Green Gardening

Finally watching Chelsea Flower Show on catchup, the two standouts for me were how gardening and being in open spaces can help with mental health and, secondly, the importance of growing food sustainably.

Camfed's Giving Girls In Africa A Space To Grow highlighted climate change hardy super-crops which are resilient to pests, diseases and dry spells as well as being fortified with vitamins.

The Montessori Centenary Children's Garden encouraged children to pick flowers, eat edible flowers and herbs, watch pond life and learn about future technology with plants being grown under artificial light.

Gardening Will Save The World by Tom Dixon and IKEA showcased plants with medicinal, health and environmental benefits as well as those growing using hydroponic technology which is a method of growing plants without soil.

Right in the heart of London there is a tunnel 33m below ground where salad leaves and herbs are sown onto a kind of mat and kept in the dark. Once sprouting, they are placed under LED lights. The benefits are that intense flavours are grown in a short space of time. Growing in these circumstances mean there are no insects and the plants are not prone to disease, therefore eliminating the need for pesticides and other harmful chemicals.

It's good to see how diets may be improved in Africa, how our future generation will understand the benefits of looking after the earth and how science and technology may be the way forward in providing food for the planet in the future.

Planet Potential

This week marks the 93rd birthday of global treasure, broadcaster and natural historian, David Attenborough. He has brought wildlife and plant life to our screens for many decades and his most recent Netflix series, Our Planet, is both fascinating and frightening. When Sir stands in front of us and declares that we have only a matter of years left to protect and save our world, we had better pay attention.

Series producer Keith Scholey tells us that the next 20 years are critical and that it's not just about saving our wildlife, it's about saving ourselves.

At the same time Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg has told MPs that her future has been "stolen" and has rallied other students to protest about climate change. 

So, the elderly and the young seem to understand the need to act, and fast, but what about the middle ground? Extinction Rebellion, the climate change activists, have also increased public awareness with their peaceful protests in London.

So we have just had local elections in the UK and the results are a real shake-up for the two main parties, the Lib Dems being the biggest winners and the Green Party making progress. Brexit is probably the main culprit and the public honestly don't know which way to vote.

For those of us wanting to save the planet, we need clear leadership. We need someone at the helm to make recycling compulsory and consistent, someone to ban the production of non-recyclables, someone to give us clear rules to follow. If we are all singing from the same (bird)song sheet we can reduce our carbon footprint.

If you want to vote this week, try this, from Michael Pollan, author, journalist and activist;

"The wonderful thing about food is you get three votes a day.
Each one has the potential to change the world."

All Change

The weather here in Yorkshire has consisted of sunshine and showers (of rain, hail and snow) with a topping of wind this weekend. So far so March. In February we saw unseasonably warm temperatures with blue skies and sunshine. So nice so wrong.

Climate Change is happening right under our noses and we need to address it sooner rather than later and our food choices have a massive impact on our planet. 

Beef and dairy production are most harmful with 28 billion animals globally producing potent methane gas. A cow, with every breath and burp (not to mention emissions from the other end), produces 600 litres of methane every day. Methane warms the planet and so temperatures rise.

The answer? 

Stop/cut down on beef and dairy products - tick if you're veggie & double tick if you're vegan

Buy British produce rather than anything flown in

Buy seasonal produce or grow your own

Buy/eat a plant based diet

Obviously it's not the only answer but if everyone makes a few changes it will make a difference. Spread the word.