Shanaka Fernando, after a short stint as a Buddhist monk, came to Australia and dabbled in law studies; it wasn’t fulfilling, so he gave it up to travel on a shoestring around the third world for six years, learning about culture and community along the way. When he returned to Australia, Shanaka started a business importing saris made from recycled fabrics, which made him enough money to start his current social experiment — Lentil As Anything.
At Lentils, there are no prices on the menu. :) It’s been operating for 10 years, with upto 400 staff in its peak, and still feeds about 1500 people a day (including a school). In 2007, he received a National award from the Australian Prime Minister. Today, still, all Shanaka owns is a bicycle and the clothes on his back. Inspiring story.
Recently, SBS in Australia did an extensive documentary on them. The series was, unfortunately, overly dramatized and chose to focus on gossip over subtler aspects of inspiration. The TV tagline was: "Cnan a place that relies solely on human generosity survive in this world; or will it be torn apart by competing egos, chronic chaos and crippling debt?" ‘Lentils’ put this disclaimer up on their homepage:
Lentil As Anything had no say in the final production of the documentary on SBS. The company benefited from the openness and trust that lentils exercises and was free to portray the organisation to its liking. It is unfortunate that such a priceless occasion was spent focusing on our financial status and the emotions of some staff. Indeed it is ironic because the gist of lentils proposition is that society is not nourished by money but the unique qualities of its people. What SBS has achieved is a misrepresentation and often gross fabrication of a truly unique social dynamic where a diverse number of people (1500 per day) sit and enjoy a meal served with pride and with no pressure to pay (with money). This I believe is crucial to reinstating everyone as valued members of our community. This culture encourages the best in people - Trust. Not just as a theory but an attitude. Hopefully more and more people will take responsibility for their actions and participate in building a kind, robust and vibrant society - it is still the case that "The revolution will not be televised."
Nonetheless, it was a really well-made film with some educational lessons about gift-economy movements:
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