Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has described growing food as an act of self-reliance, a commitment to nature and, for some people, a “quiet act of revolution”.

Speaking to The Underground podcast in a live interview at Glee 2026, the River Cottage founder reflected on a relationship with growing that began when he was six, after his family moved from London to a rented farmhouse in Gloucestershire and inherited a productive vegetable garden.

“The act of growing food is fascinating,” he said. “It’s an act of self-reliance, it’s an act of commitment to nature and, sometimes, it’s a political act.”

Fearnley-Whittingstall said that even for people with busy working lives, spending time growing food can create a stronger sense of connection and independence. “There are people with busy lives, working in jobs in town, who go down to the allotment at the weekend. Even that, I think, is a quiet act of revolution for a lot of people. It’s: ‘This is what I do with my own time. I grow my own food."

He told hosts Phil Wright and Kate Turner that growing and eating were inseparable in his own childhood experience. On the day his family arrived at their Gloucestershire home, they were already picking peas and carrots from the garden left by the previous tenants. His parents encouraged him and his sister to grow beans, beginning a relationship with home-grown food that continued into River Cottage.

Fearnley-Whittingstall argued that everyone can move towards a more direct relationship with food, whether that means growing vegetables, foraging, buying seasonally from British growers, using farm shops or farmers’ markets, or simply paying more attention to where food comes from.

He also connected growing with his recent work on fibre and gut health. Discussing his book High Fibre Heroes, he said: “Looking after the microbiology of the soil and looking after the microbiology of the gut are two parallel ventures, and they go hand in hand.”

The interview moves from Hugh’s first bean plant and the beginnings of River Cottage to organic growing, regenerative horticulture and practical ways to grow at home. He is later joined by Max Mancroft of Seed Revolution to discuss their River Cottage Organic Seeds collaboration and how the seed category can appeal to a new generation of growers.

The full episode, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall: Why Grow Your Own Matters More Than Ever, is available at https://theunderground.fm/podcast/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall-why-grow-your-own-matters-more-than-ever/.

The Underground is the podcast for people working across the garden industry. Hosted by Phil Wright of WrightObara and horticulturalist Kate Turner, it explores garden retail, brands, products, sustainability, marketing and industry change.

The Underground is produced by WrightObara and was the official podcast partner of Glee 2026.