We need farm communities that can grow food.
Srila Prabhupada predicted that, "One day millions of people would be coming to our Hare Krishna farms because they are unemployed. And we must accept them. We must feed them. We must let them live there and they will gradually become spiritualized. We will put them to work, they will get their food and there will be prasadam. They will hear something about Krishna and they will gradually by the millions become devotees."
“Unless in the human society the Varnasrama system is introduced, no scheme or social order, health order or any order, political order, will be successful.” [October 18, 1977, Vrindavana]
"It may be an ideal village where the residents will have plain living and high thinking. For plain living we must have sufficient land for raising crops and pasturing grounds for the cows. If there is sufficient grains and production of milk, then the whole economic problem is solved." [Montreal 14 June 1968]
"Simple Living and High Thinking is the solution to economic problems. Therefore the Krishna Conscious movement is engaging devotees in producing their own food and living self-sufficiently so that rascals may see how one can live very peacefully, eat the food grains one has grown one-self, drink milk, and chant Hare Krishna." [Teachings of Queen Kunti 18: Liberation from Ignorance and Suffering - Purport]
"From an economic point of view, if one man has a cow and four acres of land he has no economic problems. That we want to start. He can independently live in any part of the world. Simply he must have one cow and four acres of land. So let the people be divided in four acres of land and a cow and there will be no economic question. All the factories will be closed." [Conversation with Allen Ginsberg - May 11, 1969, Columbus]
"We have to think, 'Plain Living, High Thinking'. The necessities of this bodily existence should be minimized—not unhealthy, but healthy to keep oneself fit. But the time should be utilized to develop Krishna Consciousness, spiritual life. Then this whole problem is solved." [Conversation with Allen Ginsberg - May 11, 1969, Columbus]
'"Civilization will collapse very soon, all over the world......our farm project are an extremely important part of our movement. We must become self- sufficient by growing our own grains and producing our own milk,then there will be no question of poverty. So develop these farm communities as far as possible. If these farms become successful then the whole world will be enveloped by Krishna consciousness. Krishna is the Farm Acarya, Baladev is holding a plough, and Krishna is holding the calf. The Krishna consciousness movement will go down in history as having saved mankind the its darkest hour"
"The point is to be engaged in doing something for Krsna, never mind what is that job, but being so engaged in doing something so satisfying to the devotee that he remains always enthusiastic. Our leaders shall be careful not to kill the spirit of enthusiastic service… which is individual, spontaneous, and voluntary. They should always try to generate some atmosphere of a fresh challenge to the devotees so that they will enthusiastically agree to rise and meet it. This is the art of management: to draw out the spontaneous loving spirit of sacrificing some energy for Krsna." In The Art of Management
SRILA PRABHUPADA & SASTRA
“First of all cows should be protected. Cows thus protected, will in turn protect the brahmanas. Thus when protection of cows and brahmanas is achieved, then the whole world is protected.” [Mahabharata, Harivamsa Parva, 55.31
“Clever means that he must stay in his own land. He should not be cheated by the paper and go to the city.” [Srila Prabhupada’s Conversations, Volume IV]
“The killing of cows by human society is one of the grossest suicidal policies and those who are anxious to cultivate the human spirit must turn their attention first toward the question of cow protection.” [Light of the Bhagavat, 27]