Food has always been more than just fuel. Beyond mere nourishment, food carries deep meaning in our lives. It evokes feelings of comfort and joy and it can ignite disagreement and discord. It serves as a powerful link to culture and identity, creating a sense of belonging and community. When migrant peoples no longer speak the languages of their ancestral homelands, the culinary traditions and ceremonial practices surrounding food endure as legacies, passed down through generations like heirlooms.

On August 31 renowned cook, restaurateur and author Ravinder Bhogal and award-winning writer and broadcaster Kavita Puri come to Intelligence Squared to discuss the politics of food in our increasingly globalised world. Exploring the arguments around culinary authenticity, they will ask how genuine food needs to be in a multicultural society. Can recipes be subject to cultural appropriation? And what happens when a people lose their cuisine, as has happened to some Palestinian people who have been living on UN food aid for so long they have lost touch with their traditional cuisine?