We’ve enjoyed an unprecedented year when it comes to food TV (think Jamie, Gordon, Nigella, Gregg and John, Rick, Hugh and even newcomer Anjum Anand all with their own new series). I really don’t mind food TV, in fact I love it and could watch it all day (sometimes I do!), so I’m rubbing my hands together for Channel 4′s early 2008 food season.

January is curious time to be launching two weeks-worth of food TV as we’ll probably still be filled to the brim with figgy pudding and struggling to get into our favourite trousers. But a food season there is and, excitingly, it’ll have some thought-provoking programmes featuring the channel’s three titans of the kitchen – Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

The whole idea of the season is, apparently, to challenge the country before it eats. They’ll have to go some I’m afraid, because that’s something I hardly ever do. Shovel into mouth is one of my favourite eating techniques.

Hugh’s Kitchen Run sees HFW go behind the chicken shed doors to try and change the way Britain consumes chicken. He wants us to go free-range. Trouble is everyone wants a KFC.

Jamie’s Fowl Dinners (see what they’ve done there?) hosts a gala dinner to show off to his guests the hideous realities of industrial chicken production. Through some ‘shocking demonstrations’ he’ll reveal how exactly chicken gets from farm to plate. If that’s the way he treats his guests, you can cross my name off the guest list!

Cook-A-Long-A-Gordon LIVE is, erm, a live version of Gordon in his F-Word programme. Viewers are being invited to cook along with him, and ingredient lists and recipes are being provided for download before transmission.

With a couple of Dispatches specials (Eat Yourself To Death (complete with human dissection with Dr Gunther Von Hagens) and The Diet That Time Forgot) this won’t be your normal food cooking season.