The worldview is based on scarcity, which in turn creates scarcity and conflict and poverty. It cannot create abundance. A worldview of abundance is the worldview of women in India who grow food not just for humans, but for all species. They leave food for ants on their doorstep, even as they create the most beautiful art in kolams, mandalas, and rangoli with rice flour.

This view of abundance recognizes that, in giving food to other beings and species, we maintain conditions for our own food security. In feeding the earthworms, we feed ourselves. In feeding cows, we feed the soil, and in providing food for the soil, we provide food for humans. This worldview of abundance is based on sharing and on a deep awareness of humans as members of the earth family.

–Vandana Shiva, speech, 2000
Published in The Green Devotional (Conari Press, 2009).