Biodynamics
Biodynamics is a science of life-forces, a recognition of the basic principles at work in nature, and an approach to agriculture which takes these principles into account to bring about balance and healing. Biodynamics is an ongoing path of knowledge rather than an assemblage of methods and techniques. Biodynamic agriculture is part of the work of Rudolf Steiner known as anthroposophy - a new approach to science which integrates precise observation of natural phenomena, clear thinking, and knowledge of the spirit.
Joel Salatin is the owner and Farmer of Polyface Farms in Swoope, Virginia. In 1961, the Salatins bought and restored an old farm in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley. Mr. Salatin is a third generation farmer whose farm helps to support three thousand families, fifty restaurants, and ten retail outlets through various programs and buying clubs. He is the author of several books about sustainable farming including Folks, this Ain't Normal and is featured on documentaries such as Food Inc.
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For the owners of a biodynamic farm, organic farming and a natural gas pipeline don't mix.
Jason Griffith and his wife Erin Dreistadt own Aspen Moon Farms where they grow everything from kale to watermelons and raise chickens and cows on 35 acres.
Griffith is concerned that the pipeline construction will take a part of his farm out of commission for three to five years and damage his business.
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Over at Sun Dog Farm things are moving at a hare's pace. The Spring crops are sprinting for the finish line while the Summer crops swell and spread utilizing the bountiful rains and heavy sunlight. I do my best to live in the moment, to smell the Mimosa blooms and gaze at the Chestnut Tassels before their notes and textures are lost to the dreamlike presence of memories.
Just like our human bodies, the farm itself is a contained system of working parts.
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SONOMA COUNTY, CALIF.–Lou Preston reaches down towards a knee-high wire fence, grabs my hand for support and then climbs over it.
“Don’t be shy,” he says to me as he plunks himself down next to a handful of baby lambs.
They’re nibbling at his plaid checkered shirt and bushy white beard. “They’re mostly for the kids.” he says, giggling as one tugs on his ear.
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Since spiritually oriented biodynamic agriculture began in Germany 90 years ago, its popularity - and controversy - have spread across the globe. The method is definitely eco-friendly. But can it help feed the planet?
As Global Soil Week gets underway Sunday (19.04.2015), DW takes a closer look at this controversial farming method. What's behind biodynamic agriculture - does it work? And can it help feed the planet sustainably?
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Jack Gray, Mary Jo Wade, Wali Via, and Jabrila Via came together at Winter Green Farm the way tributaries meet and combine on their way to something larger than themselves. In doing so, they helped cut a path that many of today’s new farmers are stepping into. There are a lot of ways to tell this story, but I think I’ll follow the sun west and begin back east in Atlanta, Georgia.
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Agriculture system views farm as an organism encompassing soil, plants, animals, humans, and nature's cycles.
Nearly 20 years ago, owners of Frey Vineyards, Katrina and Jonathan decided to take their organic farm a step further and became biodynamic certified.
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Isis Biodynamic, a mother-daughter run company named after the ancient Egyptian goddess of wisdom, medicine and agriculture is proud to announce the launch of Isis Biodynamic Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour - the first nationally available certified Biodynamic whole wheat flour on the market exclusively at Whole Foods Market nationwide. The flour is made with Biodynamic Hard Red Spring Wheat grown in rich soil upon the beautiful Northern Plains of North Dakota.
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Biodynamics has probably been more hindered than helped by its advocates. If it wasn’t starry-eyed talk of cosmic forces and stags’ bladders that provoked either ridicule, anger or accusations of hocus-pocus, the claim that its methods are scientifically unfounded has been the most enduring and damaging.
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Terms like “organic,” “sustainable” and “biodynamic” are tossed around frequently these days in all matters of food and drink. Like “new and improved,” such words subliminally convince us it’s a better wine. Of course that’s not necessarily so.
Though all agriculture before the Industrial Revolution was in some sense “organic,” that is to say farmers used no chemicals, the current designations are all to some extent a response to gathering ecological crises. To deny that these crises exist is criminally ignorant; to deny that they are important is morally suspect; to hope that wine
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