Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud is happy to pay £8 for fish and chips and insists on only eating meat twice a week. He was part of the team which made London 2012 the most sustainable Olympics ever and now he is bringing his ideas to a smallholding fair in the county. Chris Price caught up with him.

The dust may have settled on Team GB’s record medal haul at the Olympics but for Kevin McCloud the real challenge still lies ahead of us.

The Grand Designs presenter was recruited by LOCOG as a sustainability ambassador tasked with making the Games as environmentally friendly as possible. His contributions helped London 2012 become the first entirely public transport Games, ensure the buildings were the most low carbon sports structures ever and made sure at least 60% of the food sold in the Olympic Park came from local producers and sellers.

However, for Kevin it’s now that the real challenges starts – especially when it comes to the future of the Olympic Park.

“A few of us who have been working with LOCOG are thinking we would like to carry on in some kind of capacity,” said Kevin, 53. “Some of us feel strongly that the great potential for the Olympic site lies in the regeneration value afterwards.

“I’ve got beyond Olympic fever already and I’m now thinking to the future.”

Some visitors to the Games may not have thanked Kevin for his input. His focus on locally-produced sustainable food meant many prices at food outlets were pushed up. It is part of his wider vision for how society can live more sustainably off the land, which he will talk about at the smallholding fair at Sissinghurst Castle this weekend.

“As a country we have got used to very cheap and mass produced food,” he said. “We have got used to buying takeaway fried chicken for pence, which comes from the Philippines in ships, from birds which are reared in extraordinarily inhuman conditions.

“We have got used to cheap bacon from Denmark, reared in poor conditions. If we knew the story of our food, we would be happy to pay more for it.”

Kevin talks extensively about food, in a way you only do when you have an intense passion for something. He practices what he preaches, only eating meat twice a week as that is what the planet can comfortably sustain. At the smallholding fair, his aim is to show people not only how much better growing your own vegetables is for the planet but how good it is for your wellbeing.

“The idea that growing your own food is an expensive middle class thing is utter tosh,” said Kevin, who lives on a farm in Somerset, where he grows his own food and makes cider. “Anyone can easily grow their own by creating a local food network, sharing food with neighbours, joining an allotment scheme or a farm shop.

“There are lots of ways to do this but in the end you need to spend no more money on your food than you do traditionally.”

“Of course it is incomplete. You are looking at a piece of a building. The gardens are beautiful and there are some wonderful walls. It is a fabulous place. I’m looking forward to going.” - Kevin on Sissinghurst Castle’s architecture.

Enthralled by a curved roof

Kevin is best known for presenting Grand Designs on Channel 4, which has a new series beginning next month. One of his favourite memories of the show is Richard Hawkes’ house at Staplehurst, a house built with a curved arch roof.

“It is a really strong building with superb energy efficiency and a curved brick roof with grass on top of it. It’s a very powerful building."

All the tips and tools you will ever need

The Sissinghurst Castle smallholding fair attracted 6,000 visitors last year, with tips and tools for growing your own vegetables in window boxes through to fully-fledged farms. About 50 stallholders will be on hand, including poultry keepers, garden machinery, animal husbandry and cider makers.

Kevin is the main speaker on a bill which also includes cookery writer Sarah Raven and Sissinghurst resident Adam Nicolson.

Kevin said: “I’ve done things on large scale, like running orchards and making cider and I have done things on a small scale, like growing vegetables in the garden. I am always amazed at just how scalable production is.

“You can scale it right down to a window box. The one thing to remember is you don’t need that much ground.

“Two or three square metres is enough to get some strawberries growing or a half square metre of maize for some sweetcorn.

“You can get some onions and lettuce in. In fact, half a square metre of lettuce, rocket and herbs will give you your salads all summer long.

“You don’t need half an acre or a full allotment. The idea of an allotment is pretty archaic because most people cannot garden a full allotment. If you don’t have a greenhouse don’t worry – you can buy a plastic cloche. There are many ways of doing it on a small scale.

“The most inspiration community gardens schemes are the ones in little pocket parks. Tiny spaces which people have invaded to grow stuff.”

The Smallholding Fair at Sissinghurst Castle, near Lamberhurst, takes place from Saturday, August 18 and Sunday, August 19 from 10.30am to 5pm. Admission £4, children £1. Regular castle Gift Aid admission £11.50, children £5.50, families £29. Call 01580 710700 or visitwww.nationaltrust.org.uk/sissinghurst