BIO
Ned Bell is a renowned Canadian culinary talent based in British Columbia, known for his dedication to local, seasonal, and sustainable foods. As the co-owner of Hatch Hospitality, Culinary Director of Planetary Health, Chef Ambassador at Ocean Wise, Buy BC Champion, and Co-Chair of Sustainability at the Chefs Table Society.
Ned has made significant contributions as a chef, sustainable food advocate, keynote speaker, and educator. He passionately supports B.C.'s farmers, fishers, processors, makers, and artisans, highlighting their stories to inspire people to make informed choices that benefit the food cycle and the environment.
​
Ned serves as the Culinary Director at Planetary Health at Vancouver General Hospital, Lions Gate, UBC and Richmond Hospitals, where his role revolves around creating a direct connection between sustainable food systems and the health of our planet. At Planetary Health, Ned is dedicated to promoting the importance of sourcing, preparing, and consuming food in ways that support patient healing and environmental sustainability.
​
Ned’s lifelong passion for sustainable seafood, combined with his culinary interests and remarkable talents, have led him through many roles, including Culinary Director of The Vancouver Club, Executive Chef at YEW seafood + bar, Ocean Wise Executive Chef, and now Chef Ambassador for the Vancouver-based global program Ocean Wise. As a father of three sons, he has dedicated himself to inspiring and educating people to become part of the solution for healthier oceans for today's children and all the generations to come.
In 2014, Ned founded Chefs for Oceans to raise awareness and advocate for responsible seafood choices and the importance of supporting healthy oceans, lakes and rivers. He launched this commitment with an 8,700-kilometre bike ride across Canada, staging dozens of awareness-building events along the way. Ned’s commitment to seafood stewardship has skyrocketed ever since. His ability to excite, inspire and educate individuals, industries and governments about sustainable seafood has made him a much sought-after chef, speaker and change-maker, earning recognition for his clear — and often deliciously illustrated — education that supports the long-term health of the world’s waterways. He joined the table at the United Nations headquarters in New York to engage his Chefs for Oceans platform in awareness initiatives leading up to him cooking for the UN’s General Assembly in New York. He was also scheduled to be on the ticket as a lead presenter at the UN’s Oceans Conference in Portugal in 2020. Through his culinary network, Ned works with the James Beard Foundation’s Smart Catch program and their continued series of Impact Events. And as a Chef Member of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch, Blue Ribbon task force, Ned will be a keynote speaker at events in Portland later in this year. There’s nothing he loves more than uniting and collaborating with chefs, fishermen, farmers and influencers across the globe, demonstrated by the impact he’s already made throughout Canada and the USA, as well as China, Vietnam, Japan, Europe and South America.
For this work and more, Ned has earned honours that include Fellow of The Royal Canadian Geographical Society (2019), Honorary Doctorate in Technology from Vancouver Island University (2019), SeaWeb Seafood Summit Global Champion Award (2017), leading a multi-chef sustainable seafood celebration at James Beard House (2017), Food Service & Hospitality magazine’s Pinnacle Award for Chef of the Year (2015), and author of best-selling cookbook Lure: Sustainable Seafood Recipes from the West Coast.
Follow along @nedbell on Instagram.