This was the view asserted by Monty Don yesterday at Hay Festival, as the rain thundered outside the tent and we all wondered when global warming might show its face and dry our soggy shoes. The much-loved gardening expert was speaking for the first time after his stroke, six weeks ago, to announce that he will take over from Jonathan Dimbleby as president of organic charity The Soil Association.
It was a brave thing to say, but given the audience at Hay - the vast majority were organic supporters and grew their own vegetables (something established early on in the talk with a quick ‘hands up’) - it went down surprisingly well. Here, people believe in supporting UK food production - in the face of climate change, rising food prices and peak oil - far more than they stand up for international trade.

What he meant was that in answer to the classic green dilemma - should we buy from developing countries to support their economies or stick to home-grown produce – he favours the latter. We should build up our own levels of self-sufficiency and encourage other countries to do the same, he explained.
To qualify this view, he went on to say that poorer countries should also be sorting out food plans that involve feeding their own populations rather than relying on exports. In the long run, he believes this would help them, although it may initially provoke economic fallout.

I’m not so sure. I worry that global trade is too much part of our economic system to simply reject it and to say that each country should work with what it’s got. Hasn’t globablization – for better or for worse – gone too far for that? Wouldn’t we be better off looking at how to make trade fair, following the lead of organisations such as the Fairtrade Foundation? And what about Caribbean countries that provide most of the world’s bananas and rely on this for the success of their economy (especially since they have the capacity to produce more bananas than their population could possible eat)?

Patrick Holden, chair of the Soil Association, and the other speaker at this event, had a softer line. He suggested that while we should try to become self-sufficient in staple foods in the UK, there is no reason to abruptly halt buying food that we can’t grow here. His message was this: buy what you can from the UK and top up from other countries, instead of damaging their trade by stopping buying foreign goods altogether.
No doubt if these two organic heavyweights are going to work together, they’re going to have to thrash out their differences.

There’s an awful lot being said about eco tourism at the moment. That it’s the future of travel, with more mainstream travel operators coming up with responsible travel policies than ever before. That there is no such thing, especially if you’ve flown there anyway. Even that we should stop trying to make holidays ethical and admit that what matters is a decent beach, a cloudless sky and a vat of pina colada.
It’s confusing. On the one hand, we want to relax on holiday, to unwind and forget our troubles, including our guilt-induced responsibility to the planet. On the other, accounting for the environment is being promoted as something that can make for a better holiday, a more satisfying experience. Whatever you think, here are some factors to consider if you haven’t already booked your summer escape.

How do you know it’s ‘eco’?
Here’s a good example of a written eco policy of the sort that you would expect if the holiday you booked is claiming to be ‘eco’.
Don’t accept the word at face value, make sure it is backed up by a written environmental policy and clear examples of what measures are being taken to earn its eco title. Tribes Travel, the owner of this policy, has won several responsible travel awards in the past few years.

Does a green holiday mean hard work?
Gone are the days when eco meant you’d spend a week roughing it at a campsite, or learning to lay hedges. In many ways, the laziest way to be an eco traveller is to choose accommodation that ticks green boxes. Book a cottage with solar panels and compost bins through leading online tour operator Responsible Travel and it’s all done for you.

Go by train if you can
Check to see if it’s feasible on seat61.com. And visit this page to find how travel by train compares to plane travel in terms of CO2.

What preparation can you do before you go?
The Travel Foundation, a charity that supports sustainable tourism, offers an Insiders Guide, giving practical tips on how to make a difference when you travel. To download the pdf version, click here.

For more info on how to be a well-behaved green traveller, visit the Green Passport website, a project launched by United Nations Environment Program, which includes a quiz to tell you what kind of traveller you really are.

How bad is flying?
If you’re still in a muddle about exactly what damage you’re doing by hopping around the world on a plane, you’re not alone. Some people argue that planes are responsible for a fraction of global carbon dioxide emissions; others point out that those figures are rising significantly. The Science Museum’s latest exhibition ‘Does Flying Cost the Earth?’ attempts to get to the bottom of this, with its interactive displays that give you the facts without being preachy. If you can’t get there, its website has much of the info.

What are the figures?
I also recommend this article, which first appeared in The Times last year, written by Camilla Cavendish. It puts the frequently quoted tiny figures of global emissions that come from flying in perspective.

What can I do when I get there?
According to Tourism Concern, one of the important things to think about is whether your money is going to filter into the local economy or be drained by foreign-owned multinational companies. Try to stay in locally owned hotels; eat in local restaurants and insist on a local tour guide. For other tips to avoid guilt trips, see here.

Should I offset when I return?
If you can’t decide whether to give money to a carbon offset company such as ClimateCare, I suggest that you read this statement from several green charities, including Friends of the Earth, which assesses the value of the offsetting concept.

Nominate your holiday
If you’ve stayed somewhere fabulously green, don’t forget to tell us all about it. Nominate it for a Times Green Spaces award. Here are the details.
In the words of Kathleen Wyatt, Times travel editor: "We want to shout about spaces that stop us in our tracks, spaces that demand our attention and have earned our love….they might be as varied as a farmhouse in Ireland, a lakeside reserve in France or the unsung efforts of a hotelier on some distant island."

There’s an awful lot being said about eco tourism at the moment. That it’s the future of travel, with more mainstream travel operators coming up with responsible travel policies than ever before. That there is no such thing, especially if you’ve flown there anyway. Even that we should stop trying to make holidays ethical and admit that what matters is a decent beach, a cloudless sky and a vat of pina colada.
It’s confusing. On the one hand, we want to relax on holiday, to unwind and forget our troubles, including our guilt-induced responsibility to the planet. On the other, accounting for the environment is being promoted as something that can make for a better holiday, a more satisfying experience. Whatever you think, here are some factors to consider if you haven’t already booked your summer escape.

How do you know it’s ‘eco’?
Here’s a good example of a written eco policy of the sort that you would expect if the holiday you booked is claiming to be ‘eco’.
Don’t accept the word at face value, make sure it is backed up by a written environmental policy and clear examples of what measures are being taken to earn its eco title. Tribes Travel, the owner of this policy, has won several responsible travel awards in the past few years.

Does a green holiday mean hard work?
Gone are the days when eco meant you’d spend a week roughing it at a campsite, or learning to lay hedges. In many ways, the laziest way to be an eco traveller is to choose accommodation that ticks green boxes. Book a cottage with solar panels and compost bins through leading online tour operator Responsible Travel and it’s all done for you.

Go by train if you can
Check to see if it’s feasible on seat61.com. And visit this page to find how travel by train compares to plane travel in terms of CO2.

What preparation can you do before you go?
The Travel Foundation, a charity that supports sustainable tourism, offers an Insiders Guide, giving practical tips on how to make a difference when you travel. To download the pdf version, click here.

For more info on how to be a well-behaved green traveller, visit the Green Passport website, a project launched by United Nations Environment Program, which includes a quiz to tell you what kind of traveller you really are.

How bad is flying?
If you’re still in a muddle about exactly what damage you’re doing by hopping around the world on a plane, you’re not alone. Some people argue that planes are responsible for a fraction of global carbon dioxide emissions; others point out that those figures are rising significantly. The Science Museum’s latest exhibition ‘Does Flying Cost the Earth?’ attempts to get to the bottom of this, with its interactive displays that give you the facts without being preachy. If you can’t get there, its website has much of the info.

What are the figures?
I also recommend this article, which first appeared in The Times last year, written by Camilla Cavendish. It puts the frequently quoted tiny figures of global emissions that come from flying in perspective.

What can I do when I get there?
According to Tourism Concern, one of the important things to think about is whether your money is going to filter into the local economy or be drained by foreign-owned multinational companies. Try to stay in locally owned hotels; eat in local restaurants and insist on a local tour guide. For other tips to avoid guilt trips, see here.

Should I offset when I return?
If you can’t decide whether to give money to a carbon offset company such as ClimateCare, I suggest that you read this statement from several green charities, including Friends of the Earth, which assesses the value of the offsetting concept.

Nominate your holiday
If you’ve stayed somewhere fabulously green, don’t forget to tell us all about it. Nominate it for a Times Green Spaces award. Here are the details.
In the words of Kathleen Wyatt, Times travel editor: "We want to shout about spaces that stop us in our tracks, spaces that demand our attention and have earned our love….they might be as varied as a farmhouse in Ireland, a lakeside reserve in France or the unsung efforts of a hotelier on some distant island."

Last weekend, I spent that scorching Saturday - when most sensible people were lounging in the sunshine - at the Barbican’s Eco Aware event, in London. Mind you, I can’t complain. I was there to promote my book, How Green Are My Wellies. It’s not officially out until 16th June, but if you can’t wait to reserve a copy, you can pre-order here.

Right, where was I, before I started my self-publicity? Oh yes, last weekend’s Eco Aware event. Of all the stalls pushing biodegradable crockery and organic vegetables, the one that stole the show was offering punters the chance to make up their own Morsbag, a material alternative to a plastic bag. You could choose your fabric, mostly scraps from old duvets, curtains or old clothes, and then be shown how - with a little sewing machine guidance - you could turn it into a bag. The results are far prettier than they sound - as you can see from the picture above.

The Morsbag concept – named after its founder Pol Morsman - is about using leftover fabric to make something useful and green. Morsman set up a group, mostly friends, that met weekly on her barge in Hanwell, in West London, to run up dozens of bags. Then they gave them out for free outside supermarkets. It’s a bit like other forms of green guerrilla activism, such as guerilla gardening.

To make your own bag, visit the Morsbag website. There’s a PDF guide here to help you and even an animated demonstration. Even better, set up what Morsman calls a ‘pod’. A group of people, or sewing group, that meets to make Morsbags for their community. Or check here to see if there’s already one in your area. ; ;

Plenty of people have spoken out against plastic bags, but few have sung about it. Until now. Here the children at Godwin Primary School in Essex make their point, musically, inspired by We Are What We Do’s Change the World for a Fiver book.

To celebrate Marks & Spencers new policy of charging for plastic bags, they have been asked to perform in an M&S store. Click here to listen.

At last, it’s arrived. A little later than normal, after a rainy few months, but for the next six to eight weeks, the shops will be full of British asparagus.
Eat it any earlier than this and the chances are it will either have been flown in from Peru or have been grown in energy-gobbling heated polytunnels. Whether or not this bothers you, remember that asparagus grown in the cool British climate has a unique flavour that is well worth waiting for.
The question is: now that it’s here, what are we going to do with it? Boiled for five minutes and wiped in butter is a much loved method, but it is by no means the only one. Here are some ideas – please feel free to add your own.

Grilled, as a topping for toasted sourdough bread. First, spread a generous layer of cream cheese or goat’s cheese on the toasted bread, then the cooked asparagus, followed by a drizzle of olive oil. This was inspired by a Lindsey Bareham recipe

In a risotto with other green seasonal vegetables such as broad beans, peas and spinach. Purists might prefer this recipe for simple asparagus risotto

For a twist on the traditional route, make up a lemony buttery sauce. Melt a lump of butter with the juice and grated zest of a lemon. Add some chopped chives or other herbs if you wish, and serve in a little jug with steamed asparagus spears. This recipe includes a dash of Tabasco

Anyone growing their own veg may well have some radishes and maybe even some broad beans ready to harvest by now. Here’s a recipe that combines them with asparagus in a seasonal salad.

For a deeper flavour, smear your spears with olive oil, season and roast in a hot oven for 15 minutes. Top with thin slices of parmesan while they’re still hot to make up a winning starter.

For a controversial twist to a traditional vegetable, here is a Heather Mills’ recipe for a vegan-tastic asparagus and pasta dish

Asparagus is also a tasty addition to a BBQ. Brush with olive oil and put on the grill for a couple of minutes each side. Here’s a recipe for barbecued spears with rocket, goats cheese and a lemony dressing.

Is there any time of day when asparagus isn’t welcome? Not according to this Ready Steady Cook chef who recommends that you enjoy an asparagus breakfast, topped with a fried egg. See here for recipe.

For an easy, wholesome lunch, try this miso soup recipe from Times chef Jill Dupleix. ;

The perfect place for the tough ends (which many people like to chop off) is in a stock or soup. Try this cream of asparagus soup.

Cooking tip: to steam, simply stand a tied up bunch of asparagus in three inches of boiling water, cover and cook for 3 to 6 minutes. For more tips, go to the British Asparagus website

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