{{Short description|British chef}} {{EngvarB|date=November 2019}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}} {{Infobox person | name = Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall | image = Hugh fearnley whittingstall.jpg | caption = Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in March 2009 | birth_name = Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1965|1|14}} | birth_place = Hampstead, London, England | other_names = HFW | education = Summer Fields School<br />Eton College | alma_mater = St Peter's College, Oxford | occupation = {{hlist|Celebrity chef|television personality|journalist|food writer}} | known_for = ''River Cottage'' | spouse = {{marriage|Marie Derome|2001}} | children = 4 | mother = Jane Lascelles | father = Robert Fearnley-Whittingstall | module = {{Listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename=Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall BBC Radio4 Desert Island Discs 26 Jul 2009 b00ltn9m.flac|title={{center|Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's voice}}|type=speech|description={{center|Recorded July 2009 from the BBC Radio 4 programme ''Desert Island Discs''}}}} }}
'''Hugh Christopher Edmund Fearnley-Whittingstall''' (born 14 January 1965) is an English celebrity chef, television personality, journalist, and campaigner on food and environmental issues. He is a food writer and an omnivore who focuses on plant-based cooking. He hosted the ''River Cottage'' series on the UK television channel Channel 4, in which audiences observe his efforts to become a self-reliant, downshifted farmer in rural England; Fearnley-Whittingstall feeds himself, his family and friends with locally produced and sourced fruits, vegetables, fish, eggs, and meat. He has also become a campaigner on issues related to food production and the environment, such as fisheries management and animal welfare.
== Early life == Fearnley-Whittingstall was born in Hampstead, London, to Robert Fearnley-Whittingstall, of a landed gentry family formerly of Watford and Hawkswick, Hertfordshire, and gardener and writer Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall (née Lascelles), daughter of Colonel John Hawdon Lascelles OBE, of the King's Royal Rifle Corps.<ref>Burke's Landed Gentry, 18th edition, vol. 2, ed. Peter Townend, 1969, Fearnley-Whittingstall formerly of Watford and Hawkswick pedigree</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=37761|page=5137|date=15 October 1946}}</ref> He was brought up in Gloucestershire. He was educated at Summer Fields School,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Fearnley-Whittingstall |first1=Hugh|title=It's yesterday once more|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2007/may/26/foodanddrink.features|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=5 April 2015}}</ref> Eton College, and St Peter's College, Oxford, where he read philosophy and psychology.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/hugh-fearnleywhittingstall-crying-fowl-769860.html | location=London | work=The Independent | first=Paul | last=Vallely | title=Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall: Crying fowl | date=12 January 2008}}</ref>
==Early career== Fearnley-Whittingstall spent some time living in Africa, where he was considering a career in wildlife conservation. He then returned to England and became a ''sous chef'' at the River Café in London. He has since said that "being messy" and "lacking discipline", though, made him unsuitable for working in the River Café kitchen, but that he regards his time there as a period that helped shape his current career.<ref name="The Guardian">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2006/sep/30/features.weekend |title=Getting fired – the best thing to happen to me Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall | Life and Health |work=The Guardian |date= 30 September 2006|access-date=31 August 2009| location=London}}</ref>
Following his time at the River Café, Fearnley-Whittingstall commenced freelance journalism and was published in ''Punch'', the ''Evening Standard'', and ''The Sunday Times''.<ref name="multiplebarber">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2004/mar/14/foodanddrink.features3 |title=Lynn Barber, ''Observer Food Monthly'', 14 March 2004 |work=The Guardian |date= 14 March 2004|access-date=31 August 2009| location=London}}</ref>
== Television ==
=== TV Production === Co-founding the award-winning KEO Films in 1995, producers of Hugh's War on Waste for the BBC, and the River Cottage Brand of TV programmes. KEO Films was declared Insolvent in 2021 and sold to another Television company.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Waterson |first=Jim |date=2021-08-26 |title=River Cottage chef's TV production company sold off after going bust |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/aug/26/river-cottage-chef-tv-production-company-bust-hugh-fearnley-whittingstall |access-date=2024-11-20 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
=== Early shows === Fearnley-Whittingstall's initial television exposure was on ''A Cook on the Wild Side'' (1995), an exploration of earthy cuisine.<ref name="multiplebarber"/> His next series was ''TV Dinners'' (1996), in one episode of which he notoriously flambéed and puréed a human placenta to then serve as ''pâté''.<ref name="multiplebarber" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/101944.stm |title=report of the Broadcasting Standards Commission reprimand, 28 May 1998 |work=BBC News |date=28 May 1998|access-date=31 August 2009}}</ref> In 2002, he presented the six-episode series ''Treats from the Edwardian Country House''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Treats from the Edwardian Country House|url=http://www.walltowall.co.uk/program/Treats-from-the-Edwardian-Country-House_69.aspx|publisher=Wall to Wall|access-date=30 July 2012|author=Wall to Wall|year=2012}}</ref>
=== River Cottage === In 1997, Fearnley-Whittingstall moved into River Cottage, a former game-keeper's lodge in the grounds of Slape Manor in Netherbury, Dorset, UK, which he had previously used as a weekend and holiday home. The lodge became the setting for three Channel 4 series: ''Escape to River Cottage'', ''Return to River Cottage'', and ''River Cottage Forever'', all directed by Garry John Hughes. He has become a supporter of the organic movement.{{citation needed|date=April 2015}}
In 2004, ''Beyond River Cottage'' followed Fearnley-Whittingstall's progress as he set up a new business, River Cottage H.Q., on a {{convert|44|acre|ha|adj=on}} property close to Dottery (near Bridport), Dorset, with his family.<ref>{{cite web|title=Beyond River Cottage|url=http://www.lifestylefood.com.au/shows/beyond-river-cottage/|work=Lifestyle Food|publisher=Foxtel Management Pty Ltd|access-date=6 January 2013|year=2013|archive-date=21 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130421144041/http://www.lifestylefood.com.au/shows/beyond-river-cottage/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Underpinning his new enterprise is the selling of the produce cultivated on his property at the local marketplace, and audiences bear witness to the host's experiences as a produce seller, while also intermittently receiving the recipe lessons traditionally seen on food shows. The series concludes with a Christmas special in which a feast is brought together, consisting of a 10-bird roast using Fearnley-Whittingstall's own geese and ducks.<ref>{{cite web |title=Beyond River Cottage |url=http://www.madman.com.au/catalogue/view/18208/beyond-river-cottage |work=Madman |publisher=Madman Entertainment |access-date=6 January 2013}}</ref>
In 2005, a series called ''The View from River Cottage'' was produced using extracts from the four previous series, accompanied by newly recorded narration.{{citation needed|date=December 2018}} This was followed by ''River Cottage Road Trip'' special that consisted of two newly produced one-hour instalments.<ref>{{cite web |title=River Cottage road trip |url=http://www.channel4.com/4food/on-tv/river-cottage/extras/road_trip |publisher=Channel 4 |access-date=6 January 2013 |year=2013}}</ref> During 2006, Fearnley-Whittingstall moved River Cottage HQ from the original barn near Bridport to its new premises, Park Farm, a {{convert|66|acre|ha|adj=on}} farm near Uplyme on the West Dorset/East Devon border.<ref name="septnews">rivercottage.net September newsletter.</ref> A new series called ''The River Cottage Treatment'' was filmed there and was broadcast on Channel 4 in November 2006.<ref name="octnews">rivercottage.net October newsletter.</ref> This premise of this series involved guests described as "urban-dwellers, fast-food lovers, and convenient food-mongers" to spend a week with the host on the new property, the guests being required to undertake farm duties and to eat according to the River Cottage philosophy.<ref>{{cite web |title=The River Cottage Treatment |url=http://www.asianfoodchannel.com/show/the-river-cottage-treatment |publisher=Asian Food Channel |access-date=6 January 2013 |year=2005–2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130204044021/http://www.asianfoodchannel.com/show/the-river-cottage-treatment |archive-date=4 February 2013 }}</ref>
In 2007, Fearnley-Whittingstall presented ''River Cottage: Gone Fishing'', a short series that is the concept's 10th overall, in which he examines some of the lesser-known fish to be caught around the British Isles.<ref>{{cite web|title=Series 10 {{!}} Episode 2 {{!}} River Cottage... Gone Fishing: The Hebrides|url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/river-cottage/episode-guide/series-10/episode-2|publisher=Channel 4|access-date=6 January 2013|year=2013}}</ref>
In late 2008, ''River Cottage Autumn'' was broadcast from 16 October to 6 November 2008. In one of the autumnal episodes, Fearnley-Whittingstall, together with his friend, John, embarks on a mission to catch crustaceans at a nearby beach with the use of pots. The pair seek to catch prawns, crabs and lobsters, in addition to the blue velvet swimming crab that is commonly found at the particular coastal location where they are based.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}} On 19 October 2009, a new series of four episodes aired on Channel 4: ''River Cottage – Winter's on the Way''. In one of the episodes from the winter series, Fearnley-Whittingstall captures, prepares, and cooks rabbits that he finds on his property and introduces viewers to salsify; according to the host, salsify was popular during the Victorian era.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}}
=== New River Cottage === In September 2010, a new series of ''River Cottage'' episodes, entitled ''River Cottage Every Day'', commenced. The series encouraged viewers to cook from scratch more frequently and was accompanied by a book of the same name.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}} In autumn 2011, a new series, ''River Cottage Veg'', was launched and is based on Fearnley-Whittingstall's developed awareness regarding the problematic way in which meat is produced and consumed in the modern era. During the series, the food activist addresses the challenge that he defines in the series' first episode: "A whole summer without flesh". Fearnley-Whittingstall explains further: "In the weeks ahead, I'll be expanding my vegetable horizons, seeking out new flavours and textures, and cooking up a whole raft of vegetable dishes with the same excitement and gusto that I've always bestowed on meat and fish."<ref name="rtveg">{{cite news | title = Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall on why River Cottage has gone veggie | work = Radio Times | url = http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2011-10-16/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall-on-why-river-cottage-has-gone-veggie | access-date = 9 February 2012 | location = London | date = 16 October 2011 | archive-date = 12 January 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120112092603/http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2011-10-16/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall-on-why-river-cottage-has-gone-veggie | url-status = dead }}</ref> A new series of River Cottage, entitled ''Hugh's Three Good Things'', aired on Channel 4 in December 2012.
Accompanied by a cookbook, the series was based on the notion that a great meal can be prepared from gathering three good ingredients; in the first episode, Fearnley-Whittingstall uses beetroot, egg, and anchovies to make an open sandwich.<ref>{{cite news|title=Three Good Things |url=https://archive.org/details/hughsthreegoodth0000fear |url-access=registration |publisher=Bloomsbury|location=London|year=2012|agency=Guardian News and Media Limited |isbn=9781408828588}}</ref> He also competed against guest chefs in each episode and viewers were invited to challenge the television host with a superior recipe.<ref>{{cite web|title=Challenge Hugh: Win a £2,000 River Cottage bundle|url=http://www.rivercottage.net/challengehugh|publisher=River Cottage|access-date=13 January 2013|year=2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130223075355/http://www.rivercottage.net/challengehugh|archive-date=23 February 2013}}</ref> In 2012, he presented ''River Cottage: Three Go Mad'' a three-episode series inviting various British TV personalities to River Cottage and teaching them how to cook.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hattrickinternational.co.uk/shows/River_Cottage_Three_Go_Mad |title=UK Channel 4 River Cottage: Three Go Mad |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=5 September 2012 |website=hattrickinternational.co.uk |publisher=hattrickinternational|access-date=23 June 2021 |quote=}}</ref>
===New series=== In August 2015, alongside Lindsey Chapman, he hosted a series of five daily programmes on BBC One, linked to three evening programmes ''Big Blue Live''. The series concentrated on marine wildlife around the UK coast.<ref name="BBUK">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b068fyfn|title=Big Blue UK|access-date=28 August 2015|publisher=BBC}}</ref> In November 2015, Fearnley-Whittingstall presented ''Hugh's War on Waste'' on BBC One, campaigning against waste by food producers, retailers, and consumers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06nzl5q|title=BBC One – Hugh's War on Waste|publisher=BBC|access-date=27 June 2019}}</ref>
In 2018, he filmed ''Britain's Fat Fight with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall'', a documentary for BBC One, where he explored the obesity crisis in Britain, asking food producers, restaurants, and the government to confront the crisis.<ref name="bbc.co.uk">{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b15qt7|title=BBC One – Britain's Fat Fight with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall|publisher=BBC|access-date=15 July 2018}}</ref> Fearnley-Whittingstall's letter to the government was signed by 97,869 people; the government responded, and on 25 June, launched a new childhood obesity strategy. Also in the programme, Fearnley-Whittingstall, in partnership with Newcastle City Council, launched Newcastle Can (newcastlecan.com), an initiative and experiment aimed to encourage the citizens of Newcastle to work together to get healthier and fitter.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newcastlecan.com/letter|title=Newcastle Can|website=newcastlecan.com|access-date=21 February 2019|archive-date=22 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190222042155/https://www.newcastlecan.com/letter|url-status=dead}}</ref>
On 20 June 2022, a new four-part series called ''River Cottage Reunited'' premiered on More4.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/programme/b-167xry/river-cottage-reunited-season-1/|title=River Cottage Reunited|website=radiotimes.com|accessdate=16 October 2022}}</ref>
===Guest appearances===
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall appeared on ''Celebrity Countdown'' in 1998; he was named by former host Richard Whiteley as the ''de facto'' champion with the highest score of the series.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}} In 1997, he appeared on Channel 4's Time Team live dig in Turkdean. A year later, he again joined the Time Team live dig, this time at Bawsey.
He then appeared on the first series of Channel 4's ''The F Word'' in 2005, advising Gordon Ramsay on the rearing of turkeys at Ramsay's London home; the turkeys are eaten in the last episode of the series. Further appearances on ''The F-Word'' in 2006 and 2007 involved Fearnley-Whittingstall advising Ramsay on the rearing of pigs and lambs; again, the consumption of the livestock occurs in the last episodes of the series.
At the start of 2008, Fearnley-Whittingstall – along with fellow celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver and Ramsay – was featured in Channel 4's ''Big Food Fight'' season; his contribution to the season was ''Hugh's Chicken Run'', which was shown over three consecutive nights. He created three chicken farms in Axminster (one intensive, one commercial free-range, and the third a community farm project staffed by volunteers), culminating in a "Chicken Out!" campaign to encourage the eating of free-range chicken. In 2008, based on the success of the project, further discussion occurred among Channel 4 executives regarding the filming of another season.<ref>{{cite news|title=Channel 4 to reunite TV chefs|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/apr/04/channel4.television|access-date=6 January 2013|newspaper=The Guardian|date=4 April 2008|author=Tara Conlan|agency=Guardian News and Media Limited}}</ref>
In 2009, Fearnley-Whittingstall became a permanent team captain, opposing a different guest captain each week, on a food-based panel game, ''The Big Food Fight'', which began on Channel 4 on 8 September; this is not to be confused with the earlier project of the same name. On 12 June, he was a guest on BBC One's ''Have I Got News For You''<ref>{{cite web |title="Have I Got News for You" Episode #37.8 (TV Episode 2009) – IMDb |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1454258/reference |publisher=IMDb |access-date=8 July 2019}}</ref> and he recorded a guest spot on BBC Radio 4's ''Desert Island Discs'' that was broadcast on 26 July and again on 31 July 2009.<ref>{{cite web |title=Desert Island Discs – Next on – BBC Radio 4 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qnmr/episodes/player |publisher=BBC |access-date=8 July 2019}}</ref>
Fearnley-Whittingstall appeared on BBC Two's satirical music panel show, ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'', on an episode recorded in 2008; airing was delayed until 19 January 2011, due to the "Sachsgate" controversy surrounding Russell Brand that led to his suspension from the BBC.<ref>{{cite news|title=Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand suspended by BBC over Andrew Sachs calls|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081101010354/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/3278635/Jonathan-Ross-and-Russell-Brand-suspended-by-BBC-over-Andrew-Sachs-calls.html|work=The Daily Telegraph|publisher=Telegraph Media Group|date=29 October 2008|access-date=21 May 2026}}</ref>
==Writing== Fearnley-Whittingstall published ''Cuisine Bon Marché'' in 1994. He wrote the cookbooks, ''The River Cottage Year'', ''The River Cottage Fish Book'' (with Nick Fisher), ''The River Cottage Cookbook'' (winner of the Andre Simon Food Book of the Year award, the Guild of Food Writers’ Michael Smith Award, and the Glenfiddich Trophy and Food Book of the Year), and ''The River Cottage Meat Book'' (the last two books with photographs by Simon Wheeler).<ref>{{cite web|title=Simon Wheeler|url=http://www.marshwoodvale.com/item/simon-wheeler.html|work=The Marshwood Vale Magazine|publisher=Marshwood Vale Magazine|access-date=21 September 2012|author=Fergus Byrne|date=10 March 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130219045943/http://www.marshwoodvale.com/item/simon-wheeler.html|archive-date=19 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Simon Wheeler : About|url=http://www.simonwheeler.eu/images/|work=Simon Wheeler Photography|publisher=Simon Wheeler|access-date=21 September 2012|author=Simon Wheeler|year=2012|archive-date=14 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314193122/http://www.simonwheeler.eu/images/|url-status=dead}}</ref> His most recent books have been published by Bloomsbury, including ''River Cottage Every Day'' and ''River Cottage Veg Every Day!''.<ref> {{cite web |title=Search Results: Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) |url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/search/?q=Hugh+Fearnley-Whittingstall|access-date=23 December 2023}}</ref>
He has written articles for ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer'' since 2001. A collection of his short articles was published in October 2006 under the title ''Hugh Fearlessly Eats It All: Dispatches from the Gastronomic Frontline''. He edited ''The Big Bento Box of Unuseless Japanese Inventions'', written by Kenji Kawakami.
==Accolades== ===James Beard Awards=== :'''Winner''' *(2008) Cookbook of the Year (''The River Cottage Meat Book'')<ref name=JBarchive>[https://www.jamesbeard.org/awards/search-past-awards Search Past Winners: James Beard Awards]</ref> *(2008) Single Subject (''The River Cottage Meat Book'')<ref name=JBarchive>[https://www.jamesbeard.org/awards/search-past-awards Search Past Winners: James Beard Awards]</ref>
:'''Nominated''' *(2014) Vegetable Focused and Vegetarian (''River Cottage Veg: 200 Inspired Vegetable Recipes'')<ref name=JBarchive/>
==Activism== In January 2008, Fearnley-Whittingstall called on hospitality and food-service operators to use less intensively farmed chicken:<ref name=Chicken>{{cite web |url=http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/2008/01/23/318315/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall-calls-on-industry-to-switch-to-free-range-poultry.html |title=Exclusive video interview with Caterersearch.com, January 2008 |publisher=Caterersearch.com |date=23 January 2008 |access-date=31 August 2009}}</ref>
<blockquote> It's one thing to challenge individual consumers to give up intensively reared chicken, but it's also an issue where anyone in the business of selling chicken has to take a stand... in some cases I know chefs, not naming names, at the very high-end sector who are not using free-range birds. Some of them are on the road to Michelin stars.<ref name=Chicken/></blockquote>
In 2012, Fearnley-Whittingstall filmed a Channel 4 series, ''Hugh's Fish Fight''.<ref>{{cite news|title=River Cottage's Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is coming to town|url=http://www.thewestonmercury.co.uk/what-s-on/river_cottage_s_hugh_fearnley_whittingstall_is_coming_to_town_1_1455913 |access-date=30 July 2012 |newspaper=The Weston Mercury |date=23 July 2012 |author=Charlotte Richardson |agency=Archant Community Media}}</ref> The series was broadcast in three parts on Channel 4.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hugh's Fish Fight|url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/hughs-fish-fight|publisher=Channel 4|access-date=30 July 2012|year=2012}}</ref> The campaign's website said it had received over 700,000 signatures by 2012.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hugh's Experience |url=http://www.fishfight.net/the-campaign/ |work=Hugh's Fish Fight |publisher=KEO Films |access-date=30 July 2012 |year=2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120805080518/http://www.fishfight.net/the-campaign |archive-date=5 August 2012 }}</ref>
In November 2015, he filmed ''Hugh's War on Waste''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06nzl5q|title=BBC One - Hugh's War on Waste|website=BBC|accessdate=8 June 2023}}</ref> with the BBC and began a campaign to reduce consumer waste in the UK. The two programmes focused on food and clothing waste, both by supermarkets and by shoppers in their own homes.
In 2018, he filmed ''Britain's Fat Fight with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall'', where he explored the obesity crisis in Britain, asking food producers, restaurants and the government to confront the crisis.<ref name="bbc.co.uk"/>
In 2021, Fearnley-Whittingstall joined the Green Party, however he tactically voted for the Liberal Democrats in the 2022 Tiverton and Honiton by-election.<ref>{{cite web|title=I've joined the Green Party. This is why|url=http://www.rivercottage.net/news/ive-joined-the-green-party-heres-why|access-date=23 August 2021|archive-date=23 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823141858/https://www.rivercottage.net/news/ive-joined-the-green-party-heres-why|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=And so, with apologies to my friends in the Green Party, of which I remain proud to be a member, today I will be voting for the Lib Dems. I will not feel as good or as honest as I would voting green. But in a contest that could well go to the wire, I feel it's what I have to do. |url=https://twitter.com/hughfw/status/1539912298474733569 |access-date=2022-06-23 |website=Twitter |language=en}}</ref>
== Other projects == Fearnley-Whittingstall helped develop Stinger,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hall-woodhouse.co.uk/beers/badgerales/stinger.asp |title=Stinger Homepage |publisher=Hall-woodhouse.co.uk |access-date=31 August 2009}}</ref> a nettle-flavoured ale, with the Hall & Woodhouse brewery.
Another Fearnley-Whittingstall project was the conversion of an old inn in Axminster to an organic produce shop and canteen,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rivercottage.net/Page~40/LocalProduceStore.aspx |title=Local Produce Store and Canteen Homepage |publisher=Rivercottage.net |access-date=31 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090919051816/http://www.rivercottage.net/Page~40/LocalProduceStore.aspx |archive-date=19 September 2009 }}</ref> which opened in September 2007.
In 2009, he became a patron of ChildHope UK, an international child-protection charity working in Africa, Asia, and South America.<ref>{{cite web|title=Our Patrons|url=http://www.childhope.org.uk/patrons.asp|publisher=ChildHope|access-date=21 September 2012|year=2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006031441/http://www.childhope.org.uk/patrons.asp|archive-date=6 October 2012}}</ref>
In 2009, ''The River Cottage Summer's Here'' programme promoted the Landshare project that seeks to bring together people who wish to grow fruit and vegetables, but have no land, with landowners willing to donate spare land for cultivation. The online project was commissioned by Channel 4.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://landshare.channel4.com/how-it-works |title=Landshare — How it works |publisher=Channel 4 |access-date=31 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090512160529/http://landshare.channel4.com/how-it-works |archive-date=12 May 2009 }}</ref>
Fearnley-Whittingstall is a Vice-president of international wildlife conservation NGO Fauna and Flora International.<ref>{{Cite web|title=People {{!}} Fauna & Flora International|url=https://www.fauna-flora.org/people|access-date=2020-12-06|website=www.fauna-flora.org|language=en}}</ref>
== Personal life == Fearnley-Whittingstall married Marie Derome in 2001; the couple live in East Devon with their four children.<ref name="rtveg" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall: The fisherman's friend sails to the rescue |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2011/jan/16/profile-hugh-fearnley-whittingstall |access-date=31 January 2013 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=16 January 2011 |author=Ian Tucker}}</ref> Fearnley-Whittingstall also runs the River Cottage Canteen and Deli in the centre of Axminster and, in 2011, launched a second River Cottage Canteen and Deli in Plymouth (since closed) and a third in Winchester (which closed in 2020).<ref>{{cite news |title=Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage HQ burns down |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/9069101/Hugh-Fearnley-Whittingstalls-River-Cottage-HQ-burns-down.html |access-date=6 January 2013 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=8 February 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall closes Winchester restaurant |url=https://www.hampshirechronicle.co.uk/news/18572216.hugh-fearnley-whittingstall-closes-winchester-restaurant |access-date=23 December 2023 |newspaper=Hampshire Chronicle |date=9 July 2020}}</ref> He supports the Green Party of England and Wales.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/8617149.stm|title=Political celebrities: Then & now|date=20 April 2010|publisher=BBC|access-date=16 June 2016}}</ref>
In 2012, his barn at River Cottage was damaged by fire.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall: we will rebuild River Cottage farm after fire |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/9072978/Hugh-Fearnley-Whittingstall-we-will-rebuild-River-Cottage-farm-after-fire.html |access-date=6 January 2013 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=9 February 2012}}</ref>
Fearnley-Whittingstall describes himself as an omnivore who focuses on plant-based cooking.<ref name=pbc>[https://www.theguardian.com/food/2024/dec/07/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall-ive-never-thought-of-myself-as-eccentric-i-still-dont Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall: ‘I’ve never thought of myself as eccentric. I still don’t’]</ref>
An outline of his life and beliefs, with excerpts from relevant music that he has listened to during his various campaigns, was broadcast in the BBC Radio series Private Passions on Sunday 30 June 2024.<ref>''Radio Times'' 29 June-5 July 2024</ref>
== Published works == Fearnley-Whittingstall has published these books:
* ''TV Dinners: In Search of Exciting Home Cooking'' (1996) * ''A Cook on the Wild Side'' (A Channel Four book) (1997) * ''The Best of TV Dinners'' (1999) * ''The River Cottage Cookbook'' (2001) * ''The River Cottage Year'' (2003) * ''The River Cottage Meat Book'' (2004) * ''Preserved'' with Nick Sandler and Johnny Acton (2004) * ''The Real Good Life: A Practical Guide to a Healthy, Organic Lifestyle'' with the Soil Association (2005) * ''Soup Kitchen,'' with Thomasina Miers and Annabel Buckingham (2005) * ''The River Cottage Family Cookbook'' with Fizz Carr (2005) * ''Hugh Fearlessly Eats it All: Dispatches from the Gastronomic Front line'' (2006) * ''Little Book of Soup'' with Thomasina Miers, Annabel Buckingham (2006) * ''The Taste of Britain,'' with Laura Mason, and Catherine Brown (2006) * ''The River Cottage Diary 2008'' (2007) * ''The River Cottage Fish Book'' with Nick Fisher (2007) * ''River Cottage Diary 2010'' (2009) * ''River Cottage Every Day'' (2009) * ''The River Cottage Bread Handbook'' (US Version) with Daniel Stevens (2010) * ''The River Cottage Preserves Handbook'' with Pam Corbin (2010) * ''River Cottage Veg Every Day!'' (2011) * ''Three Good Things on a Plate'' (2012) * ''River Cottage Fruit Every Day!'' (2013) * ''River Cottage Light & Easy: Healthy Recipes for Every Day'' (2014) * ''River Cottage Love Your Leftovers: Recipes for the Resourceful Cook'' (2015) * ''River Cottage Much More Veg'' (2017) * ''War on Plastic with Hugh and Anita'' (2019) * ''Eat Better Forever: 7 Ways to Transform Your Diet (2020)'' * ''River Cottage Good Comfort: Best-Loved Favourites Made Better for You (2022)'' * ''How to Eat 30 Plants a Week'' (2024) * ''High Fibre Heroes'' (2026)
== References == {{Reflist|30em}}
== External links == * [http://rivercottage.net/ The River Cottage Website] containing recipes, news and features * [http://www.fishfight.net Hugh's Fish Fight campaign website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120929002316/http://www.fishfight.net/ |date=29 September 2012 }} * [http://www.chickenout.tv/ Chicken Out! campaign website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080224053132/http://www.chickenout.tv/ |date=24 February 2008 }} * [http://www.channel4.com/community/showcards/R/River_Cottage_Forever.html The transcript of a live webchat]
* {{IMDb name|id=1136041|name=Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20090512160529/http://landshare.channel4.com/how-it-works Channel 4 land share project]
{{RiverCottage}} {{James Beard Awards: Vegetarian, Vegan, Plant-Based Authors & Cookbooks}} {{English cuisine}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fearnley-Whittingstall, Hugh}} Category:Living people Category:1965 births Category:English food writers Category:English television presenters Category:English television chefs Category:21st-century English farmers Category:Alumni of St Peter's College, Oxford Category:People educated at Eton College Category:Smallholders Category:People educated at Summer Fields School Category:Green Party of England and Wales people Category:James Beard Foundation Award winners