Who is Fell Foodie?

About Fell Foodie — Castle Crag (Short) Version:

Harrison Ward is a proud Cumbrian who has turned the mountainous landscape he calls home into his kitchen. After discovering a passion for hiking in 2016 following a drastic life change, it wasn’t long before a lifetime love of cooking was merged with this new vice. These days he can often be found creating delicious, restaurant style meals on minimal camping equipment up in the hills or voicing his struggles with mental health and alcoholism on various platforms and stages.

About Fell Foodie — Scafell Pike (Tall) Version:

For Harrison Ward, otherwise known as Fell Foodie, the mountains are his solace, his gym and his kitchen.

Although a self-taught cook, Harrison’s journey to leading a life and career as an outdoor cook, hiker and mental health speaker only began in 2016 when he reached a point where he knew he needed to turn his life around.

Harrison began suffering from depression and suicidal thoughts during puberty and discovered alcohol, whilst working in multiple roles in the hospitality trade, as a coping mechanism. A move to York followed for a stint at university but Harrison soon found himself back in the pub trade and subsequently ballooning in weight, drinking up to 20 pints a day and taking up smoking full time as he battled his mental illness.

"I saw alcohol as an additional tool to silence my thoughts, but it ended up becoming a bit more of a poison,” says Harrison.

"Things all came to a head in 2016, when my relationship at the time broke down. I vowed to get sober, remove alcohol from my life, stop smoking and really try and turn things around. So I came back to my home in Cumbria and was completely open with my story to friends and family and was really welcomed with a huge show of support.”

He filled the void left by alcohol with the combination of hiking and cooking, gradually tackling more and more of the Lake District fells.

“It wasn’t easy when I first began, it was hard work even on the smaller fells, but that feeling of getting to the summit and looking down on all the lakes below was just fantastic and motivated me to do more.”

As a lifelong foodie, he also liked to ensure he had high quality pack-ups with him to accompany the views.

"I initially started pre-preparing quite extravagant packed lunches to take hiking and then someone suggested I get a stove and actually start cooking the meals from scratch out in the hills,” he says.

“I'm completely self-taught but I have always loved cooking from a very young age. I used to cook with my grandmother and from the age of 10 I’ve studied cookbooks and cooking shows quite religiously.”

Harrison began sharing his culinary adventures via social media in 2017 and soon captured people’s imaginations, using a stove and simple ingredients to create hearty but delicious meals.

After being sober for two years in 2018, Harrison shared the full background to his story with his followers, including how he had lived with mental health issues and struggled with alcohol.

"The outpouring of support I received was huge and I found it really empowering and I uncovered lots of other stories of people who have found the outdoors to try and recover,” he says.

Harrison’s profile on social media continued to grow as he also gained coverage in the news and on TV. He now has thousands of followers and continues to share his experience of mental health and open air cooking online and via the media, as well as to corporate clients and schools.

His persona as ‘Fell Foodie’ has now become his full-time job, with Harrison running cooking sessions at outdoor festivals, as well as working with many major brands.

"I didn't set it up to become a brand, I never aimed for that, but it has grown gradually and quite organically,” he says.

“I like having the purpose of sharing my story to help others and, of course, it’s wonderful to get to spend so much time in the mountains and inspire people to do the same.”

What does Fell Foodie mean?

Fell – from Old Norse; Fell and Fjall. Originally referred to an area of uncultivated high ground but now more often used as reference to the mountains and hills of the Lake District.

Foodie – somebody who loves food in many formats and variations. An enthusiast with a passion for all things culinary. Slightly less pretentious term for a gourmet or gastronome.

Being a proud Cumbrian and a food fanatic, it seemed fitting to merge the two!

Where can I find Fell Foodie?

Harrison has been featured on/by many media outlets—including Mary Berry – Love to Cook (BBC2), Men’s Fitness Magazine, Metro, Daily Express, The Great Outdoors Magazine, Trail Mag, BBC Radio Cumbria, and more—for further examples please see Press & Collaborations

Harrison has been invited to speak at various organizations, including Volvo, JLL, Natural England, VivoBarefoot and many secondary schools. He has also been invited to demonstrate his love of outdoor cooking at dozens of festivals and events, including Kendal Mountain Festival, The Big Retreat, Alpkit Big Shakeout, Red Paddle Ride Out, Keswick Mountain Festival and Ritchie Norton’s AdaptXplore.

Fell Foodie on Instagram

Fell Foodie on Facebook

Fell Foodie on YouTube

Fell Foodie on Twitter

Fell Foodie on TikTok

Fell Foodie on LinkedIn

…and yes he’s named after Harrison Ford.

Looking to work with Fell Foodie?

From Cooking Demonstrations to Wellbeing Presentations, Content Creation to Endorsements, Product Testing to Event Hosting, Harrison is available for a multitude of opportunities and services.

To read more and enquire - click here

Random Trivia

5 facts about Harrison that you may not know.

1. Despite being born and bred in Cumbria, he supports Hull City AFC. Harrison’s Dad had never been a football fan but his Uncle Jerry took him to games at the KCOM Stadium and it stuck. UTT!

2. During a 4 year stint in Cyprus as a child, whilst his Dad was stationed there, Harrison used to often run around the garden in the buff (aged 1-5). One time a beetle decided to clamp onto his knackers as he squatted on the grass playing with his toy cars. Ouch!

3. He was the singer for a rendition of Outcast - Roses spliced with Shirley Bassey’s Big Spender at his final year assembly at school. 3 close friends played the instruments. He even did the rap!

4. He cannot stand Tomato Ketchup. It borders on a phobia, he couldn’t even pick up a bottle a few years back.

5. Harrison had never been hiking until 2014 when his friend Ryan dragged me up Latrigg. He was an obese, smoker back then and stopped for a cigarette 3 times on the way up. It felt like Everest then but he’s since been back and ran to the summit. (Ryan played a key role in helping Harrison discover a love for the fells).