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SPOTLIGHT ON WILFRED EMMANUEL-JONES
Who: Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones
Age: 50 years
Profession: Farmer, Politician and TV Producer
"I came to Britain when I was three-years-old. I was born in Jamaica and brought up by uncles and aunts while my parents came over here. It was quite common. When I was three my parents sent for my sister and I. My mum is proud. I think she worked hard to raise nine kids and is really thrilled that the second generation have been able to make something of themselves.' |
Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones: Parliamentary Candidate for North Wiltshire
Wilfred is the Parliamentary Candidate for the new Parliamentary constituency of Chippenham. The UK Parliament currently operates on different constituency boundaries.
Wilfred is, in his words, 'a poor boy, done good'. He was born in Jamaica and raised in inner city Birmingham. Unqualified but ambitious and persistent, he talked his way into television becoming a producer/director for the BBC. He is credited with bringing many of the top celebrity chefs to the small screen including Gordon Ramsay, Antony Worrall-Thompson, Brian Turner and James Martin, before founding a food and drink marketing company in London, working on such brands as Cobra Beer, KETTLE Chips and Loyd Grossman sauces.
Wilfred subsequently fulfilled a lifelong ambition in purchasing a small farm in Devon, and has been responsible for one of the most successful food brand launches of recent times in the UK with his own range of sausages and sauces under The Black Farmer® label.
Flavours without Frontiers – the promise offered by his products also goes some way to sum up his personality. He, nor his products, will be confined by race, convention or tradition. Wilfred's strong opinions on issues such as rural affairs, justice for small producers and giving ethnic minorities more opportunity have driven much media attention in recent times.
The Black Farmer® has recently launched a rural scholarship scheme through which young people from inner city communities are given the opportunity to experience what it is really like to live and work in the rural community.
Wilfred is married with three children and enjoys composing music, photography and farming traditional cattle breeds. Source
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Jamaican-born farmer earning millions on UK soil
From a bad boy to a millionaire, Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones has defied the odds and overcome the obstacles to become an almost perfect example of what a focused, determined and ambitious son of the soil can achieve in a foreign land.
The black farmer, as he is referred to by his white neighbours, has braved the gloomy British weather, blocked the distractions and racial prejudices and surpassed all expectations to establish one of the United Kingdom's most successful farms, generating millions of pounds annually. Continue
Fields of dreams
When Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones left Jamaica for a new life in England, he could little have imagined the success that would follow. Today, the man who likes to be known as The Black Farmer is making a name for himself in TV, marketing, politics and farming.
Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones – also known as The Black Farmer – has had a life less ordinary. Born in Jamaica, he grew up in the West Midlands and went on to have a successful television career before moving into marketing, politics and latterly as a food producer.
He’s widely credited with bringing some of the biggest celebrity chefs to our screens. And now he’s swapping sides and is about to hit our screens in a big way.
In January 2005 Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones set up The Black Farmer Rural Scholarship. Nine black and Asian inner-city kids were given the opportunity to live at West Kitcham the Emmanuel-Jones’ farm on the Devon Cornwall border and to be mentored by Wilfred. Channel 4 followed their progress for a programme due to air late in 2005.
"These are kids who were at the last chance saloon. They’d messed up at school, were in trouble at home and the urban environment was letting them down. I wanted to allow them to experience what rural Britain is all about.
"The scholarship ended in July and each of the kids had an amazing journey. They all came with the idea that they were going to meet racism. But what they found was a genuine interest – in them, their lives and their backgrounds.
"I got them to experience the whole country way of life; shooting, fishing and riding. They also went to the country shows and got really immersed in country living.
"For the first couple of weeks they were really ill-disciplined. So we decided there’d be no television, music or mobile phones. I wanted to get rid of all the white noise so they could adjust to the quiet of the countryside, the birds and the bees.
"Urban living makes you selfish. In the rural community you have to help each other. If one of my cows gets stuck in a ditch I can’t just call 999. I have to get it out myself with the help of people around me. Continue |
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