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A lot of people, indeed, most, believe that organic food is better for you and for the planet than conventional food, but this doesn’t usually equate to action, i.e. this is what they buy, particularly if it is more expensive and money is short.

Monty Don, in an interview in The Guardian says that the Soil Association is regarded as being “for wealthy, middle-class people indulging in their penchant for peasant food”. He says that intends to slay this view, partly by helping to steer the association towards adopting a more inclusive, advisory persona, as well as nurturing a “for the people” public image.

He adds that a revival of the “dig for victory” ethos offers, many environmental, health and economic benefits, not least at a time when sales of organic food have, as reported in the Guardian yesterday, fallen by a fifth since February due to the collective tightening of belts. “We need to use our horticultural skills – which are second to none in the world – to grow food,” he says. “It’s really important to get people aware of just how tenuous our food supply really is.”

He says: “We don’t value food in Britain, so therefore the cheaper it is the better it is. We all eat far too much, we all pay far too little for our food. We have environmental problems, we have health problems, we have food transport problems.

“All one can do in the face of [criticism] is to say, ‘You are entitled to your view, but these are things that need to be addressed’. The enemy or opponent we are taking on …” Just as Don is reaching the zenith of his battle cry, he is interrupted by shrieks from the kitchen. A grass snake has slithered under the counter and triggered mild panic, not least in the family’s golden retriever puppy. Don coolly takes a pair of kitchen tongs, gently pincers the snake by its head, and carries it back out into the garden. Crisis over.

He picks up the thread: “By far the most dynamic age group growing food is the 28- to 38-year-olds, which is historically not a gardening age group. I think that most people are aware that it takes so much oil and water to produce what they’re eating. But the problem is inherent within the solution, in so much as you don’t want to tell people what to do. But you do want to encourage, enthuse and inform them.”

So will this lead him to host a campaigning television series, perhaps in the mould of Channel 4’s much-discussed week of programmes in January about the chicken industry fronted by Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall?

“Yes, it’s on the cards. Due to being ill, I put a stop to all work and officially I haven’t committed myself to anything. But the danger is that by being on television you become part of the institution. I like the idea of fifth columnists and subversion. You don’t stand on a podium with a loud-hailer telling people what to do, which the British absolutely hate. You’ve got to somehow get under the skin of the system and make lots and lots of small changes.”

Don sees himself helping to nurture networks of community gardeners who exchange seeds, labour, tools and time in order to grow food – in part inspired by al-Qaida. “This terrifying, disastrous evil has actually usurped and upset the whole system. It makes you ask: what were they doing right? Well, they just bypassed, they stepped aside, they’re just not there. You need to join together, not delegate … to a government body.”

Don’s huge distrust of politicians is much evident. “My experience of working with government has not been fruitful, I have to say. I’m not aligned to any party, although, like many people, I feel very disillusioned by the current government, but don’t feel very hopeful over any alternative. Power is not the right bit of kit to do this job. It’s about going after the hearts and minds. Yes, there will always be: ‘Why should this wealthy TV wanker tell me what to do?’ and it’s not a bad question. Why should I? But I think you’ve just got to allow people to reject what you say.”

One proposal Don suggests to help the Soil Association reach a wider audience is to reconsider the use of the term “organic”. “It’s an albatross. Organic is loaded with a sense of rightness, with a set of rules. I would much rather someone bought food that was local and sustainable but not organic than bought organic food that had to be shipped across the world. We’ve got to move away from making people feel lesser because they’re not [eating] organic. There is no doubt about it, ’sustainable’ is a better expression for the same sorts of ideas than ‘organic’.”

Don sits upright, apparently in the mood to slay further sacred cows. So what about GM food, previously an over-my-dead-body issue for the Soil Association? “It’s there to be debated,” he says. “You can’t just say it’s bad because it’s bad. Plant breeding has been going on for millennia and it’s a gradual process. At the moment I feel not nearly enough research is being done on the effects of GM and I have no faith at all in the goodwill of the producers and their motives. [But] my overall feeling is that I would not discount anything.”

So is this new, blood-pumping, campaigning role really going to offer him the stress-free life his doctors no doubt recommend? He says he will take it slowly at first, but that he already feels buoyed and renewed by the thought of challenge ahead: “I do feel optimistic. But I also feel that I’m 53, both my parents died in their sixties, and you’ve got to leave this world in a better place that you find it…. and not just give in.”

He is only saying what others, from all different walks of life, beliefs, etc are saying. It can be said that Belonging, be it part of a family, a group with shared interests, concerns, etc is “Programmed into our Genes” and we function best when we are. We want to know people, and to know that they do not view us as a source of money but are genuinely there to help.