Food is powerful, it can unify hearts and minds or topple governments, reaching every corner of humanity on earth. Changing the way that people learn about food is my goal. 

I’ve always been obsessed with food, who isn’t?

After leaving school I went straight into hospitality, determined to find a career as a hotelier. I loved being a host, and still adore helping friends, family or strangers experience new foods. After two years of silver service, tending bars and sweating in kitchens I discovered that hospitality wasn’t quite what I was looking for.

Pivoting out of hotels and took me to study Industrial Design BA at Brunel University. The course taught vital skills about how systems are engineered and I built fantastical machinery including an automated sugar cube launcher, a pneumatic wine bottle corker and a countertop machine that would freeze an ice cube in sixty seconds.

After graduating, I worked in design for 10 years, creating everything from music awards for Elton John to advertising hoardings at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland.

Food kept calling me back

In 2014, I started a food blog, which quickly converted into paid work as a food photographer and writer. A chance encounter with Professor Tim Lang at Borough Market uncovered the fascinating world of Food Policy which quickly saw me enrolling on the MSc Food Policy and immersing myself in the world of food systems.

I quickly became determined to find a way to make the world of food policy relatable and accessible to everyone. I wanted to help people learn more about this ‘unseen’ side of food. I launched a freelance career in food systems, working on projects from policy research and development through to social media campaigns. 

Clients during this time included communications consultancy for the European Commission, Slow Food International and The Centre for Food Policy; food policy research and positions for WWF and The Institute of Food Science and Technology; writing credits in Radio Times, Big Issue and Food Matters Live; and photography in National Geographic and Huck magazine.

I founded Wren&Co to serve these clients, co-founded Quota to help spread food systems news, and was a founding director of OmniAction. I guested on podcasts and radio shows, including BBC Radio, Heritage Radio NYC and Sorted Food, became an ambassador for Nutrition4Youngsters, part of the Nutritank initiative and have been food policy representative for The Guild of Food Writers and a member of Chatham House.

I was shocked at how little consumer-oriented information about food policy existed

During this time I expermented with different ways to talk about food policy on social media. Then I found TikTok in 2019. My first ‘viral’ hit reached 50k views – which felt like overnight fame at the time. Today, I consistently reach over 5 million unique viewers per month on TikTok alone.

I’ve helped millions of people learn about food policy and food systems with educational content on topics including food waste, food inflation, sustainability and more.

Social media content has been incredibly rewarding, as it facilitates direct connections with audience members and helps people to create a better relationship with food. This helps people with sourcing food, wasting less, saving money, or tackling mental health issues such as emetophobia.