As many as 46 million turkeys are killed for Thanksgiving dinners in the USA at the end of November. And in Ireland alone, an estimated 1 million turkeys are eaten at Christmas. In the UK, the Christmas turkey toll is around 10 million.

But why turkeys? What have they ever done to us?

SFX from Pixabay.com and Zapsplat.com

Have you ever wondered why we ‘toast’ someone with a drink?

Even when we don’t like them very much?

(But everyone else is going along with it and you don’t want to be seen not joining in, particularly if it’s the boss being toasted.)

(Christ, you hate them.)

(There it’s over.)

(Actually, why is it called a ‘toast’?)

Curious? Good, let’s begin.

Are you also upset that apples are still easily bought at the supermarket? Despite the obvious danger they pose to humans?

Frankly, it’s a miracle we’ve survived as long as we have, surrounded as we are by orchards and greengrocers.

If you have apples in your fruit bowl, I’d steer clear, if I were you.

Curious? Good, let’s begin.

Greetings fellow gastronomer,

Isn’t it time avocados were given an 18 rating to keep them away from children?

Yes, it is.

Curious? Good, let’s begin.

A quintessentially English berry is under threat of extinction.

And its demise will impact nearly everyone who eats bananas.

Curious? Listen to find out more.

The International Movie Database lists 411 food films. Oddly, Jaws, a 1975 film about a shark on a food binge, isn’t among them. In the film, the protagonist eats a very angry Robert Shaw. But is a very angry Robert Shaw the worst thing a fellow performer has eaten on screen? Find out in this episode...

Greetings gastronaut, Have you ever looked at the sea and thought, "That's an awful lot of water"? Well, it's not as much as you thought. Turns out, the seas aren't H2O alone. Far, far from it. And water itself might not be what you think it is. Curious? Good, let’s begin.

According to popular belief, Puritan Parliamentarians in the 17th century outlawed the eating of mince pies in England on Christmas Day. They also made it illegal to be King Charles of England on Christmas Day or on any other day. One of these laws still exists today…