Hello! I’m a full time chef, part time writer and part time student, studying for a BSc in environmental management.
Speaking of the environment, did you know that according to a paper published by the Rodale Institute, it is entirely possible to stop or even reverse the effects of climate change with a majority shift towards regenerative, organic and biodynamic farming? But farmers can’t do it alone. They need our support, now more than ever. The price tag may be 20-50% higher, but in the UK we already throw away between £3-500 worth of food per year per household. Globally, we waste almost half of all food we produce, 1.3 billion tonnes, or $1 trillion worth. The supermarkets are very good at encouraging excess and spending more, while somehow making food seem worthless and disposable at the same time.
We’re already spending that extra 20-50%, it’s just lining the wrong pockets.
That’s where I come in. I created The Socialist Chef as a way to communicate through the universal language of food to show that my work can be something more than a commodity that’s only valued as long as it’s cheap and convenient, it can be nourishment, connection, joy, something that’s really worth investing time into, getting excited about every last bite and not wasting a thing. I learn, create and cook to inspire people to take an interest in what’s on their plate, how it was grown, who grew it and where, and I want to share my stories and experiences of finding hope working alongside such a diverse network of brilliant, beautiful minds.
My story.
Born and raised in Hampshire, I originally had no plans to be a chef – I was planning to go into medicine. I had a job in a kitchen at the time and enjoyed it and was good at it, so I just kind of fell into cooking.
I quickly earned a reputation for doing my work fast and well. I worked my way up, working at Michelin-star level, and like a lot of chefs at that level finding a kind of backwards pride in who had the most burns, who had worked more than a hundred hours this week, who could throw hot pans out of rage the hardest. In hindsight, I definitely flew too close to the sun, and after a few different jobs I was well and truly burnt out. There was a point where I would hear the orders come on in my sleep several times a night and wake up in a cold sweat!
So I hung up my apron and moved back to Cornwall. I was pretty lost at the time, but I was helping out on a food truck with my friend and previous mentor, and I was doing okay. I didn’t really know what to do next, only that I’d put everything on the line to pursue a dream, only to realise the world behind the curtain was not as glammed-up as they make it look on TV. I started studying business and law with the Open University, as a kind of escape plan – I knew I didn’t want to work in restaurants for much longer, but at that point I didn’t know how to do anything else.
That one year changed everything. There was a module on the course about sustainable business models and supply chains, and I started to look at everything I knew differently. I began to look at the shiny, identical, plastic-wrapped veg that would show up on the doorstep after being flown in from all corners of the planet in a different light, the trawled shellfish, the cage farmed eggs. I read books about the cruelties of aquaculture and a mountain of single-use plastic packets I used to discard without a second thought. I started to read the news to understand the can of worms surrounding things like buying sweet potatoes from an active war zone. I started experimenting with growing a little food, and I could finally get excited about cooking again.
In May of this year, my grandma sadly passed away. I have her to thank for a lot of things; not least the inspiration to share my two cents on our broken food system with the world, but also the values and ideals of her Welsh valleys heritage – social justice, equality, rights and responsibilities, public service, standing up for what I believe in. If you’re interested, please read more from the RCN here: https://www.rcn.org.uk/magazines/People/2025/May/Remembering-Professor-Dame-June-Clark.
I think reading her autobiography was the tipping point for me. Suddenly everything snapped into focus: I was going to do what she did and use my skills to make a difference in food and farming, just like she did in nursing! That’s what’s next for me, to use my writing and my cooking to inspire and encourage more and more people to take part in reconstructing our crumbling food system – my one regret is that I wasn’t old enough to understand her work while she was still doing it.
I’d like the Socialist Chef to be more than that though. I think for a lot of families, there just isn’t the time or the money for food to be a priority, and I’d like to help with that too. I get it, I’m busy a lot of the time, and I don’t have the energy all the time either. I like simple and good, stuff that’s easy to get your head around but doesn’t rely on spending loads of money on convenience. Hopefully you find some tricks and recipes here that help you, too.
Actually, I think if Professor Clark could read this, she’d probably say something like “just three points-” …