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ON the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, we've selected articles from the Hindustan Times Archives that speak to the Mahatma's ideologies on food. In his personal life, it is well known that he ate simply and sparingly, in line with his spartan ideals. He prescribed a similar austerity for the masses, as always ensuring that he led by example. However, the Mahatma had strong ideas about food in terms of national policy and culture as well.
RIGHT TO EAT
For instance, he firmly believed in the righteousness of "bread labour". From a Hindustan Times column he authored in the 1930s, under the headline "Man's Right To Eat", Gandhiji sets forth his "Doctrine Of Bread Labour". He writes:
The divine law that man must earn his bread by labour with his own hands was first stressed ... by an obscure Russian writer named TM Bondarev. Tolstoy adopted it (in his essay 'Industry And Idleness') and gave it wider publicity.
In my view, the same principle has been set forth in the third chapter of the Gita, where we are told that he who eats without offering sacrifice eats stolen food. 'Sacrifice' here can only mean bread-labour... This is the genesis of the observance.
Reason too leads us to an identical conclusion. How can a man who does not work, have the right to eat? In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, says the Bible. A millionare cannot carry on for long and will soon get tired of his life if he rolls in his bed all day long and gets others even to put his food into his mouth. He, therefore, produces hunger by exercise and eats at any rate with his own hands and mouth. If every one, whether rich or poor, has thus to take exercise in some shape or form, why should it not assume the form of bread-labour? — is the question that naturally suggests itself.
More than nine-tenths of humanity lives by tilling the soil. How much happier, healthier and more peaceful would the world become if the remaining ten followed the example of the overwhelming majority?
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ACCESS TO UNADULTERATED FOOD
Gandhiji's food ideology wasn't purely of the theoretical variety. It was anchored in a strong practical aspect. A case in point is his insistence on access to unadulterated foodstuffs for those residing in India's villages.
A Hindustan Times article from the 1940s reports on the establishment of a "Gram Udyog Bhandar" in Delhi. It states:
Mahatma Gandhi has laid considerable stress on the need for a balanced diet for our villagers who suffer from malnutrition not merely because they cannot get enough to eat but because what little they eat does not contain the vitamins essential for proper nourishment. Hence importance is attached to hand-ground atta, hand-made sugar, unadulterated ghee, etc., by him.
Following the lead given by the Mahatma, the Shree Gandhi Seva Ashram, Narela, has opened a Gram Udyog Bhandar with two branches in Delhi. Here pure unadulterated hand-ground atta, hand-pounded unpolished rice, pure unadulterated ghee, fresh ghani oil, hand-made sugar (and) honey...from the villages will be sold at competitive prices. It is hoped that the public of Delhi will patronise these stores, not only with a view to get their own supplies but also to encourage the stores and the village industries.
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LEARNING TO COOK
Many of Gandhiji's ideas about food, at the level of individual preparation and consumption, have stood the test of time. They are as relevant today as when he first articulated them. The timeless nature of his advice is clearly on display in a dictum about the importance of cooking lessons. This was delivered during a speech after Friday evening prayers at Bhangi Colony, the Hindustan Times reported:
All men, besides women, should know cooking, as food was the primary necessity of life — this was the crux of Gandhiji's sermon. The importance of food was followed by clothing and then having a roof over one's head, according to him. Thus, each individual should learn to provide for him/herself in this order.
Mothers taught their daughters (how to cook), but Gandhiji wanted boys to learn cooking too. "After all, food was for both men and women, and both should know how to provide this primary necessity of life for themselves," he stated.
The gender-forwardness of Gandhiji's advice on cooking is perhaps its most striking aspect.
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Browse through a collection of articles encompassing Mahatma Gandhi's views on subjects like swaraj, swadeshi and more, drawn from the Hindustan Times Archive, here.
