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Our Christmas Day special programme is devoted to the Brussels sprout, with some incredible women for whom they\u2019re playing a key role in their working lives.\nAs a nation we eat more sprouts than any other country in Europe but it\u2019s a vegetable that, like marmite, divides opinion. Originally from the Middle East, they came to Europe as an export of the Roman Empire.\nWe hear how they became known as Brussels sprouts with the head of the Royal Horticultural Society Clare Matterson and the food historian Dr Sue Bailey.\nPlant pathologist Dr Lauren Chappell and the brassica research expert Dr Rachel Wells explain how sprouts are being engineered to taste sweeter and withstand climate change. Nutritionist Charlotte Hunter says the phytoestrogens in these mini cabbages mean women should be eating more of them.\nAnd for ideas about how to cook your sprouts, chef and broadcaster Andi Oliver and her daughter Miquita are on hand, as well as the chef Rosalind Rathouse.

Presenter: Anita Rani\nProducer: Lisa Jenkinson\nStudio Manager Neva Missirian