Organic Lifestyle

Definition of Biodynamic

Biodynamic agriculture is the oldest certified ecological farming system and has been an assurance of quality since 1928. Demeter Association, Inc. (the US branch) certified its first Biodynamic farm in 1982. Demeter is a non-profit, non-tax exempt organization.

Biodynamic

The early 1900’s were a time of great change for the agricultural industry. Seduced by promises of higher yields and less labor, many of the world’s farmers began using synthetic fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides. By 1924, however, some growers in Europe had already noticed that these artificial means were beginning to degrade the quality and vitality of the soil, seed, plants and animals. Disatisfied with the answers they received from industry and government, these farmers turned to the Austrian scientist and visionary Dr. Rudolf Steiner for guidance.

What Steiner offers, during a series of lectures in 1924, was a new approach to agriculture that integrates precise observation of natural phenomena with knowledge of the spirit and cosmic rhythms, to restore and maintain the vitality of the living soil, the plants that grow in it, and the organisms they sustain. The new agriculture was called Biodynamics, from the Greek words bios and dyn, which mean “life forces.” It is the oldest non-chemical agriculture movement in the world, predating “organic” agriculture by 20 years.

Today, farmers around the world still use Biodynamic methods such as specialized composting, humus-building Biodynamic preparations and sprays, green manuring, companion planting and crop rotation. All of these tools work together to support the living soil and to give it the ability to hold and release nutrients at optimum levels. This is important because the soil is the foundation upon which the planet’s entire food chain is built.

Biodynamic farmers recognize and cooperate with the life forces-- including the light and warmth of the sun and the rhythmic workings of the moon, planets and stars-- that actively regulate the natural growing processes of the plants, the animals and the soil itself. They believe that, if the soil is healthy and the farm’s natural forces are in balance, seed will bring forth the plants that are true to their own natures, and that therefore have more life-giving vitality for animal and human consumption.