'I'm a chef on a mission to reduce food waste and inspire people to get cooking in Shrewsbury'

Now Steve Guy, known as The Hungry Guy, is on a mission to inspire more people to get cooking.

Working with a diverse range of community groups and charities, from schools to prisons, he teaches people the skills to create tasty meals using seasonal and sustainable produce and to reduce food waste.

"I started The Hungry Guy because I wanted to help people to make better food decisions. I wanted to help inspire people to cook more and get the same enjoyment out of it that I get. I also wanted to inspire people to eat more fresh food,” says Steve, who lives in Shrewsbury.

The 41-year-old, who grew up in Worcester, wanted to be a chef when he was 16. 

“My mum used to cook a lot at home and I was involved in that. We had a fresh dinner on the table every night and would all sit down together,” recalls Steve.

After school, he studied biology at university but he knew what he really wanted to do was work with food. 

And when he finally stepped inside a professional kitchen a few years later, he knew it had been worth the wait. "I fell in love with it. In this environment, I very much felt at home,” he explains.

Steve prepared meals for pupils at a private school in Sussex and studied for his qualifications in professional cookery, attending college one day a week. This was followed by jobs at a small Mexican restaurant and a fine dining restaurant before getting a job at one of Jamie Oliver’s cookery schools and cafes in Brighton.

He went on to become his head chef, working across his restaurants in London. 

“I didn’t realise how cool it was at the time. It’s only now, looking back. 

"I was doing my GCSEs when he was doing The Naked Chef and years later I’m his head chef. 

"Working there really influenced my ethos towards food and community,” says Steve.

He left the kitchen and moved into product development, working with food manufacturers across the country, designing food products for major supermarkets and brands such as sauces and ready meals.

Driven by a desire to take his career in a new direction and become his own boss, he set up The Hungry Guy in March 2021. 

He wanted to combine his experience and knowledge with his growing interest in food ethics and our relationship with food as well as its impact on the environment. Since then he has worked as a personal chef, a food consultant and a food educator.

Steve works in close collaboration with Shrewsbury Food Hub, a charity that collects surplus ingredients from supermarkets, restaurants, wholesalers and redistributes the food back into the community.

He runs workshops with a variety of different community groups teaching people kitchen skills and sharing his passion for cooking.

This will often include the participants cooking together and enjoying a shared meal.

"It’s not just about the food, it’s about bringing people together. “People need the time sat around the table together,” says Steve. People can also book Steve to cook for them using surplus produce from the Shrewsbury Food Hub. They receive a discount and 15 per cent of the total payment is donated to the charity. 

During June, Steve and team prepared and served a weekly ‘pay as you feel’ community lunch for the third year in a row. "It was all made from surplus food and people paid what they could afford. This year, we were blown away by the reaction to it. People enjoyed sharing conversations with people they wouldn’t normally have met. Food is a great way of breaking down barriers," he explains.

Steve took to the stage at this year’s Shrewsbury Food Festival where he ran knife skills sessions using surplus veg from Shrewsbury Food Hub. "All of the veg that was prepped went into the freezers so it can be used for community meals."

Next month, Steve is appearing at CarFest, which takes place at Laverstoke Park Farm, Overton, Hampshire from August 22-24. He will be cooking live as part of the Big BBQ Cookout with Napoleon Grills.

Surplus food will be at the forefront of his cooking on the day and one of his tips will be demonstrating what can be made with a bag of leftover salad leaves – an item that often gets neglected in fridges. "I want to highlight how much food goes to waste and what you can cook with it instead. I want to inspire people to cook with what they’ve already got,” he says.  

For more information, visit carfest.org, www.thehungryguy.co.uk/ or www.facebook.com/thehungryguyshropshire.