New President of the Soil Association – Monty Don

Monty Don has presented gardening and travel programmes for the past fifteen years. He is a prolific journalist, and was The Observer's gardening editor from 1994 until 2006. His bestselling books include Fork to Fork and The Jewel Garden, The Complete Gardener, and My Roots, a collection of his gardening columns from The Observer. In 2005, Monty set up a smallholding where a group of persistent offenders, mainly drug addicts, worked on the land. His book, Growing Out Of Trouble, is a powerful account of what happened. His new series, Around the World in 80 Gardens, was recently televised by the BBC.