Jack Monroe

Jack Monroe (born 17 March 1988) is a British food writer, journalist and activist known for campaigning on poverty issues, particularly hunger relief. She initially rose to prominence by writing a blog titled ''A Girl Called Jack'' (now renamed ''Cooking on a Bootstrap''), and has since written for publications such as '' The Echo'', ''The Huffington Post'' and ''The Guardian'', as well as publishing several cookbooks focusing on " austerity recipes" and meals which can be made on a tight budget.

Early life

Monroe was born in Southend-on-Sea in 1988 to David Hadjicostas MBE and Evelyn Hadjicostas (née Beatty), a former nurse. Her father is of Greek-Cypriot heritage; he served in the British Army for seven years, then with the fire service for 30 years. He was awarded an MBE in 2007 Birthday Honours for services to children and families. Monroe has three siblings.

Monroe has described herself variously as working class and as middle class. She passed the 11-plus examinations and attended Westcliff High School for Girls, a grammar school in Westcliff-on-Sea. She left school at age 16, "bullied and disillusioned", with insufficient GCSEs (she sat 7 and passed 4 and a half of them) to progress to A Level. Despite her future career, she only achieved a low D grade in her home economics GCSE.

Monroe left home and worked in a chip shop and then Starbucks before taking a job as a call handler for Essex County Fire and Rescue Service. After having a child, she was unable to arrange the work around childcare responsibilities, and was unable to negotiate adjustments to her working pattern to make continued employment feasible. Monroe resigned the post after serving between 2007 and 2011. After leaving the fire service, Monroe began going by the forename Jack – being short for " Jack of all trades". She spent the following 18 months on benefits and looking for work, and moved from relative affluence to poverty and financial hardship. At the end of 2011 and after the birth of her son, she changed her name to Jack Monroe via deed poll.

Career

Writing

Monroe came to prominence in the media through writing the blog ''A Girl Called Jack'', sharing cheap recipes created as a single parent with a young child, and aiming to provide family meals for less than £10 per week. In December 2015, the blog was renamed as ''Cooking on a Bootstrap''. She chose to write the blog under a pseudonym: 'Jack' was a childhood nickname and 'Monroe' was a tribute to Marilyn Monroe.

In 2012, Monroe became a weekly columnist for '' The Echo'',Part 1

Part 2
. a south Essex daily newspaper, and in February 2013, was taken on by the same as a trainee reporter – the timing was fortunate, as she was having difficulty affording nursery fees. Monroe was later retained as an unpaid columnist for ''The Huffington Post'', before signing a publishing deal with Penguin Group. The book deal, reported as worth £25,000, resulted in housing benefit being cut off and Monroe came close to being evicted, which led to moving into cheaper accommodation. Despite working every day, she was unable to make ends meet. By January 2014, finances had improved, and Monroe was able to move into a small two-bedroom flat with her son.

Monroe formerly wrote a twice-monthly food and recipe column for ''The Guardian'' and additionally contributed a number of political columns, as well as being featured in ''The New York Times'' and ''The New Yorker''. Monroe has written several budget cooking recipe books.

In April 2020, it was announced that Monroe would co-host '' Daily Kitchen Live'' on BBC One alongside Matt Tebbutt. The programme, made in response to issues stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, offered tips and guidance to families struggling with limited resources, and aired daily for a two-week period that commenced on 14 April 2020.

Campaigning and politics

Monroe has been an active campaigner for a number of causes in the UK, particularly those concerned with poverty and hunger, campaigning alongside organisations such as Unite, The Trussell Trust, Child Poverty Action Group and Oxfam.

In 2013, Monroe appeared in a six-week advertising campaign for Sainsbury's supermarket. Monroe accepted the equivalent of the living wage for the six weeks that the campaign ran and donated the remainder of the fee to charities including a food bank.

Monroe appeared in a Labour Party campaign video in October 2013. She left the Labour Party in March 2015, after disagreeing with its rhetoric on immigration, and became a member of the Green Party of England and Wales, also in March 2015. In April 2016, Monroe appeared online supporting the Women's Equality Party. In the 2017 United Kingdom general election, Monroe intended to stand in Southend West as a candidate for the National Health Action Party, but withdrew after receiving death threats and because of health problems. In January 2021, Monroe tweeted that she was a "fully paid up member of the Labour Party and have been for quite some time now." Monroe has voiced her support for Scottish independence. "Scotland deserves better than the scraps that Westminster reluctantly throws every now and then while bleeding your resources dry," she tweeted on 7 July 2022. "Happy to come and campaign for the #indyref2 any time - have a lot of love for your beautiful country."

Speaking in 2014, Monroe described life as having "changed beyond recognition", but said that she is still affected by her experience of poverty. The University of Essex announced in May 2015 that it would be awarding Monroe an honorary degree.

In 2015, Monroe won the Women of the Future Award in the media category. Monroe was "surprised", saying "I'm not sure I'll even ''be'' a woman in the future". The award was won after Monroe came out as non-binary, which created some controversy. The subsequent "gender debate" angered Monroe and she questioned the headlines of some newspapers, saying "Because of my trans identity, I'm attacked for accepting a real woman's award."

Monroe appeared on BBC
...