Mr. Krishna McKenzie is not only a farmer but also a musician, educator, actor, and founder of the Solitude Farm and Organic Kitchen in Auroville, Pondicherry, India. Inspired by the vision and philosophy of Masanobu Fukuoka, a Japanese Zen Master and farmer, McKenzie has dedicated his life to integrating permaculture, music, community, and local food as a vision for social change.

For the past 23 years, Mr. McKenzie has been based in Auroville, where he moved in 1993 after completing his studies at the J. Krishnamurti School in the UK. There, he engaged in a variety of studies including acting, music, biology, French, and jazz guitar, while also tending to vegetables in the school garden. As an apprentice at the Annapurna farm, he contributed to establishing a 50-acre farming and reforestation project, Aranya, in Auroville.

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In 1996, Mr. McKenzie founded Solitude Farm to create a dynamic community centered around local food, permaculture, and natural farming. The farm operates an organic restaurant that serves daily lunches made with fresh ingredients grown on-site. Additionally, Solitude Farm runs a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, providing subscribers with weekly baskets of fresh fruit and vegetables. His work, often described as “social agriculture,” is a subject of research focused on the relationship between local food and ecology, economy, culture, and society.

In 2006, Mr. McKenzie founded the band Emergence, which has performed at notable venues and festivals such as Glastonbury in the UK, Maximum India Festival in Washington D.C., and Blue Frog in Mumbai. He also organizes the annual eco-music festival "Lively up Your Earth" (LUYE) at Solitude. His acting career includes performances in plays by Moliere, Shakespeare, Brecht, Pinter, and Neil Simon, among others.

Mr. McKenzie and his family also operate a small eco-friendly hotel that serves guests organic produce from their farm. Signature dishes include millet dosa, Indravalli green dosa, wood apple salad, cucumber pachadi, and papaya salad. The hotel is run with the aim of raising awareness about natural farming rather than for profit.

The Solitude Farm features 140 unique plants, including medicinal varieties such as Piper Longum. Mr. McKenzie emphasizes the importance of natural farming and the value of sustainable living. He states, "We need natural potions for ourselves. Farming is inherent to the people here, and everyone possesses good knowledge about it. However, we tend to forget the essence of farming and get distracted by false goals like money. If food is not good and water is not pure, what is the meaning of money and employment in life?"

Despite his diverse background, Mr. McKenzie considers himself neither English nor Tamil but a resident under one sky and one land for everyone. His efforts are instrumental in promoting the benefits of organic farming and sustainability.