Sheila Dillon is a British food journalist who began her career writing for the New York food magazine ''Food Monitor''. She is known to listeners of

Radio Four BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

as presenter of ''

The Food Programme ''The Food Programme'' is a BBC Radio 4 programme investigating and celebrating good food, founded by Derek Cooper and currently presented by Sheila Dillon, Dan Saladino, Leyla Kazim and Jaega Wise. The series is produced by BBC Audio in Bris ...

'', on which she has appeared for more than 20 years. Dillon has been the programme's regular presenter since 2001.

Early life and education

Dillon was born in

Hoghton Hoghton is a small village and civil parish in the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 802. Brindle and Hoghton ward also includes the parish of Brindle. Hoghton Tower is a fortified manor hous ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, and grew up in the 1950s and 1960s. She is from a farming background and went to a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

primary school. Her grandfather was a head joiner on the

Hoghton Tower Hoghton Tower is a fortified manor house east of the village of Hoghton, Lancashire, England, and standing on a hilltop site on the highest point in the area. It takes its name from the de Hoghton family, its historical owners since at l ...

Estate. Her mother worked as a weaver and her father was a barber who came from a farming family in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. She has one younger sister and a younger brother. Dillon studied English at

Leicester University , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_label ...

where she wrote for the university newspaper. At university she became involved in the

women's movement The feminist movement (also known as the women's movement, or feminism) refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for radical and liberal reforms on women's issues created by the inequality between men and women. Such is ...

Career

After university, Dillon spent a year in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

with the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

. She then undertook postgraduate work in the American Midwest before getting a job in publishing at the Indiana University Press. During her time at Little Brown & Co Publishers, she was involved in a landmark

sex discrimination Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primari ...

case pertaining to issues of equal pay which helped change discriminatory employment practices in the USA. Working with

Derek Cooper Major George Derek Cooper OBE MC (28 May 1912 – 19 May 2007) was a British Army officer, campaigner for refugees, and supporter of the Palestinian people. Early life and career Cooper was born in Bromley in Kent. He was the third of four c ...

, Dillon was responsible for coverage of

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, is an incurable and invariably fatal neurodegenerative disease of cattle. Symptoms include abnormal behavior, trouble walking, and weight loss. Later in the course of t ...

(BSE), GM and food irradiation which helped establish food as an important, newsworthy subject. She has been the presenter of Radio 4’s ''The Food Programme'' since taking over from Derek Cooper. She hosts the annual BBC Radio Food and Farming Awards.

Awards and honours

Dillon has won awards for her work, including the Glaxo Science Prize, the Caroline Walker Award and several Glenfiddich Awards. In 2008, she was awarded an honorary degree by City University for her work, which, the citation says, "has changed the way in which we think about food." She is also a patron of Oxford Gastronomic. In 2010, Dillon received an "Outstanding Achievement Award" from ''

Observer Food Monthly ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'' magazine and was one of the "100 Leading Influential Ladies".

Personal life

Dillon was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow, in December 2011. She has become increasingly interested in the link between diet and treatment and prevention of cancer. In 2013, she spoke to

Jenni Murray Dame Jennifer Susan Murray, (''née'' Bailey; born 12 May 1950) is an English journalist and broadcaster, best known for presenting BBC Radio 4's ''Woman's Hour'' from 1987 to 2020. Early life Murray was born in Barnsley, West Riding of Yorks ...

on ''

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by ...

'' about her experience of the disease and her views on how diet can affect recovery.

References

External links

Radio 4 People: Sheila Dillon

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

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