Rural Care
ISKCON Rural Development aims to take a failing farm and make it work. The unique part is that they do it without spending any money. So effective is the work of ISKCON Rural Development (IRD) that farm owners across Maharashtra Province have extended offers of free land in exchange for an IRD project in their area. One such offer included an entire village. Citrakara dasa, a thirty-two-year-old Swiss devotee whose interest in communal village life brought him to India in 1974, heads the IRD office at Hare Krsna Land in Bombay.
Modern farming and dairy methods have contributed to wreaking havoc on the eco-system. Today agriculture, which provides the sustenance of human society, is massively dependent on oil and chemical fertilizers. Though initially increasing yield in initial years, these chemicals have proved detrimental to the fertility of soil, sometimes leaving it toxic and unproductive. Genetically modified crops bring their own set of ethical and health issues, leading to a world where some food products are promoted by one government and banned by others.
The basis of all farming remains dependent on nature in form of soil, air and water. Establishing farming methods in harmony with nature can provide long term sustainability. Otherwise, experts tell us, we may be heading towards a global food crisis.
At ISKCON farm communities or eco-villages, they highlight the importance of spiritual ecology: the need to live in harmony with ourselves, nature and the Divine. These rural communities promote sustainability and spirituality—based on the principle of respect for all living beings.
There are over 40 ISKCON eco-villages and farm communities around the globe based on this ethos. Some exist off the grid, existing entirely on natural energy from water and sun. Others simply advocate more responsible and natural living based on sustainable care of the land and the cows. Unlike modern agribusinesses that exploit cows and other animals for their milk, meat and eggs, ISKCON farms protect cows throughout their full lives, allowing them to live peacefully even after their milk producing years are over.
