My favourite people in the food in the food & hospitality industry – The Men
For Black History month, I decided to focus on my own industry because you don’t often see people of colour represented in food related magazines, publications or show… since COVID, we see a bit more of them/us, but not to the extent it should be. Especially when you hear that the most popular dish in UK is Curry and not Yorkshire pudding. Almost every one in the UK knows Jollof rice, jerk chicken or rice and peas. So based on that alone, there should be more visibility of the multi-ethnicity, mixologist and food creators that exist in the British food & hospitality scenes…
The people I decided to focus on are not new and I’ve followed them for a while. Today am talking about two men I admire and would like you to start following if you fancy enlarging your horizons.
Wilfried Emmanuel-Jones, AKA the Black farmer: Farmer, multi-preneur, TV star, author, infatigable
First up, we have the incredible Wilfred Emmanuel Jones, aka The Black Farmer. I recently had the opportunity to hear him tell his story @thebritish Library. He’s a legend: From being the first (known) most successful black farmer in the UK to being the first Afro-Caribbean to have his own brand of sausages available in major British supermarkets. This man is now working on a massive multi-floor store project in Brixton… There Are no limits to what he can do. I feel more connected with him because like me, he’s battled with few health challenges… Not sure where he gets his energy to do all of that. I get a body crash every time I want to do too much.
Aside from his swearing habits, I love hearing him talk humbly about his journey, a truly inspirational one. You can follow Wilfried on his website at The Black Farmer – For a life less ordinary
Jimi Famurewa: award winning Food writer, author, podcaster
Next up, Jimi Famureva! Te first came on my radar as a writer for Shortlist magazine…. Shortlist and Stylist magazines kinda came round at the same time so they were my commute reading in those days… I was proud that at the time in both magazines, @JimiFamished was the on black writer that I had noticed… On Fridays, I’d get ES especially for Miss Grace Dent, the favourite white auntie I’d love to cook for…. I loved her writing style, but wouldn’t want to be insulted by her… when she moved on, Jimi took over her space in ES… I felt proud of the brother. That was a wow moment for me to see that. Then one day after delivering to one of my customers in Lewisham, I stopped in a café by #CatfordBridge to have a coffee…. Guess who came and sat right next to me?! Jimi. I was star struck but very cool. I wanted a pic, but some people can have an attitude and I rather die than even trying so I went back to my Waitrose mag.
Jimi recently launched his first book Settlers, he is a podcaster and also recently won a food critics award… Go Jimi! Bravo. Follow his IG page @JimmiFamished and this website at www.JimiFamurewa.com
Next week I will be talking about Andi Oliver and Melissa Thompson as well as Lorraine Copes who create a CIC doing a phenomenal work in the industry.
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Do add your thought below and if you have any questions, please email Hortense at miss-nang@outlook.com
PS: no photo included expressly so you will search them yourself for more info.