Original version

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4

Radio 4 (FM)

More or Less

Magazines & Reviews

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics used in everyday life

Tim Harford explains - and sometimes debunks - the numbers and statistics used in political debate, the news and everyday life

BBC Radio 4 LW

More or Less: Food Bank Britain

Factual

Food Bank Britain

09/05/2014

BBC Radio 4 - More or Less, Food Bank Britain

Are one million people really using food banks in Britain? Tim Harford investigates.

Are one million people really using food banks in Britain? Do food bank statistics tell us anything about how many people are struggling to get enough to eat? With Tim Harford.

Recent newspaper headlines tell us a million people are using food banks in Britain. Labour say it's a disgrace and getting worse, and the Prime Minister says the figure rose tenfold under Labour.

Are any of these numbers right? What do we really know about how many people are using food banks, and does this tell us anything about whether food poverty is increasing?

Tim Harford remembers Gary Becker, the Nobel prize winning economist who did more than anyone else to extend the tools of economic analysis to the problems of everyday life.

Alex Bellos tells the story of The Man Who Counted, a book of 'Arabic' mathematical tales. The book's author became a superstar in Brazil, but he also had a surprising story of his own.

And was Roger Bannister really the first person to run a four minute mile, or did 18th century fruit and vegetable seller James Parrott beat him to it? We hear the case in Parrott's favour from a former Olympic sprinter with a passion for 18th Century running statistics.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

More or Less

Food Bank Britain

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC Radio 4 FM

About BBC Radio 4