What do the locals think of the show? Do they watch it or laugh at you?

Well, you’d have to ask the locals for an absolutely straight answer, but the impression they give me is that they like it. Sometimes they have a slightly laconic view perhaps, but for the most part I think they appreciate that at the very least we’ve tried to show rural life in a more open and honest way than some other programmes, and in particular we’ve tried to show people where food actually comes from. That it’s either grown or it comes from animals, that it doesn’t begin in the supermarket in a plastic package. I guess we’re probably a little bit guilty of making things slightly rosy tinted – it’s difficult because I’m not financially dependent on farming and it would be hypocritical to pretend that I am. For me, the exploration of River Cottage was about discovering a new way of life. That has certainly been very real for me and I think people round here can see that. When I began the series I still lived half in London but now I live completely in Dorset, so from that point of view what you see in the series is what’s happened in my life.