A word from Hugh

When I began renting the original River Cottage - a tiny lock-keeper’s cottage near Netherbury in Dorset – it was simply meant to be a bolt-hole from London. But that idyllic place soon got under my skin. Before long, I was inspired to leave the city altogether and seek out a more self-sufficient and sustainable way of life in the West Country.

Those early days fired me with a desire to get closer to the source of the ingredients I chose for myself and my family, to reject the mass-production of food and the intensification of farming and to respect the environment I lived in. These ideals have guided me ever since, informing my writing, my broadcasting and my campaigning, from the first River Cottage Cookbook, to my Fish Fight and War on Waste campaigns.

It’s a quest I’ve been delighted to share with the many wonderful and talented people who have become part of the River Cottage story over the last two decades. I’ve learned so much from them - and been privileged to share that knowledge with the legions of viewers, readers, supporters and guests without whom none of this could happen.

Thanks to this spirit of collaboration, River Cottage has become a truly collective enterprise. As we celebrate our 20th birthday this year, I am unbelievably proud of what, together, we have achieved – our cookery school and smallholding, our many TV series and award-winning books, our restaurants, and our trailblazing, law-changing campaigns.

We have exciting plans for the future, of course. And we look forward to sharing them with you. At their core will always be our unshakeable commitment to honouring and respecting the source of our food; to resisting its industrialisation, and the devastation of our planet that so often entails; and above all to celebrating the deliciousness of food prepared with love, from ingredients grown with respect, by people who care.