An uncomfortable note from someone who actually lives it.

There’s a question I get asked regularly:

“Is there land for sale around your farm?”
“Is it okay if we buy land near other organic farmers?”

Most times, my answer is either no or please think twice.

Not because I don’t want neighbours. But because I don’t want echo chambers disguised as sustainability.

The Weekend Sustainability Problem

On the outskirts of every city today, you’ll find neatly packaged ideas:

• Shared land ownership
• Conscious communities
• Sustainable living collectives
• Organic farm villages

On paper, they sound revolutionary.

In reality, many of them turn into second homes.

Sustainability becomes a weekend activity.
Organic farming becomes a retreat.
Living simply becomes something you do after your office calendar allows it.

That’s not embedding sustainability into life.
That’s treating it like a hobby.

Why Many Such Projects Don’t Survive

Self‑organised communities often collapse under the weight of:

• Ego
• Ideology “My way is more ethical than yours”
• Endless meetings and no decisions

Ironically, the ones that survive are usually professionally managed, with:

• Clear leadership
• Clear roles
• Clear decision‑making authority

Which brings an uncomfortable question:

If your sustainable community needs a CEO to function, how radical is it really?

Sustainability for Whom?

Here’s the part we don’t like talking about.

If organic food, clean air, soil regeneration and slow living are accessible only to those who can afford land near cities, then we are not building a sustainable future. We are building eco‑gated communities.

Sustainability that remains in the hands of the rich will never scale. Organic farming that excludes the poor is just another luxury product.

The Cult of “Like‑Minded People”

Seeking only like‑minded people to live with sounds comforting.

But think about it.

Within a nuclear family, four people already begin to think like one — simply because they share space, time and life for decades.

Now expand that to a whole community that:

• Reads the same books
• Believes the same things
• Eats the same food
• Thinks disagreement is disharmony

That’s not diversity.
That’s a soft cult.

Real growth needs friction.

You don’t cultivate tolerance by surrounding yourself with copies of yourself.
You cultivate it by co‑existing with people who don’t think, speak or live like you.

A More Difficult, More Meaningful Path

If you’re genuinely serious about sustainable living and you think you have it in you to create impact, here are my suggestions:

• Look for land where very few people practice organic farming
• Live among people who don’t speak your language of sustainability
• Employ local people full‑time, not as gig labour
  • Pay them well
  • Provide insurance, healthcare and savings
  • Ensure their children have access to education

And then — the most important part —

Don’t preach.

Demonstrate.

Convince slowly

Let people see outcomes, not ideologies.

Off‑Grid Is Not About Isolation

Living off‑grid is not about escaping society.

It is about participating differently.

Not by creating bubbles of sameness — but by taking responsibility where it is hardest, messiest and most needed.

Sustainability that avoids society is convenience.

Sustainability that engages society needs courage.

Choose carefully which one you are practising.

Regards

Sudhakar