ORFC Founders Awarded Outstanding Achievement by BBC Food Programme

Oxford Real Farming Conference co-founders, Ruth West and Colin Tudge, were last night presented with an award by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Sheila Dillon in honour of their contribution to the UK food and farming movement. 

Named after The Food Programme’s first presenter, the Derek Cooper Outstanding Achievement Award is for the individual or organisation whose work has brought about real change in our relationship with food. This year’s winners are Colin Tudge and Ruth West, co-founders of The Oxford Real Farming Conference. The annual event brings together farmers, growers, activists, policymakers, and researchers to discuss transforming the food and farming system.

Chef and broadcaster, Hugh Fearnley-Wittingstall, said, “Over the past 15 years, the Oxford Real Farming Conference has been a platform for the most radical, imaginative and practical ideas needed to reshape the food system.”

BBC Radio Four Food Programme host, Sheila Dillon, said, “We set up this award to recognise those people who, through a lifetime of work, have changed our understanding of the importance of food, and Derek would have been happy to know the award in his name was given to two people he so admired. ”

Now in its 17th year, ORFC is the UK’s largest annual gathering for people committed to transforming food and farming systems. Rooted in agroecology, social justice, and the empowerment of small-scale farmers, ORFC creates space for connection, learning, and practical action across the real food and farming movement.

ORFC 2026, held in Oxford and online on 8 – 9 January, will feature more than 150 sessions addressing the most pressing questions in food and farming today and share learnings from farmers and landworkers on the frontlines in the UK and beyond. The ORFC 2026 programme – released earlier this week – brings together panel discussions and talks with pioneering changemakers, including farmers, policy experts, food justice activists, Indigenous wisdom-keepers, and scientific researchers.

Real Farming Trust Director, Francesca Price, said, “ORFC was set up to show that another way of farming is possible, and 17 years later it’s incredible to see how much this movement has grown, with thousands of people joining the conference from around the world each year. But what is so special about ORFC is that it has never lost sight of its radical roots, and it continues to champion and celebrate the agroeoclogical farmers, growers and landworkers and food justice advocates who are leading the way towards a better food future”.

Listen to this Agricology interview from 2020 in which Ruth West and Colin Tudge talk about their motivations for supporting the sustainable farming movement and reconnecting people to food, and the importance of developing a food culture and ‘enlightened agriculture’ side by side.