > 0:48:42I think that's right because, as populations grow globally,
0:48:42 > 0:48:46there's a huge pressure on the amount of meat that is produced
0:48:46 > 0:48:50because as developing countries get richer, people start adopting
0:48:50 > 0:48:54Western-style diets and they tend to consume a lot more meat.
0:48:54 > 0:48:57So that it means in countries like China, for example, in the
0:48:57 > 0:49:01'last 70 years, there's a fourfold increase in meat consumption.'
0:49:01 > 0:49:05- So demand across the world will drive up the price of meat? - That's right.
0:49:05 > 0:49:08If that continues, what will change is we will be paying a lot
0:49:08 > 0:49:12more for it, and we've got very used to having, particularly these
0:49:12 > 0:49:16kind of highly processed meats, being really very inexpensive.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20So if we're going to carry on eating this sort of quantity of meat,
0:49:20 > 0:49:22we're going to have to pay for it in terms of price,
0:49:22 > 0:49:25but also in terms of environmental cost as well.
0:49:26 > 0:49:29The hunt is on for an alternative source of protein which
0:49:29 > 0:49:31doesn't cost the earth.
0:49:34 > 0:49:37I want to give the Robshaws a final futuristic dinner
0:49:37 > 0:49:40and serve up a radical alternative to meat.
0:49:40 > 0:49:43I am actually quite intrigued as to what this is going to be.
0:49:43 > 0:49:45This is going to be the food of the future.
0:49:45 > 0:49:47What do you think it's going to be?
0:49:47 > 0:49:49Do you think we might be eating more things from the sea?
0:49:49 > 0:49:53No, because I think everything from the sea will be dead.
0:49:53 > 0:49:56There will be things along the journey that you've had,
0:49:56 > 0:49:57the time travelling,
0:49:57 > 0:50:00which would have been surprising for you to have eaten.
0:50:04 > 0:50:06The arrival of new tastes and flavours
0:50:06 > 0:50:09has been a continual theme for the Robshaws.
0:50:11 > 0:50:14In 1963, even garlic was an alien ingredient.
0:50:14 > 0:50:17Oh, bolognese! Oh, wow.
0:50:18 > 0:50:20- I'm excited.- Are you?
0:50:20 > 0:50:22- Can we start?- Can we start?
0:50:22 > 0:50:25One of the things we learned from the experiment I think was how
0:50:25 > 0:50:29quickly something can go from being exotic to being completely normal.
0:50:29 > 0:50:32So when we had spaghetti bolognese in the 1960s it was like, wow,
0:50:32 > 0:50:35we've never had anything like this with the spaghetti
0:50:35 > 0:50:37and the garlic, and it's so different.
0:50:37 > 0:50:39See that. That's how good it is,
0:50:39 > 0:50:41people are actually scraping the dish.
0:50:41 > 0:50:43But, you know, within a very few years,
0:50:43 > 0:50:46that's just a normal British meal, and that seems to happen a lot.
0:50:51 > 0:50:56In the '70s, their first curry added chilli and spice to their diet.
0:50:58 > 0:51:00To me, this is just fantastic.
0:51:00 > 0:51:03This is just like a kind of party going on in my mouth.
0:51:03 > 0:51:07And, you know, I've broken out in a sweat because of it and I...
0:51:07 > 0:51:09That's what I wanted, you know, I love that.
0:51:09 > 0:51:13Why is it that men felt the need to test themselves with the curry?
0:51:13 > 0:51:17I mean, women weren't impressed by that, I'm not impressed by that.
0:51:17 > 0:51:20But I mean, I don't know, what is that about?
0:51:23 > 0:51:26And by the '90s, adventurous British diners
0:51:26 > 0:51:28were even bold enough to try raw fish.
0:51:28 > 0:51:31I've been wanting fish for like 50 years.
0:51:31 > 0:51:33And now you finally get it.
0:51:33 > 0:51:38Loads of it, raw. That is really... I don't know what I think of that.
0:51:38 > 0:51:42Just to see these sort of bits of raw fish going round
0:51:42 > 0:51:47and round was really foreign and felt really different.
0:51:47 > 0:51:52It did feel that that was a very sort of extreme eating experience.
0:51:55 > 0:51:59Perhaps not as extreme as this one though.
0:51:59 > 0:52:03I'm serving a protein-packed menu of international flavours
0:52:03 > 0:52:04and no meat in sight.
0:52:06 > 0:52:09- See all those worms in there? - Oh, delicious(!)
0:52:09 > 0:52:12- Oh, they're bugs, aren't they? - Yeah, absolutely.
0:52:12 > 0:52:16Insects have been hailed as the solution to our meat problem.
0:52:16 > 0:52:19Full of protein, low in fat and packed with nutrients,
0:52:19 > 0:52:23they are already part of the staple diet in parts of Africa and Asia.
0:52:24 > 0:52:26Two billion people in the world,
0:52:26 > 0:52:28that means one third of the population of the world,
0:52:28 > 0:52:30is already eating insects.
0:52:30 > 0:52:32They can become a sustainable source of food
0:52:32 > 0:52:35and I think their importance is going to grow.
0:52:35 > 0:52:39I start by boiling them, to about five minutes boiling them,
0:52:39 > 0:52:41then after that I have to make my sauce,
0:52:41 > 0:52:44which is tomato-based sauce, then they are crispy now.
0:52:49 > 0:52:50They have no aftertaste.
0:52:50 > 0:52:54It's just really a beautiful, very,
0:52:54 > 0:52:55very nice taste.
0:52:55 > 0:53:00Once we have developed better technologies for farming insects,
0:53:00 > 0:53:05they have really large potential for becoming a major food source.
0:53:07 > 0:53:11Today we're having Mexican spiced cricket tacos,
0:53:11 > 0:53:13Asian worm stir-fry,
0:53:13 > 0:53:15buffalo worm tart...
0:53:17 > 0:53:18..and cricket kebabs.
0:53:20 > 0:53:22So, Rochelle, what do you think about eating insects?
0:53:22 > 0:53:24What's your first reaction to this food?
0:53:24 > 0:53:26I am kind of repulsed really.
0:53:26 > 0:53:28I really don't fancy eating it at all.
0:53:28 > 0:53:31They're just staring at you with their little eyes.
0:53:31 > 0:53:32But the fish stares at you.
0:53:32 > 0:53:36I must say, these little worm tarts, I don't like the look of those.
0:53:36 > 0:53:38LAUGHTER
0:53:38 > 0:53:40- Come on, Fred, you take it away first...- You're the bravest.
0:53:40 > 0:53:43- I'm going to try... - What are you going to eat?
0:53:43 > 0:53:47Is he going to try the stir fry...with the buffalo worms?
0:53:47 > 0:53:49That's really disgusting.
0:53:49 > 0:53:50What's it like?
0:53:50 > 0:53:52Mmm, delicious.
0:53:52 > 0:53:55- Is it? Is it OK?- Hmm, yeah.
0:53:55 > 0:53:58They're not disgusting? You'll happily have them for your dinner?
0:53:58 > 0:54:00If I didn't know what they were.
0:54:00 > 0:54:03Worm tart, have a quiche, have a worm tart.
0:54:03 > 0:54:06- No, no!- Look at this delicious taco. Who can do one?
0:54:06 > 0:54:08- Brandon, you can eat anything. - Yeah, I'll do one.
0:54:08 > 0:54:11Oh, look, they're trying to climb out...
0:54:11 > 0:54:13LAUGHTER
0:54:13 > 0:54:14Just quickly, hastily...
0:54:14 > 0:54:16Ugh!
0:54:16 > 0:54:18Well, they're dead, aren't they?
0:54:21 > 0:54:24It's savoury in a kind of slightly earthy way. As I say...
0:54:24 > 0:54:28MasterChef! That's a fantastic description.
0:54:28 > 0:54:32I have to say, I feel inclined to remove the wings.
0:54:32 > 0:54:35It gets a bit stuck. We've all got to do it.
0:54:35 > 0:54:38One, two, three, go.
0:54:38 > 0:54:39I can't do it!
0:54:41 > 0:54:42It's not the taste, it's the...
0:54:42 > 0:54:47When you scrunch down on them, there's a slight squeak...that's...
0:54:47 > 0:54:50This is the future. This is how it's going to be.
0:54:50 > 0:54:54I'm just not sure if I am disgusted by it because I think, oh,
0:54:54 > 0:54:58I've only ever seen these sort of wiggling about, sort of live,
0:54:58 > 0:55:00or the fact that I'm just not used to it.
0:55:00 > 0:55:03A lot of it is to do with the fact that we
0:55:03 > 0:55:05think of insects as carriers of disease.
0:55:05 > 0:55:07We think of worms, maggots as things that inhabit rotting food.
0:55:07 > 0:55:12Locusts do terrorise communities and strip crops and are disgusting,
0:55:12 > 0:55:14- and that's why we don't want to eat them, isn't it?- Yes.
0:55:14 > 0:55:18I don't really want to go there unless I'm sort of...
0:55:18 > 0:55:19- Dying?- Dying, yes!
0:55:19 > 0:55:22I don't think you'd ever think you'd be coming home from work
0:55:22 > 0:55:24and you'd think, "Great, we've got centipede tonight."
0:55:24 > 0:55:27It just... It doesn't taste nice enough to make me think that.
0:55:27 > 0:55:30I think we ought to get the next course and see if it can be any help.
0:55:30 > 0:55:32Their plentiful supply makes insects a no-brainer,
0:55:32 > 0:55:34if we can overcome our revulsion,
0:55:34 > 0:55:36which is where our second course comes in.
0:55:36 > 0:55:38It's not really just cookies, is it?
0:55:38 > 0:55:42We are serving up burgers made from a mixture of beef and insect protein
0:55:42 > 0:55:45and cookies made with insect flour.
0:55:46 > 0:55:49- Take a burger.- Take a burger.
0:55:52 > 0:55:54That actually tastes really nice.
0:55:54 > 0:55:56Yeah, here you can't taste the insect at all, can you?
0:55:56 > 0:55:58And what about for Miranda and Ros?
0:55:58 > 0:56:02It solved my problem with the wings and the eyes, but it's just got
0:56:02 > 0:56:06a kind of aftertaste in the back of my mouth, and I don't know whether
0:56:06 > 0:56:10it's my brain going, "There's an insect, so it has to taste nasty."
0:56:10 > 0:56:12I don't know. If we hadn't been told,
0:56:12 > 0:56:16I wonder if we'd have just scoffed our way happily through this.
0:56:16 > 0:56:20Maybe this is the way that you make eating insects acceptable.
0:56:20 > 0:56:23I don't think it's the best meal we've had,
0:56:23 > 0:56:26but I don't want to have a kind of kneejerk reaction against this food.
0:56:26 > 0:56:28It could be the way forward.
0:56:28 > 0:56:32Can I just say that Fred has eaten his way through half a burger
0:56:32 > 0:56:37and two biscuits, knowing, knowing what is in them,
0:56:37 > 0:56:39so maybe it is a generational thing.
0:56:39 > 0:56:41# Da-da-da! #
0:56:43 > 0:56:47In Britain, we have undergone a revolution in the food
0:56:47 > 0:56:49we eat over the last 50 years -
0:56:49 > 0:56:51the Robshaws have witnessed those changes close up -
0:56:51 > 0:56:55it is an experience that has had a profound effect on all of them.
0:56:57 > 0:57:00At the beginning of the experiment,
0:57:00 > 0:57:03I never would have tried to eat an insect,
0:57:03 > 0:57:06but I'm definitely more willing to try more foods.
0:57:06 > 0:57:08It does feel good to be more adventurous.
0:57:08 > 0:57:12I feel really, really lucky to have done this experiment
0:57:12 > 0:57:14because like, I'm 15,
0:57:14 > 0:57:16but I've been in the '50s and that's just pretty cool.
0:57:16 > 0:57:18Whoa!
0:57:18 > 0:57:22'As a family, I think we've come full circle and we're taking'
0:57:22 > 0:57:26the best parts of what we've experienced into the future.
0:57:28 > 0:57:30'We'd learnt, throughout the experiment,
0:57:30 > 0:57:33'that obviously food is essential' to life,'
0:57:33 > 0:57:37you need to eat to live, and you might as well enjoy it.
0:57:37 > 0:57:40But I think, even more important than that, we learnt that food is
0:57:40 > 0:57:43an important part of nurturing people you care about.
0:57:43 > 0:57:46If it's even as simple as taking them a cup of tea,
0:57:46 > 0:57:49or if it's cooking a proper meal and all sitting down together
0:57:49 > 0:57:51in the evening enjoying it -
0:57:51 > 0:57:54all of those things, I think, are ways of showing love
0:57:54 > 0:57:56and caring for those who are close to you.
0:57:56 > 0:57:59- Cheers to the end of the experiment. - Cheers.- You did well.
0:57:59 > 0:58:03Whatever we're eating in 50 years, whether it's insects,
0:58:03 > 0:58:05nasty vitamin drinks, or good old egg and chips,
0:58:05 > 0:58:07I think it's fairly safe to say that
0:58:07 > 0:58:12food will go on binding families together as it has for generations.
0:58:12 > 0:58:15'I think the experiment's made me realise that sort of, for me,'
0:58:15 > 0:58:19'part of being a mother is to try and create memories,
0:58:19 > 0:58:23'and part of those memories would be around food,
0:58:23 > 0:58:26'and eating and creating meals.'
0:58:26 > 0:58:30Food is something to be celebrated and enjoyed every day.