Sustainable Food Speakers: Seven To Book

Sustainable food speakers give a sustainability programme something most of it lacks: a subject everyone in the room has a daily relationship with. Supply chains and emissions targets are abstract. Lunch is not.

The seven below all work on food and sustainability, but from genuinely different positions. One built the world's first zero-waste restaurant, one runs a carbon-neutral restaurant chain, one forages, and one covers responsible travel for hospitality brands. Each is on the PepTalk roster.

Why book a food speaker for a sustainability event?

Food makes an abstract subject concrete. An audience that switches off during a scope 3 emissions slide will engage with where the menu in front of them came from, what it cost to get there and what happened to the waste. That is the same conversation, arriving through a door people will walk through. These speakers literally take people on a journey.

It also travels across an organisation. Procurement, facilities, ESG reporting, staff catering and client hospitality all touch food, so a session on it reaches functions that a narrower sustainability talk would miss. The names below split into two useful groups: operators who have made it work commercially, and cooks who change what people put on a plate.

Doug McMaster

Book Doug for

A circular economy keynote from someone who built the thing rather than modelled it.

Doug McMaster founded Silo, the world's first zero-waste restaurant, and speaks on circular economy strategy, regenerative dining and sustainable innovation. The distinction that matters is that he removed the bin rather than reducing what went in it, which meant redesigning the supply chain, the menu and the equipment together.

He holds a Michelin Green Star, appears in the World's 50 Best Restaurants list, and was named a TIME 100 Climate honouree and one of TIME's most influential climate leaders in business. At £2,000 to £5,000 he is the strongest value on this page by a distance.

Learn more and book Doug McMaster →

Thomasina Miers OBE

Book Thomasina for

The commercial case, from someone running a carbon-neutral chain at scale.

Thomasina Miers won MasterChef and founded Wahaca, a carbon-neutral restaurant chain. Her subject is implementing environmental practice without losing commercial performance, which is the question most boards actually have and most sustainability speakers avoid.

She is the author of seven cookbooks including Meat-Free Mexican, and holds an OBE. For an audience that has heard the moral argument and now needs the operational one, she is the right booking. £11,000 to £25,000.

Learn more and book Thomasina Miers →

Melissa Hemsley

Book Melissa for

A staff-facing session on eating well without spending more.

Melissa Hemsley works on affordable healthy eating and environmental consciousness, which is a more useful combination for an employee audience than either on its own. Sustainability advice that costs people money does not survive contact with a weekly shop.

She has written four internationally published books, founded the Sustainability Sessions to connect communities around the subject, and has cooked privately for actors and bands. For a wellbeing week or an internal ESG programme aimed at staff rather than the board, she fits better than the operators above. £6,000 to £10,000.

Learn more and book Melissa Hemsley →

Four more sustainable food speakers

These four cover wild food, plant-based cooking and the hospitality and travel side of the same question.

Harriet Mansell

A Michelin-recognised chef behind Robin Wylde and Lilac, working on wild food, creative gastronomy and connection to nature. She hosts the If A Tree Falls podcast. The most distinctive angle here, and useful for an offsite in a rural venue. £2,000 to £5,000.

Learn more and book Harriet Mansell →

Anna Jones

A Guardian columnist and author of modern vegetarian cookbooks, winner of the Observer Food Monthly Best Cookbook and Guild of Food Writers awards. She makes the case for eating less meat through cooking rather than argument, which lands better with a mixed audience. Fees on enquiry.

Learn more and book Anna Jones →

Rachel Ama

A plant-based cook building on Caribbean and African flavours, with over 127,000 YouTube subscribers and two vegan cookbooks. The online following means a younger workforce may already know her, which is rare in this group. Fees on enquiry.

Learn more and book Rachel Ama →

Richard Crawford

An award-winning chef recognised by the James Beard Foundation, and executive producer and host of Leave No Trace TV. He works with hospitality brands on environmental stewardship and responsible tourism, so he suits a travel, hotel or venue audience. US based, $6,000 to $10,000.

Learn more and book Richard Crawford →

How much does a sustainable food speaker cost?

Doug McMaster and Harriet Mansell sit at £2,000 to £5,000, Melissa Hemsley at £6,000 to £10,000, Richard Crawford at $6,000 to $10,000, and Thomasina Miers at £11,000 to £25,000. Anna Jones and Rachel Ama are priced on enquiry.

This is a noticeably cheaper group than the celebrity chef end of the roster, where fees run to £50,000. You are paying for subject expertise rather than television recognition, which for a sustainability programme is usually the right trade.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a food speaker credible for a serious sustainability programme?

Yes, several food speakers have the credentials for a serious sustainability programme. Doug McMaster is a TIME 100 Climate honouree, Thomasina Miers runs a carbon-neutral chain, and Harriet Mansell holds Michelin recognition. Decide whether you need lived operational experience or communication skill, since each points to a different booking.

Can sustainable food speakers cook as well as speak?

Most sustainable food speakers can cook as well as speak, but a demonstration needs a venue with the right equipment and a longer lead time. A keynote or a panel needs no kitchen.

Will a sustainable food speaker work for a non-food business?

Yes, a sustainable food speaker works well for a non-food business, and that's often where the session lands best. Circular economy, supply chain redesign and behaviour change are transferable subjects, with food as the way in.

Which sustainable food speakers suit a staff audience?

Melissa Hemsley, Anna Jones and Rachel Ama suit a staff audience, at the practical, personal end. Doug McMaster and Thomasina Miers suit a strategy or leadership audience, and Richard Crawford a hospitality or travel one.

If the brief is entertainment rather than strategy, our guide to chefs to book for corporate events covers the demonstration and celebrity end of the roster.

Tell us the audience and where food sits in your programme, and we'll come back with a shortlist. Tell us about your event.