Where does our food come from? That is a question which should deeply concern all of us – but usually we cannot answer it. In a hard-hitting TedXPanchgani talk, Krishna Mckenzie explored our relationship with Mother Earth, which, sadly, is diminishing day by day. Life is fertility – it is the life in the soil which gives us life! This divinity of the soil is recognized world-wide – in India, too, the earth is considered holy. It is unfortunate that nowadays, the growing of food has become so commercialized that we have lost touch with the origins of our food. We no longer honour the diversity of nutrition that Mother Nature has, and offers us. Krishna shared the insights of the Zen master Fukuoka, who believes that Nature is perfect and cannot be improved upon. We need to honour the gifts bestowed on us by Nature, and understand that food has a social, cultural and ecological importance also. He encouraged the audience to start a Circle Garden, utilizing organic waste and reaping the benefits in the shape of delicious local fruits and vegetables. Ending with an inspiring song, Krishna left the audience inspired, and amazed by the power of Mother Nature.

Krishna Mckenzie, who studied at Krishnamurti school in the UK, is a farmer, musician, educator and actor. He is at the heart of Solitude Farm, located near Auroville, where he arrived in 1993. Insipred by Masonobu Fukoaka, his vision and passion guides the activities on the farm, which he started in 1996 . The important question that inspires him is “where does our food come from?” Following the precepts of Masonobu Fukuoka, he has developed a farm that values over 100 different plants that grow locally in the fields. The focus is firstly on their nutritional and medicinal value, then their cultural and social relevance, their ecological value and their economic potential. For the last 23 years, Krishna has lived in Auroville, integrating music, community and local food as a vision for social change. He founded Emergence in 2008 with some of India’s most outstanding musicians and they have performed in USA and UK as well as all over India. Solitude Farm also hosts an amazing eco-music festival celebrating the creativity in our community, called LIVELY UP YOUR EARTH, every year.

This talk was given at TEDxPanchgani an event held at Ravine Hotel using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx