Have you ever been on a trek and looked at your meal of highly processed dehydrated food and thought, “Is there a way I can eat better than this?”
Most of us wouldn’t consider eating the type of food we find in our rucksacks on a long hike when we were at home. When hiking we sacrifice taste and freshness for light weight convenience. In his new book, Cook Out, chef and hiker, Harrison Ward, proves that you can eat well in the hills.
For Harrison Ward, otherwise known as Fell Foodie, the mountains are his solace, his gym and his kitchen.
Harrison Ward
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.
“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.”
follow Harrison
