STARTING on Monday, Channel 4's titans of cuisine - Gordon, Hugh and Jamie - join forces for The Big Food Fight, a fortnight-long season of programming that challenges the British public to think before they eat, and encourages debate about food production, animal welfare and healthy eating.

A world away from his River Cottage ideals Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall kicks off the proceedings with his hard-hitting series - Hugh's Chicken Run, a behind the chicken shed doors look at the reality of modern poultry production.

"We basically want to change the way chicken is produced in Britain," he says.

"We think the more people understand, the more they'll be inclined to upgrade the welfare of the birds that they buy.

We're leading with a call for free range, but we're also putting a lot of pressure on supermarkets and the industry to raise the basic, basic standards of indoor, intensive production as well."

Jamie then takes up the baton in Jamie's Fowl Dinners on Friday and hosts a gala dinner to dramatically demonstrate the reality of how chickens live and die to put food on our plates.

Having already campaigned on the state of school dinners, the naked chef turns ringmaster and brings together poultry farmers, consumers, producers, retailers and experts (including Bill Oddie), to tackle an issue that raises difficult questions about animal welfare and what consumers are prepared to pay for quality food.

"I think if even a small percentage of people watching were informed and decided to shop differently as a result then that would make a real difference," Jamie says.

The question is - will his guests still be hungry by the time he's finished?

  • Launching C4's The Big Food Fight season: Hugh's Chicken Run, 7-9 January 2008, 9pm, C4. Jamie's Fowl Dinners, 11 January 2008, 9pm, C4. For further information on these and other programmes in the series visit the link below.