In Search of the Wild Tofurky by Seth Tibbott

Author:Seth Tibbott
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: Diversion Books
Published: 2020-02-05T00:00:00+00:00

Perhaps the biggest tempeh feast ever in the USA. Ten thousand “sannyasin” followers of the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh from all over the world dined on Turtle Island Five Grain Tempeh Stir Fry on July 6, 1983, at Rajneeshpuram, near Antelope, Oregon. (Jim Wells)

I made two more deliveries before the celebration and then, in July, I was on hand to observe the cooking of what I believe may still be the largest tempeh meal ever cooked—at least in the US. The Rajneesh chefs cubed the tempeh and then cooked it on twenty commercial woks with propane burners. They served the tempeh over rice and added veggies and a sweet and sour sauce. It was delicious.

After the meal, I followed the sannyasins up a dirt road and joined them in forming long lines on either side of the road. Soon the sannyasins around me burst into an excited frenzy as a grey Rolls-Royce appeared in the distance. The car moved very slowly down the road, stirring little dust. When the Rolls passed me, the sannyasins beside me cried out with joy and lofted flowers onto the car’s hood. The Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh himself was behind the wheel, taking his daily drive in one of the ninety-three Rolls-Royces he owned. He had a slight, wry smile, a long, white beard, and glazed eyes that wandered briefly from the road to his adoring followers. After he passed, the two women beside me hugged and told each other that the Bhagwan had definitely looked at them.

I made several more deliveries to Rajneeshpuram after the festival—including a flight into their private airport with my friend Bill, the boot repairer, who had by then gotten his pilot’s license. As bad as the commune turned out to be for Wasco County, it was certainly good for business. Two months after the festival, the kitchen, trailers, and woks were gone, replaced by a field of young wheat starting to make its way up from the finely tilled soil.

By the fall of 1984, the commune’s leadership had spun out of control. Rajneeshees were implicated in poisoning 751 people in The Dalles, the Wasco County seat, with salmonella. Later, even more devious plots came to light, including the attempted murder of several Oregon politicians. We never sold any more tempeh to the Rajneeshees after the salmonella poisoning. In 1985, the Bhagwan was arrested at the airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, trying to flee the country. The commune itself fell apart not long after that. They were done with their international community in Oregon.

However, I was not quite done with them. That fall, I won $50 and the coveted first prize at the Trout Lake Tavern Halloween Costume Contest by dressing as the Bhagwan in jail. I put on a long blue robe and danced inside one of my six-foot-tall tempeh rolling racks that I labeled “Charlotte Jail.”

Bookkeeping

Turtle Island’s gross sales rose to $45,000 in 1984, which was great, but it wasn’t enough to keep Belinda and Alex on staff. My friends and fellow pie-in-the-sky dreamers decided they needed to find a better way to feed their families.

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