River Cottage

A talented writer, broadcaster and campaigner, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is widely known for his uncompromising commitment to seasonal, ethically produced food and has earned a huge following through his River Cottage TV series and books.

His early smallholding experiences were shown in the Channel 4 River Cottage series and led to the publication of The River Cottage Cookbook (2001), which won the Glenfiddich Trophy and the André Simon Food Book of the Year awards.

The success of the show and the books allowed Hugh to establish River Cottage HQ near Bridport in 2004.

In the same year, Hugh published The River Cottage Meat Book to wide acclaim and won a second André Simon Food Book of the Year Award.

He has just finished filming his most recent series, which accompanies his most recent book, River Cottage Every Day.

He continues to write as a journalist, including a weekly column in The Guardian and is Patron of the National Farmers’ Retail and Markets Association (FARMA).

River Cottage HQ moved in 2006, to a farm near the Dorset/Devon border, where visitors can take a variety of courses. http://www.rivercottage.net

During River Cottage Spring (2008) Hugh helped a group of Bristol families start a smallholding on derelict council land.

The experience was so inspiring he decided to see if it would work nationwide, and Landshare was created to bring keen growers and landowners together. The movement now includes more than 50,000 people.

Hugh: welcome to rivercottage.net

"Hello and welcome to Rivercottage.net, a website about food, where it comes from, and why that matters. I'm Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, and to begin with, this might look a bit like "my" website - but with your help, we have already started to change that!

"I have strong opinions about food, and here they are, sprinkled liberally all over the site.

"But when you've had a good rummage, I'd really like to know what you think. So please use the Have Your Say bulletin board, tell me what you think matters, and help make this the best food website on the planet . . .

"It is going to be another exciting year - to be kept up to date on new events, courses and products - or just to find out what we are up to! -Sign up for our monthly newsletter at the top of this page."

Stephen Fry . . .

"Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is quite my favourite of all the prominent food-writers and presenters. Never quite as shaggy, messy and disgusting as he first appears, his great knowledge, passion, insight, intelligence and skill are hidden under the silliest hair in Europe," say Stephen Fry.