Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall and his River Cottage project is a true lesson in decent grub. Normally, Hugh is seen bumbling about with his livestock, preaching to the converted and tackling farmers down the market with his honey and bangers. He’s the champion of organic and free range food, and last night he took on a bunch of people who couldn’t care less.

The people on his show all loved munching  on terrible looking things like Chicken Pops. Chicken Pops is processed poultry and covered in spicy bready gunk for those who don’t know. Many argued to Hugh, that, it’s all very well being a rich ass chef, but what happens if you’re feeding a family of four, and funds are tight? Two chickens for £4 is rather appealing on a budget. Hugh decided it was time for a testimonial.

Down on at his cottage, Hugh got a group of people together who all had shocking attitudes to meat. Essentially, the cheaper the better. Or, in one lad’s case, the easier to cook, the better. So Hugh let them go off to the supermarket to buy their fave chicken things, and set about cooking better versions of them. Obviously, this was a doddle for a pro chef… but the participants needed more convincing. Obviously, they all preferred Hugh’s cooking, but was it good value for money?

After a bit of head scratching, Whittingstall showed how you can use an entire chicken in cooking. Even down to eating the feet (which I’ve tried for the record, and are marvellous if a little weird). So, is his way of cooking better value for money? It most certainly is. Throughout the show, the River Cottage maestro tried to get the people to ‘connect’ with the livestock. If an animal is treated well, it will taste better. And your morals will no doubt feel a bit better too. One lady just didn’t get it. Her argument seemed to be that chickens just aren’t cute enough to warrant her emotional investment. She resisted and resisted. That is until the chicken got culled right in front of her very eyes. Then she cried. Then she never ate chicken again. So only a partial victory.

You see, Fearnley Whittingstall wanted people to stop buying poultry that was crammed into big sheds filled with all-sorts of crap that makes them grow abnormally quickly. So for the lady to stop eating chicken altogether means one less person contributing to that way of production. Most of the other participants fell in love with the idea of free range and organic food and changed their diets completely (hurray).

Of course, it’s easy to get annoyed at a programme like this. Having some posho telling you how you should live your life. That’s the kind of thing I normally hate in a TV show. However, this is different. This is someone to have the courage of his convictions. He’ll kill what he eats. Would you? He’s not trying to be some kind of soapbox claptrap… he’s just bothered about the way livestock is treated in this country and the quality of food down our throats. This is a brilliant programme that all should watch. [Mof Gimmers]