History of food :
Organically grown food was the only kind of food existent in India and most of world till about the 1950’s. Infact, the practices associated with organic farming were developed over centuries of humans practicing agriculture.
In around the 1950’s we faced some of the most severe famines, as did most of the world. Apparently. Norman Borlaug spawned the Green Revolution in Mexico in 1945. He set out to save the world’s hunger – with modified grains and cereals and chemical fertilizers and pesticides for all.
The revolution worked, really well for a long time, with food production going into surplus. The produce increased, as did the population and seemingly their appetites for the chemically infused foods and the old ways were conveniently forgotten.
And then, the real effects of the revolution began to show – deadened lands, farmers in debt and poison being pumped into the environment everyday. Everyone talks about Organic farming saving the day – but its hard to feed the population of billions from a farm that relies purely on nature…
ACKSON AT DRISHYA (graphic novel bit 2) - About Jackson, the real deal on use of pesticides. – Types of sustainable gardening, Statistics on amounts of pesticides and fertilizers kg/ ha used in countries, and number of organic farms in countries. Time line mapping the progress agriculture and food sector up until the recent years. The Drishya plants – what’s grown and the process – The grey water system being built.
J: That’s pure bullshit I hope you know. Well, most of it is.
Me: No its not, that’s how it happened, things were organically grown from the ancient times, things got bad because of draughts and famines and the green revolution fed the hungry… And its still popular because organic farming can’t pro…
Jackson shakes his head dismissively.
J: The green revolution and this crap about feeding the hungry is a bag full dog crap. Yes the hybrid seeds were great for a while and worked real good with the insecticides, pesticides and the fertilizers and we jumped over the pot hole, but we did that only to land into a larger one.
Me: There were famines! One can look up any history and see that…
J: Yes, There were famines, but there were plenty of draughts and famines before that, ever wonder why the green revolution didn’t come before? And the practices of organic farming were lost way before the green revolution began – The industrial revolution itself changed the way crops were cultivated. Monoculture had permeated the farming circles leaving the crops susceptible to diseases and very vulnerable during any changes in weather patterns.
Me: Okay, so the green revolution didn’t come about to help the poor and the hungry… why did come around then?
Jackson: First of all there isn’t anything called the green revolution. It’s a false terminology coined to sell off these so called “revolutionary inventions” to farmers around the world.
See after the second world war ended the governments of the countries at war esp. the USA, were left with these tremendous surplus of warfare chemicals, mostly ammonium nitrate. Ammonium nitrate also happens to be an excellent source of nitrogen for plants. Now they needed to keep the chemical companies runninf, incase of another war and yet do away with the sulplus. So first they thought of spraying America’s forests with the surplus chemical, to help out the timber industry. But agronomists in the Department of Agriculture had a better idea: Spread the ammonium nitrate on farmland as fertilizer. They ofcourse started the xperimentation OUTSIDE their soil, in mexico – where the “green revolution” first started. People had also been working on producing better and hardier hybrids of grains by then. So armed with these better grains Norman Borlaug, sowed the seeds of chemical agriculture in Mexico. Ofcourse the produce increased with the better seed varieties and the diseases subsided for the time being, so the whole world, especially the third world countries picked up on the revolution.
Jackson waits for me to ask a vaguely intelligent question as I stumble over words and thoughts.
Me: w – what?... So what we’re wating today was used to kill people before – I mean all the nerve gasses and the bomb constituents?...
J: Didn’t really stop there, the Vietnam war introduced even deadlier chemicals which are not used in lawns – ever heard of agent orange?...
I shake my head and look pretty much petrified.
J: well its sold as 2- 4- d, mostly banned in the USA by now, but India still uses it pretty thoughtlessly. This chemical was used as a part of “herbicidal warfare” in Vietnam. They sprayed the entire forest and villages with this chemical and people developed cancers and grotesque mutations…
Me: (shudders) – Alright I get it. So, If we know all of this why not just change? I mean I know the yields are smaller in an organic farm …
J: again, not true – the same yields of grains can be grown organically with lesser energy and no pesticides… In fact right now in India you have enough food produce to feed each member of the population sufficiently. Just most of it is lost because of negligence during storage and transportation.
Me: really? Then why are we still stuck here?
J: Because the market has already introduced crops into the agricultural sector that are highly dependant on these pesticides and fertilizers and all these year of monoculture have sapped whatever fertility and nutrition was there in the soils. And even if someone does start farming organically, the water system already has tones of chemical pumping into it and cross pollination always happens and the winds carry these chemicals across…
Me: well yeah, that’s why the farmers now are in such huge debt – nothings growing and they have to keep buying more and more fertilizers and new seeds. Wow, and all those mutations up in Punjab and farmer villages up north!! You think…
J (shrugs): quite possibly…
Alright, now stop walking around on the newly laid bricks…
Me : Whoops, what exactly are you working on out here?
J: A grey water system. Now go help out in the garden. Shoo.
Me: Hmmm, I’ll be back with more questions later though.
J: (grunts).
The grey water system.
The garden.
Agricultural timeline :
Neolithic/ prehistoric age - 10000 B.C onwards This was the age of agricultural innovations as many new tools and practices were invented due to compulsion of planting, sustaining and harvesting the crops. Use of wooden and earthen tools as well as some domesticated animals are major highlights of this period.
- first evidence of crop harvest
- 7000 BC – Cattle and Poultry Farming.
- American agriculture develops
Religious references -
- Ramayana – “All dead things – rotting corpse/ vile garbage returned to earth are transformed into whole some things that nourish the earth. Such is the alchemy of mother earth.”
- Mahabharata (5500 bc) – “The celestial cow provides the soil with fertility.”
Historical age – 2500 BC onwards It marks the introduction of metals in agricultural tool making.
Mechanicals improvements in agricultural implements and development of storage and irrigation method marks the highlight of this age. For the first time, trade in agriculture also started, becoming the precursor to modern agribusiness industry.
- Windmills built in Babylon.
- Rig veda – “Feed the soil as you feed yourself.
Feudal age – 500 BC – 1700 AD This period is chiefly characterized by expansion of agriculture and irrigation and consolidation of agricultural methods. Use of fertilizers, in form of natural manures to boost production was a major breakthrough of this period.
-alcohol, sugar, coffee and other such processed foods were introduced to the world.
- Holy Quran – “Give back to the soil a part of what you take from it.”
Scientific Age : 1800 onwards The world was seeing a rapid rise in its population. This was also the age of imperial expansions in Asia, Africa, Americas and oceanic countries.
These led to exploration of new methods and practices in agriculture. It also resulted in increased attention on commercial form of agriculture that was based solely on profit than subsistence purposes. Agriculture trade assumed global proportions and many new economies thrived on specialized production of one or other agricultural products. The modern inventions in biotechnology and genetics that have completely changed the form of agriculture production. New variants of seeds and plants are manufactured in laboratories and genetically modified to suit particular consumption and commercial needs.
1860 – 70 – Louis Pasteur – pasteurization of milk
1945 – WW2 ends, Green revolution in Mexico.
1972 – International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movement.
2000 – GMO goes world wide.
2000 – 2005 – world population doubles.
2005 – 2006
26 mn hectares on land is under organic agriculture in the world.
It’s a 36 billion US $ industry.
2.5 mn hectares are in India, With most of it being exported to the US where 30% of the demand stems from.
2008 - 2009 – N Korea using the highest amount of fertilizers in the world faces complete starvation of its population. India, Bangaladest and countries in south and Eouth East Asia are headed for similar times.
2005
Pesticide use kg/ha
USA – 1.50
Japan – 10.80
Korea – 16.60
China – 2.25
India – 0.38
2002-03
Country Fertilizer used (kg/ ha) Population (billion)
Korea 357 0.004
Japan 247 0.012
Netherlands 172 0.001
Bangladesh 158 0.014
Germany 153 0. 08
Pakistan 109 0.014
UK 106 0.005
India 89 1.049
China 71 1.302
USA 47 0.030
Australia 5 0.001
Karnataka – 2nd highest fertilizer use in the country - 74.90 kg/ha
Friday, July 24, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Background 1 and 2 content
· BEFORE WE BEGIN 1- Introduction to organics - what the word means,
Keywords :
Organic -
or·gan·ic (ôr-găn'ĭk)
adj.
Of, relating to, or derived from living organisms: organic matter.
Organic products (food, fiber, clothing)
prod·uct (prŏd'əkt)
n.
“Produced according to certain production standards, meaning they are grown withough the use of conventional pesticides, artificial fertilizers, human waste and sewage sludge and that they were processed without ionizing radiation or food additives.”
Used as in :
Organic products must test negative on the following :
- use of antibiotics
- synthetic hormones
- genetic modification
- cloning
- irradiation
- sewage sludge
- preservatives
- artificial ingredients
Organic farming
Farm.ing
n.
Viewing your farm or garden as a single living and breathing Organism – where every element and basic component – the farmer, the consumer, the soil, the plants, the insects, the birds and the water all come together to form a coherent unit that is self regulating and stable and thrives by relying on minimal external inputs. It’s a practice of feeding the soil and nurturing the earth and its gifts to us.
Used as in :
Organic farming is big talk on the grape vines in the present times. It’s the new way to produce food, spices, clothes, paper: a whole new life up for grabs on the market for people who can afford it. Sadly, no one knows enough about the current lifestyle that we lead to know why we need make any changes.
BEFORE WE BEGIN 2- The principles of Organic Farming - monoculture and its adverse effects, when the shift happened to the current ways of farming, and the green revolution story and when it began in
The currently popular method of food production :
Monoculture
mon·o·cul·ture (mŏn'ə-kŭl'chər)
n.
A single, homogeneous culture without diversity or dissension. It refers to culturing or growing a single species or crop/ plant repeatedly on the same piece of land.Much like a car factory, only dealing with food. This practice uses about as much petroleum and oil as most car factories in the world combined.
Used as in:
1. To be identified as a product of monoculture it must test negative for being responsible for the following:
- Preservation of soil fertility
- Increase in variety of food
- Decrease in agricultural pollution
- Reduce in fossil fuel waste
- Supporting locally produced food
- Supporting the small farmers.
2. “Our entire agricultural system is built on cheap oil, as a consequence out agricultural sector actually is contributing more green house gases than our transportation sector – and in the mean time its creating monocultures that are vulnerable to national security threats – that are also now vulnerable to sky high food prices OR crashes in food prices, huge swings in commodity prices and are partly responsible for the explosion in out healthcare costs. Because they are contributing to type – 2 diabetes, obesity and heart disease…”
- Barrack Obama, President of
Script - Karuna Farms
(Its cloudy and chilly as ever out here at the Kodiakanal bus stop.
I reached here, after a 12 hour journey – wait for my carriage to arrive. A classic old jeep which I share with the driver’s toddler. Still half asleep and hardly gotten over the bus ride shakiness I’m bounced all the way down to Karuna Farms - Neville's organic coffee estate. Neville’s busy when i arrive and I'm shown to my little cottage.
As the days go on I’m told that 20 years ago that place used to be a cow shed… that would explain all the cows grazing right outside my door. Its beautiful outside and in, the cottage is quaint and over looks a patch with banana palm, an avocado tree, a bunch of coffee plants and path that goes towards the cottages of other people who live around the forested plantations. I’m left to my own thoughts for a good hour- I freshen up and think of what the hell I’m going to ask this man.
There is a knock on the door and I’m summoned for tea and a talk to Neville's cottage. )
(I’m staring out the porch at this cliff with conifers growing on top, the last time I came here the clouds had settled so heavily upon these mountains that one wasn’t even aware of the landscape around. Almost as in a island of isolated existence. That feeling is lifted as this time I can make out the shapes of far off hills and the villages set within. )
Me: umm, I’m unsure of what this place is about Neville – How did you begin? What do you grow?
N: The farm started 23 years ago. Not as farm though just as a vegetable garden. It soon became a part of a group of 10 people who were trying to create a market for organic food in Kodaikanal. Almost like a movement. We wanted to escape the madding crowds of the city seeing how they were running towards the wrong end of the spectrum.
(The expanse of 20 acres belong to the farm is a palette of all shades of greens, blending into dark blues, specked with vibrating dots of pinks, yellows, purple and whites of the wild flowers. All this through a thin gauze of mists and clouds lolling around low over the valley.)
Me: You bought 20 acres of land for a vegetable garden?
N: I see the chemical food in the city has left you pretty dim… Its okay, it took all of us a while to get those brain numbing, body eating substances out our bodies.
NO! This whole patch of land isn’t mine. Its sprawls over such a large area as families keep coming and joining in our endeavour.
I’d bought a large part of it though, and it was amazing what this soil could grow. Blueberries grow wild here!! But it was hard trying to make room for organic products in the market, especially then when people were looking at the industry to save their very lives. You know, show them the light.
Trying to even get organic fertilizers and manure was a pain… EVERYTHING had chemicals in it. I saw true poverty and hunger then, but you know, I never gave up tending to my land. And now its grown to this living breathing and constantly growing creature which feeds me, my few other and all the other families that have built their abodes in there.
Me: Well what changed? And how did you finally manage to get it going? Did you run around spraying seeds across this land and hope they’d grow?
N: Haha! Well something like that initially… I won’t deny screaming – FREEDOM- and running down the valleys scattering seeds.
But no, I kept taking loans, attending workshops… seven of my partner absconded, and asked me to give up as well, told me to give up on my foolish dreams. I did give up… I gave up farming for economics. And then suddenly, when all my focus was on creating a sustainable environment within this place, it started blossoming. I never tried encroaching on the lands of the native people living around here, and I still make sure we have enough indigenous tree around.
It was just about knowing your land, you trees and yourself. It’s a pretty simple system that nature is based on – but we’ve gotten so far removed from it that feeding ourselves without depending on the market becomes a problem.
(
He stops for a breather an a sip of his tea while I scribble away trying to keep up with him. )
He continues with a chuckle, “The morons who left then are now left with dead lands and in debt… and look at me – the recession barely affected me. I’m not saying its easy… its become EASIER. Its still hard, we do depend on the outside world for the upkeep of this place… no human lives in isolation.
But we do our best to be as self dependant as possible. Everyone in is DOING something for the community – we have a yoga hall that’s being built. With mud, straw, cow dung and wood – so the vibes there are pure. We have healers, musicians – Alex is building something called the earth ship and his girlfriend has started a Steiner school for children. And what I’m really proud of is the fact that we’re completely off the grid – solar panels and storage batteries and all our waste is composted or reused.
Me: You make it sound almost easy… you’ve set up your own little world here – separate from the others. It really is like an island of hope you know…
N: Hah! Yes that’s what it is… and more.
Me : I think its funny how, all these things – the sustainability and organic food endeavour is still associated a little with the hippies… but its spreading in the west and a bit over here as an elitist thing. Like people have to be rich to live holistically.
N: We had the manager of The Grateful Dead come up here once – and a boy who living with us then told him that the hippies were dying out as was their flower power. And he told him that the flower power wasn’t even in bloom yet. You see all we hippies had done was sown the seeds then for the future. All these “trends” that people are picking up on were a part of our lifestyle before – in India. That’s why the hippies came here – they saw hope in spirituality, peace, yoga, vegans, I- ching and the small communities living in harmony with each other and their environment.
THAT is the future. Eating, dancing, healing and developing a stable relationship with what was given to us is the future. Now a cloned PIG or a sheep or even your nuclear plants. People are on a self destructive path now.
This technologically developed generation isn’t sustainable – it will crack and crumble and your planes will crash.
WE are setting the base for the the future.... Its not like we live in isolation from the science and technological advancements... we use the basics - GPS, the Internet, blogs and websites - but we play smart and we power these appliances with solar panels - we generate our own power and store the excess. We are ideological not fanatical.
Fanaticism makes you blind.
They can run around doing what they do, things are going to get progressively worse but a large part of the people will still be blind to it - BUT WHEN THE SHIT HITS THE FAN - hell, you can't eat nuts and bolts.
Already we’re faced with complete starvation of the people – look at North Korea – they HAVE NO FOOD TO EAT. What do your mobile phones and big cars do for them then?
Me : You know when someone… anyone talks about sustainability and simplistic living back in Bangalore – people look at you like you’re stupid. I mean my own friends – who are educated and aware make fun of green peace activists and they just can’t grasp why I would walk or take a bus instead of an auto ride. They see it as a big sacrifice to do the simplest and most basic of things. I don’t really understand that psyche… and I guess they don’t understand mine either…
N: Yes, see… they’re only moving along a path which is right for them. And only them. The future, the others don’t matter and that’s a psyche that has been adopted from the west.
People in the countries with the developed economies are driven by the wrong thing… the wrong fuel. And they use the media to propagate their psyche of dissatisfaction.
We are controlled by our minds… but our minds are controlled by intelligence and what controls the intelligence – it’s the ego. And these people have unbalances and perverse ego of immediate gratification and the I WANT.
They are making you believe that this lifestyle is the best suited for EVERYONE and the media has you worshipping false idol.
Here in Karuna farms we try to achieve some sort of a balance...
Me : Yes, my friends back home are mourning the death of Michael Jackson… I mean the guy sang well, was popular …
N: Michael Jackson… well he was talented. I listened to his music too… but that man, if you can call him that anymore went absolutely crazy with his success in hand. He became a degenerate. All he propagated in the end was consumerism, popularity and chemical unnatural lifestyle. He lived in negativity and died in it. He died in DEBT, so forget being spiritually actualised the man didn’t even succeed in the materialistic world.
And as for your friends and the Indian youth in general – You’re all 20 years behind – While the west goes on to adopt our old ways we fall even deeper in this abyss of economic growth. Everyone wants to add to the economy and make India a “Super power”. To what end? By simply becoming more and more unnatural.
What they don’t realize is that the environmental repercussions are going to snowball, sooner than they would like to believe. They need to be a little more far sighted and be SELFISH if you have to be. Make these changes for yourselves.
Me: Well these ideologies, they’re connected with the dirty hippies and well, drugs.
N: Well lets face it, its true. But the nasha has to change. Alcohol is the current nasha – which the market and government is only too happy with. It makes you aggressive and want more. The more expensive your alcohol the better you look with it. People buy more and more alcohol as the craving for it can get insatiable. People associate it with relief, fun and a sociable lifestyle. Which is pure bullshit. It’s the nasha of the consumerist lifestyle.
Ganja is the complete opposite – it makes you passive and content with what you have. An old pair of jeans and some food to eat is what you’d be satisfied with and it makes you question everyday life and routine. You can grow you own and hardly need to be dependant on damn supermarket for it.
And its absolutely natural – so suddenly you appreciate nature and environment a little bit more.
This mind set of the "dirty - hippie" came later... when even that lifestyle too started getting consumerist and bastardised - politicised rather.
Its two opposite lives and mind sets - what we need to achieve is not the black or the white - but a shade of green in between…
Am I going too fast?”
I stop scribbling and I notice I’m bent over with my tongue stuck out between my teeth bent completely over my piece of paper.
Me : Oh no, This is great… rant… I mean talk on.
N: Well anyway – Today’s big war truly is Economic Growth v/s Nature - not the little 9/11 and terrorist attacks and other such skirmishes. All these small communal fights and a few people dying because of greed and neglect, they’ll stop mattering when we don’t have anything to eat.
Our basic needs are still the same and we are like animals... like sheep, following the leader of the herd but the leader of this herd is blind or halfway there... they will all follow him into the ditch. Let them fall... that's when they'll wake up.
But there is fortunately a difference between us and animals. We can create and shape out own destiny, so we are in fact responsible for our actions. However, in spite of our scientific outlook, our calculation have gone skewed, somewhere far back.
So I guess spirituality is needed somewhere, to guide our mind to do the more sensible thing. People have forgotten about their spirituality. Its all about the connection each person makes with the earth, the universe and one another. They share a collective unconscious as well a responsibility towards one another. See the thought of karma and ones fate after death is ingrained in us an this land. You can ignore, but can you escape it?
This is the negative age, where people have forgotten themselves and their core, but its coming to an end one way or the other. We an opportunity to pick ourselves up.
The flower power isn't dead - its flowers are just about blossoming. Some seeds have gotten picked away by the birds – but some are still around. We started this and YOU the flowers... its up to you to spread the color and vibrant energy already.
Me: ut, there's only so many of us… and so many more of them and they keep reproducing and making armies of themselves…
N: Yes, the consumerists are predominant, but the 10 - 15% count on the cosmic level.
You can’t blame the people making these armies, they’re scared of being anything but what they are told to become.
The west has been propagating disinformation and a false illusion of what a successful life is- an illusion they propagate through the TV. They have made us believe that their life is better and their people are more beautiful, happier... but there are beautiful and ugly people every where... physically and otherwise. TV is an amazingly powerful medium- hell even the commies sold out eventually.
Me: it all sounds pretty bleak to me.
N: Well, they call me the prophet of doom - but the planet is destined for change...
All the tsunamis and earthquakes and draughts are just a small knock on our head coming from mother nature. She’s just disciplining us, her children. But of course people want to forget the hurricane Katrinas and go back to living “normally”.
We're falling in a trap of lies - blaming the swine flu on a poor pig... and AIDS from a monkey... HAH.
Its their damn chemical companies, that screwed up somewhere... pigs, hah!... LIARS!!
And this GMO ... they're playing with GENES we couldn't interfere more with the laws of nature and life.
They are still naïve, even they could have made great things... positive things, but they are trained and leashed up by the people with the money.
They come up with things which are filled with chemicals themselves and make us more dependant on the drug industry, oh it’s a beautifully structured system they’ve come up with... They’re making us pay for things that are bad for us so we can then buy the things to undo the effects of the things we had previously bought.
But the west is now smartening up... Obama is going to clean up America and shit on us. People here are easy to manipulate... just show the donkeys the carrot made from western money and they hee - haw all the way running blindly after it.
Look at Chindabaram - he was to make us a SUPERPOWER? He's doesn't even know what that means, all we'll be doing is falling deeper into the ditch dug up by the west.
Me: well money, money, money is a pretty popular mantra…
N: There is such disparity in the way money has been distributed in this country. There’s Ambani - the rich bastard - is sick rich, off OUR money - the billion people of India and has absolutely no clue what to do with it. And then there the real people, who are actually working everyday of their lives but can’t get access to a decent meal for the day.
I had money... i made good use of it - didn't lose a thing during recession - but i still face difficulties with farm... all you have to do is patiently tend to the problems and return to the good days again. We shut down an American factory here, dumping mercury into the lakes - we have proof of the corruption in the damn supreme court! Who do the people turn to? Its this helplessness that makes people turn their backs and deny the presence of any real issues.
We won that one... but then ten more such pop up.
I feel satisfaction in knowing that i haven't just been fighting a system... but created an alternative one as well.
Me: well coming back to here and now and mainly my project, Do you really think its important to distance oneself from the city to lead a sustainable lifestyle?
I’m talking about Bangalore in specific.
Neville – Man, Bangalore used to be amazing – amazing open culture, superb bands and the most mind blowing parties. The weather was great and that place was GREEN. They’re going to have it pretty easy to go back to better ways, in fact you have better access to a lot more resources than you do here.
Me: Well its barely the same, People don’t want us to dance, live band shows are becoming more and more rare. And well the trees are mostly gone…
N: No… that’s not true. Is it?
Me: … There’s still hope for the city though, pretty much why I’m doing this.
N: well they can do plenty of things to help.
Urban sustainability -
• Everyone go 10% down on their consumption.
• Take time to value yourself, your life and the place that you live in... just take a moment to breath.
• The cities don't need to go - they just need to prioritise and scale up on the sustainable way of life - even the way the building are built can reduce out carbon footprint by miles - if done the right way ofcourse.- use solar panel, solar water heating systems, harvest rainwater.
Its all there for us now, the awareness, people who are willing to help, the technology. We just have to be willing to move the right way.
Me: Well and those who can’t do it on their own can come here huh?
N: Haha, they’d get a pretty hands on experience out here… I’m going to go … a bit busy right now.
He goes, sits cross legged on a fallen tree log next to the creek, closes his eyes and leaves me to find my way back to my cottage.
K. Farms and its history - 20 different kinds of fruits grow on this farm - apart from the indigenous plants and trees which are given a lot of importance, so as to keep the local vegetation alive. [kalyana murunge - for nitrogen and shade; Bananas - every part of this tree is useful for medicinal purposes as well as consumption as food; coffee - the main estate product,
Avocado and Jackfruit for shade and food, similarly the Oranges, lemon and sweet lime AND cardamom + Another part of the estate has blue berries, peaches, plums, guavas, custard apples, tomatoes , cherries and pomegranate] - All of these trees need each others and so does the soil.
I reached here, after a 12 hour journey – wait for my carriage to arrive. A classic old jeep which I share with the driver’s toddler. Still half asleep and hardly gotten over the bus ride shakiness I’m bounced all the way down to Karuna Farms - Neville's organic coffee estate. Neville’s busy when i arrive and I'm shown to my little cottage.
As the days go on I’m told that 20 years ago that place used to be a cow shed… that would explain all the cows grazing right outside my door. Its beautiful outside and in, the cottage is quaint and over looks a patch with banana palm, an avocado tree, a bunch of coffee plants and path that goes towards the cottages of other people who live around the forested plantations. I’m left to my own thoughts for a good hour- I freshen up and think of what the hell I’m going to ask this man.
There is a knock on the door and I’m summoned for tea and a talk to Neville's cottage. )
(I’m staring out the porch at this cliff with conifers growing on top, the last time I came here the clouds had settled so heavily upon these mountains that one wasn’t even aware of the landscape around. Almost as in a island of isolated existence. That feeling is lifted as this time I can make out the shapes of far off hills and the villages set within. )
Me: umm, I’m unsure of what this place is about Neville – How did you begin? What do you grow?
N: The farm started 23 years ago. Not as farm though just as a vegetable garden. It soon became a part of a group of 10 people who were trying to create a market for organic food in Kodaikanal. Almost like a movement. We wanted to escape the madding crowds of the city seeing how they were running towards the wrong end of the spectrum.
(The expanse of 20 acres belong to the farm is a palette of all shades of greens, blending into dark blues, specked with vibrating dots of pinks, yellows, purple and whites of the wild flowers. All this through a thin gauze of mists and clouds lolling around low over the valley.)
Me: You bought 20 acres of land for a vegetable garden?
N: I see the chemical food in the city has left you pretty dim… Its okay, it took all of us a while to get those brain numbing, body eating substances out our bodies.
NO! This whole patch of land isn’t mine. Its sprawls over such a large area as families keep coming and joining in our endeavour.
I’d bought a large part of it though, and it was amazing what this soil could grow. Blueberries grow wild here!! But it was hard trying to make room for organic products in the market, especially then when people were looking at the industry to save their very lives. You know, show them the light.
Trying to even get organic fertilizers and manure was a pain… EVERYTHING had chemicals in it. I saw true poverty and hunger then, but you know, I never gave up tending to my land. And now its grown to this living breathing and constantly growing creature which feeds me, my few other and all the other families that have built their abodes in there.
Me: Well what changed? And how did you finally manage to get it going? Did you run around spraying seeds across this land and hope they’d grow?
N: Haha! Well something like that initially… I won’t deny screaming – FREEDOM- and running down the valleys scattering seeds.
But no, I kept taking loans, attending workshops… seven of my partner absconded, and asked me to give up as well, told me to give up on my foolish dreams. I did give up… I gave up farming for economics. And then suddenly, when all my focus was on creating a sustainable environment within this place, it started blossoming. I never tried encroaching on the lands of the native people living around here, and I still make sure we have enough indigenous tree around.
It was just about knowing your land, you trees and yourself. It’s a pretty simple system that nature is based on – but we’ve gotten so far removed from it that feeding ourselves without depending on the market becomes a problem.
(
He stops for a breather an a sip of his tea while I scribble away trying to keep up with him. )
He continues with a chuckle, “The morons who left then are now left with dead lands and in debt… and look at me – the recession barely affected me. I’m not saying its easy… its become EASIER. Its still hard, we do depend on the outside world for the upkeep of this place… no human lives in isolation.
But we do our best to be as self dependant as possible. Everyone in is DOING something for the community – we have a yoga hall that’s being built. With mud, straw, cow dung and wood – so the vibes there are pure. We have healers, musicians – Alex is building something called the earth ship and his girlfriend has started a Steiner school for children. And what I’m really proud of is the fact that we’re completely off the grid – solar panels and storage batteries and all our waste is composted or reused.
Me: You make it sound almost easy… you’ve set up your own little world here – separate from the others. It really is like an island of hope you know…
N: Hah! Yes that’s what it is… and more.
Me : I think its funny how, all these things – the sustainability and organic food endeavour is still associated a little with the hippies… but its spreading in the west and a bit over here as an elitist thing. Like people have to be rich to live holistically.
N: We had the manager of The Grateful Dead come up here once – and a boy who living with us then told him that the hippies were dying out as was their flower power. And he told him that the flower power wasn’t even in bloom yet. You see all we hippies had done was sown the seeds then for the future. All these “trends” that people are picking up on were a part of our lifestyle before – in India. That’s why the hippies came here – they saw hope in spirituality, peace, yoga, vegans, I- ching and the small communities living in harmony with each other and their environment.
THAT is the future. Eating, dancing, healing and developing a stable relationship with what was given to us is the future. Now a cloned PIG or a sheep or even your nuclear plants. People are on a self destructive path now.
This technologically developed generation isn’t sustainable – it will crack and crumble and your planes will crash.
WE are setting the base for the the future.... Its not like we live in isolation from the science and technological advancements... we use the basics - GPS, the Internet, blogs and websites - but we play smart and we power these appliances with solar panels - we generate our own power and store the excess. We are ideological not fanatical.
Fanaticism makes you blind.
They can run around doing what they do, things are going to get progressively worse but a large part of the people will still be blind to it - BUT WHEN THE SHIT HITS THE FAN - hell, you can't eat nuts and bolts.
Already we’re faced with complete starvation of the people – look at North Korea – they HAVE NO FOOD TO EAT. What do your mobile phones and big cars do for them then?
Me : You know when someone… anyone talks about sustainability and simplistic living back in Bangalore – people look at you like you’re stupid. I mean my own friends – who are educated and aware make fun of green peace activists and they just can’t grasp why I would walk or take a bus instead of an auto ride. They see it as a big sacrifice to do the simplest and most basic of things. I don’t really understand that psyche… and I guess they don’t understand mine either…
N: Yes, see… they’re only moving along a path which is right for them. And only them. The future, the others don’t matter and that’s a psyche that has been adopted from the west.
People in the countries with the developed economies are driven by the wrong thing… the wrong fuel. And they use the media to propagate their psyche of dissatisfaction.
We are controlled by our minds… but our minds are controlled by intelligence and what controls the intelligence – it’s the ego. And these people have unbalances and perverse ego of immediate gratification and the I WANT.
They are making you believe that this lifestyle is the best suited for EVERYONE and the media has you worshipping false idol.
Here in Karuna farms we try to achieve some sort of a balance...
Me : Yes, my friends back home are mourning the death of Michael Jackson… I mean the guy sang well, was popular …
N: Michael Jackson… well he was talented. I listened to his music too… but that man, if you can call him that anymore went absolutely crazy with his success in hand. He became a degenerate. All he propagated in the end was consumerism, popularity and chemical unnatural lifestyle. He lived in negativity and died in it. He died in DEBT, so forget being spiritually actualised the man didn’t even succeed in the materialistic world.
And as for your friends and the Indian youth in general – You’re all 20 years behind – While the west goes on to adopt our old ways we fall even deeper in this abyss of economic growth. Everyone wants to add to the economy and make India a “Super power”. To what end? By simply becoming more and more unnatural.
What they don’t realize is that the environmental repercussions are going to snowball, sooner than they would like to believe. They need to be a little more far sighted and be SELFISH if you have to be. Make these changes for yourselves.
Me: Well these ideologies, they’re connected with the dirty hippies and well, drugs.
N: Well lets face it, its true. But the nasha has to change. Alcohol is the current nasha – which the market and government is only too happy with. It makes you aggressive and want more. The more expensive your alcohol the better you look with it. People buy more and more alcohol as the craving for it can get insatiable. People associate it with relief, fun and a sociable lifestyle. Which is pure bullshit. It’s the nasha of the consumerist lifestyle.
Ganja is the complete opposite – it makes you passive and content with what you have. An old pair of jeans and some food to eat is what you’d be satisfied with and it makes you question everyday life and routine. You can grow you own and hardly need to be dependant on damn supermarket for it.
And its absolutely natural – so suddenly you appreciate nature and environment a little bit more.
This mind set of the "dirty - hippie" came later... when even that lifestyle too started getting consumerist and bastardised - politicised rather.
Its two opposite lives and mind sets - what we need to achieve is not the black or the white - but a shade of green in between…
Am I going too fast?”
I stop scribbling and I notice I’m bent over with my tongue stuck out between my teeth bent completely over my piece of paper.
Me : Oh no, This is great… rant… I mean talk on.
N: Well anyway – Today’s big war truly is Economic Growth v/s Nature - not the little 9/11 and terrorist attacks and other such skirmishes. All these small communal fights and a few people dying because of greed and neglect, they’ll stop mattering when we don’t have anything to eat.
Our basic needs are still the same and we are like animals... like sheep, following the leader of the herd but the leader of this herd is blind or halfway there... they will all follow him into the ditch. Let them fall... that's when they'll wake up.
But there is fortunately a difference between us and animals. We can create and shape out own destiny, so we are in fact responsible for our actions. However, in spite of our scientific outlook, our calculation have gone skewed, somewhere far back.
So I guess spirituality is needed somewhere, to guide our mind to do the more sensible thing. People have forgotten about their spirituality. Its all about the connection each person makes with the earth, the universe and one another. They share a collective unconscious as well a responsibility towards one another. See the thought of karma and ones fate after death is ingrained in us an this land. You can ignore, but can you escape it?
This is the negative age, where people have forgotten themselves and their core, but its coming to an end one way or the other. We an opportunity to pick ourselves up.
The flower power isn't dead - its flowers are just about blossoming. Some seeds have gotten picked away by the birds – but some are still around. We started this and YOU the flowers... its up to you to spread the color and vibrant energy already.
Me: ut, there's only so many of us… and so many more of them and they keep reproducing and making armies of themselves…
N: Yes, the consumerists are predominant, but the 10 - 15% count on the cosmic level.
You can’t blame the people making these armies, they’re scared of being anything but what they are told to become.
The west has been propagating disinformation and a false illusion of what a successful life is- an illusion they propagate through the TV. They have made us believe that their life is better and their people are more beautiful, happier... but there are beautiful and ugly people every where... physically and otherwise. TV is an amazingly powerful medium- hell even the commies sold out eventually.
Me: it all sounds pretty bleak to me.
N: Well, they call me the prophet of doom - but the planet is destined for change...
All the tsunamis and earthquakes and draughts are just a small knock on our head coming from mother nature. She’s just disciplining us, her children. But of course people want to forget the hurricane Katrinas and go back to living “normally”.
We're falling in a trap of lies - blaming the swine flu on a poor pig... and AIDS from a monkey... HAH.
Its their damn chemical companies, that screwed up somewhere... pigs, hah!... LIARS!!
And this GMO ... they're playing with GENES we couldn't interfere more with the laws of nature and life.
They are still naïve, even they could have made great things... positive things, but they are trained and leashed up by the people with the money.
They come up with things which are filled with chemicals themselves and make us more dependant on the drug industry, oh it’s a beautifully structured system they’ve come up with... They’re making us pay for things that are bad for us so we can then buy the things to undo the effects of the things we had previously bought.
But the west is now smartening up... Obama is going to clean up America and shit on us. People here are easy to manipulate... just show the donkeys the carrot made from western money and they hee - haw all the way running blindly after it.
Look at Chindabaram - he was to make us a SUPERPOWER? He's doesn't even know what that means, all we'll be doing is falling deeper into the ditch dug up by the west.
Me: well money, money, money is a pretty popular mantra…
N: There is such disparity in the way money has been distributed in this country. There’s Ambani - the rich bastard - is sick rich, off OUR money - the billion people of India and has absolutely no clue what to do with it. And then there the real people, who are actually working everyday of their lives but can’t get access to a decent meal for the day.
I had money... i made good use of it - didn't lose a thing during recession - but i still face difficulties with farm... all you have to do is patiently tend to the problems and return to the good days again. We shut down an American factory here, dumping mercury into the lakes - we have proof of the corruption in the damn supreme court! Who do the people turn to? Its this helplessness that makes people turn their backs and deny the presence of any real issues.
We won that one... but then ten more such pop up.
I feel satisfaction in knowing that i haven't just been fighting a system... but created an alternative one as well.
Me: well coming back to here and now and mainly my project, Do you really think its important to distance oneself from the city to lead a sustainable lifestyle?
I’m talking about Bangalore in specific.
Neville – Man, Bangalore used to be amazing – amazing open culture, superb bands and the most mind blowing parties. The weather was great and that place was GREEN. They’re going to have it pretty easy to go back to better ways, in fact you have better access to a lot more resources than you do here.
Me: Well its barely the same, People don’t want us to dance, live band shows are becoming more and more rare. And well the trees are mostly gone…
N: No… that’s not true. Is it?
Me: … There’s still hope for the city though, pretty much why I’m doing this.
N: well they can do plenty of things to help.
Urban sustainability -
• Everyone go 10% down on their consumption.
• Take time to value yourself, your life and the place that you live in... just take a moment to breath.
• The cities don't need to go - they just need to prioritise and scale up on the sustainable way of life - even the way the building are built can reduce out carbon footprint by miles - if done the right way ofcourse.- use solar panel, solar water heating systems, harvest rainwater.
Its all there for us now, the awareness, people who are willing to help, the technology. We just have to be willing to move the right way.
Me: Well and those who can’t do it on their own can come here huh?
N: Haha, they’d get a pretty hands on experience out here… I’m going to go … a bit busy right now.
He goes, sits cross legged on a fallen tree log next to the creek, closes his eyes and leaves me to find my way back to my cottage.
K. Farms and its history - 20 different kinds of fruits grow on this farm - apart from the indigenous plants and trees which are given a lot of importance, so as to keep the local vegetation alive. [kalyana murunge - for nitrogen and shade; Bananas - every part of this tree is useful for medicinal purposes as well as consumption as food; coffee - the main estate product,
Avocado and Jackfruit for shade and food, similarly the Oranges, lemon and sweet lime AND cardamom + Another part of the estate has blue berries, peaches, plums, guavas, custard apples, tomatoes , cherries and pomegranate] - All of these trees need each others and so does the soil.
Monday, July 20, 2009
I have real content!! I went through the 200 odd pages of research gathered and its all pretty much in front of me in usable formats... waiting to get digitized. yyyayy!! All i have to do is open the scrolls to get access into whatever i want to use. Is it strange that i've gone from using the computer to scrolls of paper?... I think i'm regressing into pre intel times.
My computers not letting me upload the images for some reason. I'll keep trying though.
My computers not letting me upload the images for some reason. I'll keep trying though.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
The current content breakdown
I have all of the content below - waiting to be digitized - what i do need to stitch together are the stories for the graphic novel. - this is under construction - i have the first draft for "Interview with someone" up.
- BEFORE WE BEGIN 1- Introduction to organics - what the word means,
- INTERVIEW WITH SOMEONE - (Graphic Novel bit 1)
- BEFORE WE BEGIN 2- The principles of Organic Farming - monoculture and its adverse effects, when the shift happened to the current ways of farming, and the green revolution story and when it began in
- JACKSON AT DRISHYA (graphic novel bit 2) - About
5. DIY part 1 – Initial investments + Tools – Pots, Trays, Soil, Compost, Peat moss etc. Tools needed –Being a green gardener – Parts of a plant - Know your soil – Soil structure – types of soil, Compost, Mulch and Fertilizers (nutrients needed). Make your own compost bin – different ways to compost.
While you compost : Plan your garden – mark trees, bushes, pots/containers, creepers, beds for vegetable patches.
Alternative for place with space constraints- growing in pots, building raised beds.
Ideal soil for trees – double digging. Ideal soil for pots. Ideal soil for trays.
Working organic matter into the soil. – leave for 15 days.
- WHILE GETTING THINGS SET UP - shop organic, shop smart - where from in
- Shahnaz and Navez at NAVADARSHANAM (Graphic Novel bit 3) – Stories about the small time farmer; the way they treat their crops and the hardships they face, their current setup and interesting stories and bits about their lives- their view on pesticides, Bt poultry etc. - Bt poultry and Meat - Jaime Oliver.
Tips for urban gardeners – being a green gardener. - DIY part2 – Lists of plants and trees to grow in the frontyard, backyard, herb garden, Build frame for creepers, Plant saplings into trays, Potatoes in tyres – How to transplant young plants and Trees. Building raised beds, rockeries. Build your vegetable shade for the summer.
Label your garden – Plant a paper.
- RECIPES - veg. nonveg
- Treating industry produced food at home - Whats on my food, the product and the pesticides one can find on it.
- Facing a silent spring - Pradeep saha/ CSE
- Activity - monitoring chemical intake – build a comprehensive example for people to work off.
- DIY part 3 – The bio pest control – companion planting, crop rotation , Good bugs and attracting birds. Knowing your plant diseases – garlic, neem sprays etc.
The horror stories
- Pesticide and GMO related news – what are pesticides – the pesticides in use in
- ON A BRIGHTER note –
Quotes from Who’s Earth (whole earth catalog)
Karuna Farms (graphic novel bit 4) - the existing sustainable society – politics, the economics, the spirituality and mother nature – earth ship, media, urban sustainability.
- Our bellies, the media and the current times - self written article.
- BACK TO DRISHYA - end with conversation with
- SOURCES – gardening equipment, seeds, plants, book references, movies to watch, web sites.
Interview with a someone – We’re all talk.
There is someone sitting by me with an empty smile to face the world with. This person seems calm about his androgynous appearance and holds a certain cola beverage in hand.
“Hi”, I initiate a conversation.
“Hi”. More vacant expressions covered with polite smiles. Someone looks away again and once in a while the eyes slide sideways to meet mine. “Is there something I can help you with?”
“Umm, yeah… just, I see you here almost everyday… And it seems like you’re eating pretty much the same set things, repeatedly. Maybe it all looks the same from where I’m sitting…”
We are both in a restaurant of sorts, sitting at separate tables, alone - as are a whole lot of other people sitting around their respective tables having their meals and drinks. A TV plays in one corner.
A confused Someone frowns and replies,
“Oh it’s the same things…But what about it?”
“Well, just wondering why you like it so much.”
“Well you’re eating the same thing you know…” Someone leans all the way over to my table and stares at the tray kept in front of me.
We’re both sitting faced with the same things on the tray in front of us, except I’m holding on to a diet coke. I nod,
“I am, but something I read had me wondering why I pick this up to eat every second day. I couldn’t come up with anything plausible; I thought you’d have an answer as a connoisseur of this rather dubious looking substance.”
“Hmm, well mostly because I know exactly what it tastes like, it may not taste as good as I imagined it would but it tastes the same everyday… the bread, the chips, the coke, the patty. The predictability is, well a little reassuring I guess”
“But, it doesn’t really taste good… and it doesn’t look good either…”
“It does look better in the photographs doesn’t it?” We both stare out at this huge poster staring back at us, bright red with this beautiful looking spread kept atop a clean white tray. A happy looking chappie sits behind it licking the crumbs off his lips.
“Yep.”
“Yep.”
We both go back to concentrating on our foods… If one looks busy while eating, it negates the guilt one feels over not working over the lunch break, “I’m taking a break but not really enjoying it, and I’m trying hard as heck to think only about my work that comes after…”
“Cookie?” I look up to find Someone’s hand outstretched, waving a cookie under my nose, “Made from real butter and chocolate.”
“As opposed to?” I shake my head and push the hand away, “Well, no thank you.”
“You know I don’t ALWAYS eat the same things… sometimes when I remember how people tell me about the excessive sugar in the colas and I pick up a juice pack instead - its natural and healthy.” Someone is leaning over eagerly over the tray of food and staring at me.
“But the natural juices aren’t really natural… they’re like bottled full of sugar.”
“Well yes, but its either this or seven minutes of waiting at a juice shop…or making my own! No, I’d rather put my body through some experimentation, nothings happened to me so far right?”
“Well that’s what bothers me. I know these things are bad for me… what with the hidden chemicals, the pesticides, the extra amounts of sugar, flavourings and preservatives, I know its amazingly bad for the environment and I even know about how the people at the root level , the farmers and workers are being badly exploited by these big boy markets… apart from the complete annihilation of the local produce – I know all of this… and I still haunt super markets and shockingly it seems like these shops have nothing but processed plastic imitations of what used to be called food. And I know the packaging lies, but look at me… I’m still picking up things like Slim milk, biscuits and some thing that “tastes like butter.” And here I am eating entrails of an overfed chicken talking to someone who barely cares about any of this coming out of my mouth!!”
Someone looks one with great concentration at the empty food trays and chews thoughtfully at a bite of it. Its washed down with a glug of cola and a satisfied loud sigh.
I go on… “Are we that unconcerned about where our food comes from? People don’t even know the beginning of the food process, hell, they really think their milk comes straight from a cow which is roaming free in beautiful pastures…
“You paint quite a landscape of crises. You’re wrong about my not caring though. I care, only - people like us, we’re not a position to do much about it are we? Its not like we’re presented with viable options from any where else…the government is herding us all to a direction where we can make more money, so people find it easier to support the industry and the market. We’re a richer and a more stable country for it.”
Knocks on wood.
“But that’s only catering to the upper thirty percent of the population… what about the rest of the people?”
“What about them? They don’t affect me… On the other hand I get access to more and more branded products. Of course, then certain things have started cropping up that have taken to my attention… the weather changes and the hike in food prices linked to it.”
“You know our food industry produces more carbon emissions than the transport industry? That might have something to do with the weather pattern changes you mentioned.”
“Sure, but we like to see instant changes take place to reinforce such statements as proofs. I don’t see a cloudy puff of carbon emissions float out of this packet of chips when I pop it open… Lets face it, things are how they’ve always been. As far as I remember it, the rich have always been taken care of a little better. We’re living in the age of the TV, and if someone claims certain things are bad for us… we like to see it happen. You see, we’re already a population comprising mainly of brainwashed sheep. We don’t really know the world beyond the damned fences… even though that world existed not so long back. We’re good at forgetting and have so many other things to distract us from even pondering about such things… hell, I’d be surprised if most people even know about the fence.
Those who do… like you and I - well look at us. I don’t even want to experiment with my bread, how do you think I’d fare with a whole new lifestyle.”
“Some people have done it you know… jumped over the fence, survived and have no intentions of coming back. Some of us just do it in dreams, but can’t seem to want to give up on everything we already have…”
“Ofcourse we can’t, even things I don’t need and hardly use have become a part of my identity. My bike, which falls apart every other day and what about my Jacuzzi, no one uses it… but you know, it looks great on my social resume. That’s what money is about now hon. Why do you think people from the villages come out here… people want to be known and have a reputation. The things we own reflect a kind of a lifestyle that we can afford. This packet of Oreo cookies in my hand shows that I have enough money and knowledge about such products to make such a choice.”
“Okay, what do you do with the reputation?”
“What?... Well, its not so much what you do with it, its about having it. Much like my Jacuzzi.”
“That makes no sense whatsoever. All you’re doing is playing puppet to the industry and media and pumping your money into this whole system. So I away you’re sponsoring the destruction of this planet….,”
“Well heres what… how about you come up with something that would help me do my two bits for the planet without having to give up on my comforts and conveniences… and I’ll do it. Okay?
“Fine! I will.”
“Fine!”
Someone stares at the last bit of my cola…. I finish it.
“You hear about the summer sale going on at the malls?...”
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Still laggin behind!!
It seems like i've run into some dry land, the wheels are spinning but aren't helping me gather any forward motion when it comes to the project. I'm still sorting though my research material.
I still need to hear from ERA organics... Maybe visiting their stores would be a better idea, acquiring natural dyes from Auroville are another thing.
I still need to gather notes from Vandana Shiva's talk and more stuff on What's wrong with GMO's.
The next step would definitely be to meet with Jackson tomorrow and beging stitching togther the narrative for the book.
I give this process till the 19th - 20th.
I have also been making a few thumbnails to record the ideas for page layouts etc. The book making process should beging by the 21st - Zine identity - name/typography- choice of type/grid.
I still need to hear from ERA organics... Maybe visiting their stores would be a better idea, acquiring natural dyes from Auroville are another thing.
I still need to gather notes from Vandana Shiva's talk and more stuff on What's wrong with GMO's.
The next step would definitely be to meet with Jackson tomorrow and beging stitching togther the narrative for the book.
I give this process till the 19th - 20th.
I have also been making a few thumbnails to record the ideas for page layouts etc. The book making process should beging by the 21st - Zine identity - name/typography- choice of type/grid.
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