The smallholder farmers of indigenous cultures seek to live in harmony with the earth. Biodynamic farming is for them a way of bringing together tradition and innovation to achieve a unity of earth, humans and cosmos.
Many people are familiar with Demeter as a brand name but they don’t necessarily know what it stands for. A new magazine – ‘Living Farms’ – published by the Section for Agriculture at the Goetheanum illustrates the Demeter principles and how they are applied around the world.
On 1 February at 14.00 hrs, the Section for Agriculture at the Goetheanum invites you to an media roundtable about agriculture as a cultural impulse, with Helmy Abouleish, Nadia El Hage, Vandana Shiva and Nathaniel Williams, chaired by Jean-Michel Florin, co-leader of the Section.
The biodynamic brand ‘Demeter’ is known around the world, the foundations of biodynamic agriculture less so. In the year leading up to the centenary, the Section for Agriculture at the Goetheanum explores this approach as the continuation of a human cultural impulse and invites the eco-activist Vandana Shiva to speak at the Goetheanum about the relationship between human beings and the earth.
Biodynamic farming produces food of high nutritional quality. Studies prove this to be measurable beyond subjective factors such as taste. The Section for Agriculture at the Goetheanum will discuss biodynamic food quality at its online conference.
Manfred Klett is a farmer and he sees farming as the art and science of relations. The living relations in agriculture are the key to promoting the living beings intrinsic to them. Farming thus becomes a culture-building impulse.
Children who regularly spend time on a farm with animals have fewer allergies because exposure to diverse stimuli enhances the immune response. Nutrition specialist Jasmin Peschke therefore recommends more contact with nature.
Biodynamic farming is proof that agriculture without pesticides is possible. Intro-duced a hundred years ago, it is by now even applied to demanding cultures such as fruit, cotton, wine, coffee and bananas.
Eating good quality food improves health while malnutrition can lead to illnesses such as obesity or type 2 diabetes. For nutritionist Jasmin Peschke food quality is connected with people‘s attitude towards soil, plants and animals.
In order to guarantee humanity‘s food supply we need plans for dealing with climate change, promoting biodiversity and improving soil fertility. Biodynamic agriculture works from multiple perspectives on a sustainable resilience by including the living world and the co-creating human being.
The Section for Agriculture at the Goetheanum has set itself the aim for everyone to be able participate in the biodynamic agricultural and food culture and help to develop it. This assumes access to high-quality seed, a sound training and an environment that enables organic agriculture.
In 1924 Rudolf Steiner initiated biodynamic farming with a lecture course in Koberwitz (now: Kobierzyce, Poland). A new German edition of the course is planned for its one hundredth birthday. The Section for Agriculture and the Rudolf Steiner Archives are calling for source materials and photos.
As a result of the Covid-19 epidemic, awareness of the connection between personal health and ecologically produced food has grown. Jasmin Peschke, nutritional scientist at the Goetheanum, thinks that this awareness can inspire greater respect for the dignity of living creatures.
There is no such thing yet as an uninterrupted, transparent and sustainable supply chain. By using ‘impacTrace’ to investigate the impact products have on the economy, on culture, society and on the environment, ‘Economy of Love’ establishes their true‘ costs. Helmy Abouleish, one of the standard‘s initiators, is a partner within the World Goetheanum Association.
A new contribution to the video series ‘Living Farms’ illustrates how the Mbagathi Rudolf Steiner School in Kenya combines education with basic food provision for its students. The video was made by Lin Bautze (project manager) and Philipp Wilson (camera) from the Section for Agriculture at the Goetheanum.
Loss of soil and biodiversity, pollution of water resources and challenges from climate change cast doubt on the agricultural practices currently in use. The Living Farms research project presents biodynamic places that are in search of alternatives, starting with the Garden Park at the Goetheanum.
Our spending habits determine how the world looks, because the purchase of a product supports the conditions under which it is produced. Environmentally- and climate-friendly production results in food that tastes good: flavour, health and protecting the environment are all linked.
Biodynamic agriculture produces high quality food and aims to contribute to the further development of agriculture. The brochure ‘Evolving Agriculture and Food’ documents the contributions to the first conference on biodynamic agriculture at the Goetheanum.
The Speisehaus at the Goetheanum is a pioneer in offering organic and biodynamic quality vegetarian wholefoods. For conferences it is now replacing supplies of cups made of paper and plastic with china.