A regional press journalist who was one of the country’s most influential writers on food and farming matters has died aged 56 after a three-year fight with leukaemia.

Carol Trewin, left, joined the Western Morning News as farming editor from BBC Radio Four’s Farming Today Programme in 1997, and led the paper’s coverage of the 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak which devastated the region.

After a four-year break from the newspaper, working for the campaigning food organisation Taste of the West, she returned to the WMN in 2004 and shortly afterwards became food editor.

She left through ill health earlier this year but continued to write articles on food until just a couple of weeks ago. Her last article, on food festivals, was published last Saturday.

WMN editor Alan Qualtrough paid tribute to her, saying: “Carol had an unrivalled passion and enthusiasm for Westcountry food and worked tirelessly to promote the benefits of thinking and buying local. She always acted with professionalism, had empathy with producers and was fearless in her criticism of the supermarkets’ dominance of the market place.

“She will be sadly missed by all those involved in the regional food and farming industries, as well as by the readers and staff of the Western Morning News.”

As well as her newspaper work, Carol had written two well-received books, Cornish Fishing and Seafood and Gourmet Cornwall.

She was working on a new book about the food of Devon when she died and had been dictating passages to her partner, poet and writer James Crowden, from her hospital bed in Plymouth.

Anthony Gibson, former communications director with the National Farmers Union said: “Carol’s death is a terribly sad loss both personally and to the world of farming and food. Carol brought a cool intelligence to the way she interpreted complex issues and that earned her a lot of respect.”

More tributes to Carol from the world of food and farming can be found on the WMN website.

Comments

Mark Hix (20/10/2009 11:25:50)
Carol was an amazing woman, her support and passion for the west country food and farming industry was second to none. She was kind and generous and will be truly missed. My thoughts are with her partner James and her family.

Clare Lattin, Quadrille (20/10/2009 11:29:48)
What very sad news. Carol was amazing, always so supportive, warm and kind. She will greatly be missed. My thoughts are with her family and James her lovely partner.