Building a new community (2/3)

July 5, 2023

The first part of this series looked at how Tolstoy Farm came to be founded in June of 1910. As buildings were constructed, more families began to arrive, which led to new dilemmas.

One of these was a question of the food served. While Gandhi lived and advocated for a strict vegetarian lifestyle, others had no objections and included meat as part of their diet. If those families wanted to continue the practice, what was his responsibility as host? Since cows were sacred to Hindus, eating beef would be especially disruptive for community spirit.

The thousand fruit trees on the property were intended as the primary food source for the more than sixty people living there. As I wrote before, the main driver for building this community was financial stability. Buying meat to feed certain people would put an additional strain on the farm’s finances. Gandhi considered, then realized his duty was clear. Those who wanted meat would get it.

Having established the principled position, Gandhi now looked for practical reasons to avoid following through. He went to the Christian women and explained that “even beef would be provided for them if they wanted it,” but made a strong plea for vegetarianism on ethical grounds. Besides the additional cost of procuring meat, it would require a separate kitchen space for cooking. After this discussion with Gandhi, the women “kindly consented not to have meat,” and a crisis was averted.

Besides serving the simplest food possible, the community’s money was also stewarded by reducing transportation costs. The railroad station was a little more than a mile away, but it was only used for community business. Day trips to the city of Johannesburg were done on foot; a mere 21 miles in each direction! Normal practice, Gandhi explained, was to set out at 2:30am and arrive by midmorning. Food for the day was carried by the traveler; bread, peanut butter, and marmalade were all produced on Tolstoy Farm.

Writing about his time on Tolstoy Farm, Gandhi reminisced about walking fifty miles in one day. Back in 2017, I learned this and challenged myself to accomplish the same feat. On July 4, I set out at 5:30am to walk fifty miles across southern New Hampshire. It was a long day, and I didn’t end up succeeding, but gained valuable insight on life itself.

What have you learned in setting ambitious challenges for yourself?