Politics of Food

The Underground World of Illegal Smokies (1x1)

Air date: Sep 25, 2014

In this episode of The Politics of Food, Ben Ferguson investigates the UK’s growing illegal trade in "smokies,” a West African delicacy that has been outlawed in Europe since 1987. Journeying through an underground economy that operates between rural Welsh farmers and urban African communities, he uncovers how black market traders are risking prison to buy and sell blowtorched sheep carcasses.