A NATIONAL Food and Wine writer who is one of the stars at the Ludlow Food Festival this weekend says that she believes that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought people closer to local producers and made then more likely to shop closer to home.

“If the pandemic has taught us anything is that we’re all interconnected and it’s up to us to support the businesses that are part of our communities,” said Fiona Becket.

“Besides shopping locally is a joy - you see the same faces, you get to chat to people.

“What could be nicer?”

Ms Beckett is an award-winning food and wine writer, one of the world’s leading experts on food and drink matching, wine columnist for ‘The Guardian,’ and the author of 25 books on food, wine, beer and alcohol-free drinks.

She has been a regular contributor to many other national newspapers with weekly columns for The Times and the Daily Mail and to leading food, drink and lifestyle magazines including BBC Good Food, and Delicious. She is also a contributing editor to the wine magazine Decanter, wine correspondent for National Geographic Traveller Food, and a contributor to Club Oenologique.

Ms Beckett was nominated Rioja Communicator of the Year award in 2019 and has recently been shortlisted for the Drinks Book and Drink Writer categories of the 2021 Guild of Food Writer awards and 2021 Fortnum & Mason awards and was also shortlisted for the IWSC Communicator of the year award in 2019.

A regular speaker and chair at industry and consumer events both in the UK and internationally. She has been a judge for many prestigious food and drink awards including the BBC Food & Farming Awards, Fortnum and Mason awards and the Andre Simon book award.

She also hosts tastings, dinners and workshops on food and wine pairing in destinations ranging from Dartmouth to Delhi. Ms Beckett is at the Festival on Sunday speaking between 12noon and 12.45pm.