Tom Hunt is an award-winning chef, Guardian columnist, author and climate change campaigner. Hunt’s approach to food is rooted in its connection to climate change, championing a way of eating that prioritises the environment without sacrificing pleasure, taste and nutrition.
Tom’s last book Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet (Kyle 2020) was published in eight languages.
Hunt has 25 years experience in food, agriculture and food sustainability working with chefs, farmers, academics, charities and nutritionists as a consultant, food educator and facilitator. Starting out as a chef, he opened his first restaurant Poco in Bristol, winning multiple awards including Best Ethical Restaurant at the Observer Food Monthly Awards and Sustainable Restaurant of The Year several times over with the Sustainable Restaurant Association.
In 2011 Hunt founded the Forgotten Feast – a social enterprise promoting sustainable food through dining and celebration. Forgotten Feast created banquets with food waste and/or topical ingredients, highlighting important concerns in the food industry. Hunt works closely with various charities including Fareshare, Fairtrade, The Soil Association and is a signatory of the Chef’s Manifesto – a United Nations SDG2 initiative, that calls on chefs around the world to champion climate-friendly cuisine in their kitchens for a more diverse, sustainable and delicious future.
Hunt contributed to the development of the Chefs' Manifesto Action Plan - a thematic framework which outlines how chefs can contribute to the SDGs through simple, practical actions. Designed as an educational tool, the Action Plan details simple actions chefs can take in their kitchens, classrooms and communities to deliver a better food system for all.
He also co-produced and hosted the Chef’s Manifesto podcast, series 1 to 4, interviewing global leaders in food sustainability for an international audience. Hunt is currently in conversation with The Guardian about creating a podcast based on his column Waste Not.
Following his BA (Hons) Fine Art degree, Hunt began his career in food-education in 2004 working under Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall as a course leader, cook and food stylist at River Cottage and on the TV series. Whilst at River Cottage he was responsible for designing the content for his workshops. Since then he has continued to create workshops and courses for events and cooking schools including recent collaborations with Le Cordon Bleu, Leiths and Plant Academy.
More than two decades working in agriculture and food has made him an expert in his field with a deep understanding about how food can benefit culture, support biodiversity and reverse climate change, culminating in an approach to food that can help change the world.
