Mahatma Gandhi's experiments with food

In February 1929, African-American scientist George Washington Carver outlined a special diet involving whole wheat flour, corn, fruit and milk made from either soybeans or peanuts. With this vegan diet, Carver hoped to bring "greater health, strength and economic independence to India". Could a diet really achieve such grand ambitions? The intended recipient of Carver's diet certainly thought so. Like Carver, Mahatma Gandhi was a passionate food reformer who believed that eating right was central to living right, that a good diet was as much about politics and ethics as about nutrition.

However, aligning his culinary choices with his other beliefs was not always easy. Indeed, part of the appeal of Carver's diet was that Gandhi had, for years, struggled to become vegan. He believed consuming milk was unethical, but found that eliminating it from his diet left him weak and unable to respond to the many demands of his life. Could peanut milk