Emily Connally, founder of the sustainability-focused Cherwell Collective, is among the first to join The Big Lunch Recipe Search, a UK-wide campaign to celebrate homegrown culinary talent and the personal stories behind our favourite dishes.
What Is The Big Lunch Recipe Search?
Organised by the Eden Project and supported by celebrity chefs including Ainsley Harriott MBE and Dame Prue Leith, the Recipe Search invites people across the UK to submit their most-loved meals for a chance to be featured in a national cookbook and The Big Lunch events happening this June.
The aim? To bring communities together through food, fight “kitchen ruts,” and revive the joy of sharing recipes.
Why It Matters: A Nation Craving Inspiration
According to new YouGov research, nearly 1 in 7 UK adults (14%) never try new recipes, while 24% say a lack of ideas keeps them from cooking from scratch. Yet, encouragingly, 40% report they’re more likely to cook from scratch now than they were five years ago.
Lindsey Brummitt, Programme Director of The Big Lunch, says this campaign is about more than food:
The Big Lunch has always been about sharing food and making new connections – and with this new evidence confirming that people agree food tastes better when we eat it together we have the perfect excuse to get in the kitchen and make a dish to share! This recipe search is about finding new and inspiring dishes to try together, so add your dish to a growing recipe bank of shareable favourites and come together to feed community spirit with The Big Lunch on 7-8 June
Oxford’s Own: Emily’s Climatarian Burger
Emily is entering her signature ‘climatarian burger’ — a hybrid beef and mushroom burger that cuts meat content in half while keeping full flavour.
When I heard about The Big Lunch Recipe Search I immediately thought of my climatarian burger recipe, which is a signature dish at every Cherwell Collective Big Lunch. I developed this dish to create compromise between my now-husband’s meat and potatoes lifestyle and my own vegetarianism. It’s the perfect recipe to bring people together because it cuts a typical burger’s meat in half, bringing veggies and meat eaters closer together. The single biggest lifestyle change the average individual can do to fight climate change is eat less meat and this recipe allows you to do that one burger at a time!”
As the founder of Cherwell Collective. an Oxfordshire-based Community Interest Company, Emily works year-round to reduce carbon footprints through initiatives like:
- Climatarian Kitchen
- Food Larder and Growing Programme
- Waste Innovation Station Headquarters (WISH)
She hopes her entry will inspire others in the county to step up and share recipes that reflect their identity and values.
How to Get Involved from Oxfordshire
- Live in Oxford, Bicester, Banbury or beyond? Here’s how to join the Recipe Search:
- Visit www.thebiglunch.com
- Share your favourite recipe and its backstory
- Submit before the end of May for a chance to be featured nationally
Five finalists will be invited to a VIP Big Lunch event in may, with one lucky winner receiving a special hamper to host their own community feast.
Whether it’s your gran’s Yorkshire pudding, a vegan family curry, or something totally quirky, if it brings people together, it belongs in this cookbook.
Celebrity Backing: Food That Connects Us
Celebrity chefs are backing the campaign to uncover the UK’s hidden culinary gems.
Dame Prue Leith says:
“The Big Lunch Recipe Search is more than just a way of finding and rewarding the people behind the UK’s best home recipes. It is an invitation to people everywhere to join in with The Big Lunch and share food and friendship together. It is a chance to celebrate the recipes that we love sharing with others and the special role that food plays in strengthening relationships, celebrating who we are, our passions, culture and traditions and that sense of belonging where we live.”
Ainsley Harriott adds:
“It’s all about hunting down hidden culinary gems. Recipes that hold a special place in people’s hearts… and stomachs. We want to hear about food that brings people together and is great for sharing. Throughout my life I’ve been so influenced by my mother’s cooking and I still make some of her recipes today, things like her wonderful red bean stew and fabulous BBQ chicken. Perfect soul food that everyone can dig into. I can’t wait to hear what’s cooking in the nation’s kitchens to tickle our taste buds and bring the whole country together over the Big Lunch weekend.”
About The Big Lunch
Dates: 7–8 June 2025
- What: The UK’s biggest annual community celebration
- Where: Across neighbourhoods — including many in Oxfordshire
- Organised by: The Eden Project
- Supported by: Pears Foundation, Co-op, and Greene King
Expect street parties, garden gatherings, and community cook-ups, all united by food and friendship.
