Some conversations are worth having more than once. For Roger Saul, FŌDA festival has become exactly that kind of annual appointment.
Last September, Roger took to the stage at the Arnolfini in Bristol as co-host of FŌDA 2025: A Festival of Food Ideas, hosting alongside food writer Xanthe Clay. The symposium brought together some of the most compelling voices in British food, from Michelin-starred chefs to regenerative farmers, neuroscientists to community food campaigners, for a day of honest and sometimes challenging conversation about what we eat, how it is grown, and what is at stake if we get it wrong.
Roger chaired panels focusing on the future of regenerative farming and the relationship between soil health and what ends up on our plates. It was the kind of room that Sharpham Park's work belongs in.
This year, FŌDA returns to the Arnolfini on 26th and 27th September 2026, and Roger will be back on stage as co-host alongside Xanthe Clay. The 2026 themes go deeper: The Ground Beneath Everything, What We Take and What We Return, The Space Between Us, and Why Food Needs Trees. Each one a question that matters. Each one something Roger has been thinking about, and acting on, for the past two decades at Sharpham Park.
The connection between FŌDA and Sharpham Park runs deeper than the symposium stage. The Pony Farm Bus, Josh Eggleton's vibrant travelling food education vehicle that makes its home at FŌDA each year, will also be visiting Sharpham Park on 24 June for our Pickle Me Walnuts event, bringing the same spirit of curiosity and hands-on learning to the walnut orchard.
If you want to understand where British food is heading and who is shaping that conversation, FŌDA is the place to be this autumn. Tickets and further information are available at fodafestival.com.
About FŌDA
FŌDA: A Festival of Food Ideas was founded by chef Josh Eggleton MBE and Shona Graham of Team Canteen, a not-for-profit CIC supporting food banks and underrepresented communities in Bristol. The festival takes place at Arnolfini Arts, 16 Narrow Quay, Bristol BS1 4QA on 26th and 27th September 2026. The Producer Village along the quayside is free to attend. Symposium tickets are available via fodafestival.com.
It was great that Arnolfini ordered and sold Roger's Spelt book at the event. Get your own copy here.
