Mahatma Gandhi

Today working on a brochure for a Pilgrimage of Peace to India that a friend and I are planning for a small group in about a year, I ran across some quotes from Gandhi that our guide in India had given us. Gandhi had a lot to say about growing organically using waste, especially cow manure. One quote reads:
“Organic manure ever enriches, never impoverishes the soil. The daily waste, judiciously composted, returns to the soil in the form of golden manure causing a saving of millions of rupees and increasing manifold, the total yield of grains and pulses. In addition, the judicious use of waste keeps the surroundings clean. And cleanliness is not only next to godliness, it promotes health.” Gandhi was surely into Growing Renewable Affordable Food (GRAF).

The waste we use in urban farming is not manure, but waste like food scraps, leaves, coffee grounds, cardboard, and wood chips. However, probably more than manure, it is normally wasted and goes into landfills rather than being returned to the soil. I had gotten this morning from SHARE, a food co-op that anyone can use, lots of vegetables and fruits, many of them organic. So with a ham bone and some beans I made for dinner a ham/vegetable soup. With all the fruit I made a fruit salad. Cutting up the vegetables and fruits I had a lot of food scraps for the compost pile. Tomorrow I will take these scraps and others out to my compost pile, place them in it and cover them with leaves. Nature and worms will do the rest.

In another quote from Gandhi in this same set of pages Gandhi talks about identifying “with all life, even with such things as crawl upon earth.” The worm is certainly the most common creature that crawls upon earth.

We know Gandhi from his work with nonviolence to free India from colonialism. We know Gandhi as a teacher of nonviolence. Maybe we do not realize how closely his way of practicing nonviolence was identified with sustainability and growing power. Nonviolence and the Worm certainly come together in the life and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. Let us walk in his footsteps.

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