Biodynamic Agriculture
The production and processing of food is the first task of every society, and thus the foundation of its culture. This is why farming is central not only to the curriculum at Ruskin Mill Colleges, but to the life itself. But it's also why our model of farming is as much as about rhythms and relationships as it is about production.
Modern intensive farming prizes production almost uniquely. Through mechanisation, mono-cropping, chemical fertilisation, heated greenhouses, air-freighting, financial subsidy, over-processing and genetic modification, intensive farming seeks to free food-production from the 'constraints' of nature.
The results are the headlines on our TVs, newspapers and blogs: global warming, environmental degradation, oil-wars, obesity and addiction.
Biodynamics offers a radically different model of farming. Inspired by the teachings of Rudolf Steiner, and particularly by eight lectures to Polish-German farmers in 1924, biodynamic agriculture shares the organic movement's rejection of mono-cropping, chemical fertilisers and pesticides, emphasising by contrast the interdependence of soil, plants and animals.
But biodynamics goes much further in linking agricultural cycles of growth and decay to natural cycles of the moon, sun and other planets.
Most European and English-speaking countries have Biodynamic Associations: if you're interested to know more, these are a good place to start.
Modern intensive farming prizes production almost uniquely. Through mechanisation, mono-cropping, chemical fertilisation, heated greenhouses, air-freighting, financial subsidy, over-processing and genetic modification, intensive farming seeks to free food-production from the 'constraints' of nature.
The results are the headlines on our TVs, newspapers and blogs: global warming, environmental degradation, oil-wars, obesity and addiction.
Biodynamics offers a radically different model of farming. Inspired by the teachings of Rudolf Steiner, and particularly by eight lectures to Polish-German farmers in 1924, biodynamic agriculture shares the organic movement's rejection of mono-cropping, chemical fertilisers and pesticides, emphasising by contrast the interdependence of soil, plants and animals.
But biodynamics goes much further in linking agricultural cycles of growth and decay to natural cycles of the moon, sun and other planets.
Most European and English-speaking countries have Biodynamic Associations: if you're interested to know more, these are a good place to start.
