Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is a multi-award-winning writer and broadcaster widely known for his uncompromising commitment to seasonal, ethically produced food.

He has earned a huge following through his River Cottage TV series and books, as well as campaigns such as Hugh’s Fish Fight.

Hugh’s early smallholding experiences were shown in the Channel 4 River Cottage series and led to the publication of The River Cottage Cookbook (2001) which won the Glenfiddich Trophy and the André Simon Food Book of the Year award (and was republished in an expanded 10-year-anniversary edition in 2011). Ten more books have followed, including the acclaimed River Cottage Meat Book and the hugely successful River Cottage Veg Everyday. River Cottage Light and Easy is Hugh’s latest book.

Hugh established River Cottage HQ in Dorset in 2004, and the operation is now based at Park Farm near Axminster in Devon. A working organic smallholding, HQ is also the base for a broad range of courses and events, and home to the newly launched River Cottage Chefs’ School.

Hugh’s broadcasting has earned him a BAFTA as well as awards from Radio 4, The Observer and the Guild of Food Writers. Besides more than 20 cookery-based series, Hugh’s TV work includes hard-hitting campaigns such as Chicken Out! which helped increase the proportion of higher welfare chicken sold in the UK and, most recently, the hugely influential Fish Fight, which brought about changes in law at the European level.

Hugh also continues to work as a journalist and wrote a weekly column for The Guardian between 2006 and 2014. He is Patron of the National Farmers’ Retail and Markets Association (FARMA), and of Switchback, a charity that helps young offenders find opportunities in the catering industry.

Hugh lives on a small farm in East Devon with his wife Marie, their four children, and assorted livestock.