The Social Vision of the Alternative Food Movement - The Oxford Topic of Food, Politics, and Society - page 537

our ancestors dissuaded us from luxuries and pleasures. We have managed with the
same kind of plough as existed thousands of years ago. We have retained the same
kind of cottages that we had in former times and our indigenous education remains
the same as before. We have had no system of life-corroding competition. Each fol-
lowed his own occupation or trade and charged a regulation wage.
(Gandhi 1938, 45)
Ambedkar, in contrast, provides a very different view:
In Gandhism, the common man has no hope. It treats man as an animal and no
more. It is true that man shares the constitution and functions of animals, nutri-
tive, reproductive, etc. But these are not distinctively human functions. The distinc-
tively human function is reason, the purpose of which is to enable man to observe,
meditate, cogitate, study and discover the beauties of the Universe and enrich his
life. . . . The conclusion that follows is that . . . the ultimate goal of man's existence is
not reached unless and until he has fully cultivated his mind. . . . How then can a life
of culture be made possible? It is not possible unless there is sufficient leisure. . . . The
problem of all problems which human society has to face is how to provide leisure to
every individual. . . . Leisure means the lessening of the toil and effort necessary for
satisfying the physical wants of life. . . . Leisure is quite impossible unless some means
are found whereby the toil required for producing goods necessary to satisfy human
needs is lessened. What can lessen such toil? Only when machines take the place of
man. . . . Machinery and modern civilization are thus indispensable for emancipating
man from leading the life of a brute, and for providing him with leisure and making
a life of culture possible. . . . A democratic society must assure a life of leisure and cul-
ture to each one of its citizens. . . . The slogan of a democratic society must be machin-
ery, and more machinery, civilization and more civilization.
(Ambedkar 2002, 158)
Questioning Development and
Progress in the West
The alternative food movement is deeply suspicions of the entire paradigm of devel-
opment and progress, which it sees as deeply flawed, a mark of human hubris and a
futile and ultimately calamitous enterprise that violates nature's limits and is bound
to invite nature's wrath. Going beyond the alternative food movement, this kind of
thinking has had a major influence on the broader intellectual and political milieu in
the industrialized West in recent years, and it has also problematized notions of devel-
opment and progress, particularly for those who think of themselves as liberals and
progressives.
Liberals and progressives in the West have long viewed development and scientific
and technological progress as forces for good, essential for making available the prac-
tical means necessary to achieve their desired emancipatory goals. Convinced of the