Jimmy Doherty
Pro-Chancellor, distinguished friends, colleagues, graduands and guests.
Jimmy Doherty has become a popular face on British television. His passion for sustainable farming and support for British farmers have helped propel him to become one of the greatest champions for delivering change in terms of animals, food and healthy food production.
Jimmy Doherty was born in Ilford in 1975 and moved to rural Essex with his parents when he was very young. This is where his love of nature began. As a child, Jimmy was fascinated with insects and all kinds of ‘creepy crawlies’. By the time he was 16, he was the youngest ever assistant entomologist at the Mole Hall Wildlife Park in Walden.
He studied at Newport Free Grammar School, and after completing his A Levels, he took a degree in zoology at the University of East London and worked at the Entomology Department at London's Natural History Museum. Jimmy’s journey then brought him here, to Coventry University to study for four years for a PhD in entomology. During his time here he set up an insect laboratory and taught Animal Ecology and Animal Philosophy to undergraduate students.
Jimmy decided to leave academia and return to the countryside. He took on the leasehold of a 100 acre farm just outside Ipswich, and with no experience of pig farming, he started The Essex Pig Company, a rare breed pig farm which promoted free range meat production processes. This was when Jimmy first came to widespread attention as the subject of a fly-on-the-wall BBC documentary called ‘Jimmy’s Farm.’
The series ‘Jimmy's Farm’ put both he and his partner Michaela Furney firmly into the media spotlight surviving crisis after crisis on their idyllic Suffolk farm. Jimmy’s mission was then, as it is now, to encourage people to become more involved with the land around them and the food on their plate. From keeping chickens to making homemade chutney, Jimmy is keen to ensure that everyone gets a taste of the ‘good life.’
Jimmy has become a familiar face on our televisions, presenting a series for BBC2 called Jimmy Doherty's Farming Heroes, Jimmy's Food Factory, and his last series for the BBC, A Farmer's Life for Me.
In 2012, Jimmy moved to Channel 4 to co-present ‘Jamie & Jimmy's Food Fight Club’ with his childhood friend and TV chef, Jamie Oliver. Since then he’s become a presenter on ‘Food Unwrapped’ and launched another series with Jamie Oliver called ‘Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feasts’.
Jimmy is an active campaigner for responsible farming and animal rights. He recently fronted a campaign promoting standards of pork for Red Tractor and earlier this year received the Elsie MJ Evans bronze award at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA’s) honours ceremony.
Jimmy’s Farm is a thriving business and is now home to an award winning restaurant, a nature trail, a butterfly house and hosts numerous science and food festivals throughout the year. Jimmy has written a number of books and has a number of free range food products called Jimmy's Farmers Range.
Jimmy married Michaela on their farm in 2009 and they now have two daughters - Molly Rose and Cora Mae. We’re delighted that Jimmy has returned to Coventry University to join us for this special occasion today.
In recognition of his contribution to food production and science by promoting responsible, sustainable farming, Coventry University, by decision of the Academic Board, has the privilege of conferring the Honorary Doctor of Business Administration, honoris causa, on Jimmy Doherty.