Two Frome women have received the Digital Creator Award at the BBC Food and Farming Awards for their creative approach in sharing farming stories from across the United Kingdom.
Rowan Phillimore and Ally Nelson from The Gaia Foundation were given the award recently for their work on the We Feed the UK collection, which features 10 food and farming stories from across the country.
We Feed the UK is a major arts project pairing critically acclaimed photographers and poets with regenerative farmers, urban growers, sustainable fishers and farmers who cultivate grain.
Rowan and Ally attended an awards ceremony with colleagues Amy Forshaw and Amber Hayward at M Shed Museum in Bristol, hosted by head judges, the presenter Sheila Dillon and chef Hugh Fearnley‑Whittingstall.
Project Lead Ally said, “It’s incredible to receive BBC recognition for our digital content. We worked with over 40 national collaborators in total and are continuing to expand the reach of the project. In July we published We Feed the UK as a book in partnership with Papadakis and are delighted that Hunting Raven Books in Frome has been our national independent bookshop partner.
“We want to celebrate the tangible components of the project, such as the book and physical exhibitions and we’re excited to announce that a We Feed the UK exhibition is currently being planned for Frome in 2026. Watch this space.”
Rowan, who is The Gaia Foundation’s Co-Director, said, “Working with artists has been very intentional because we recognise the critical role that the arts play in shaping culture and shifting opinion. In elevating inspiring stories of nature friendly farming in action, two years ago we partnered with another fantastic Frome-based duo, the Hot Poets, to pair award-winning spoken word artists with farmers and food producers.
“This recipe was further enriched through internationally renowned photographers, and the results have been exhibited across the UK over the past 18 months.”
