Goals

In order to meet our mission, Demeter’s work is divided into six areas, or strategic objectives.  They are:
TEACH- Help people understand, embrace, and capitalize on Biodynamic practices and principles.  We hope to achieve this objective by: increasing the amount of educational resources; developing educational programs; participating in and supporting other courses, workshops and conferences; and fostering collaboration and the sharing of information across the agricultural community.  Examples of this work are the Biodynamic ShortCourse we held in Napa CA in 2009, and Demeter’s Biodynamic Garden and Lounge held at the 2012 Heirloom Expo in Santa Rosa CA.

GROW- Increase the supply of Biodynamic products through business development initiatives; by promoting existing certified products within the supply chain; and by developing initiatives to increase the production of Biodynamic produce.  We are working with farmers, processing companies, and retailers across the country to achieve this important goal of bringing more Biodynamic products to market.

MARKET- Enhance our members’ economic viability by encouraging demand for Biodynamic products.  This objective will be accomplished by increasing consumer preference for Biodynamic products; increasing retailer and restaurant purchases and promotion of Biodynamic products; and by helping members to better market their Biodynamic farms and products.  The development of this website is an outcome of this objective.

PROTECT- Protect the Biodynamic certification marks through proactive education and enforcement activities.  Often, our enforcement of the use of the term “Biodynamic” in the marketplace has led un-certified farms, already working very closely with the farming methods, to pursue certification.

ADVOCATE- Provide leadership, guidance, and support to efforts that protect farmers, foster sustainable farming, and promote ecological agriculture as an environmental and social solution to the multitude of challenges that humanity currently faces.  An important example of this objective is our participation as a plaintiff in the lawsuit Organic Seed Growers & Trade Association, et al. v. Monsanto, filed in federal district court in Manhattan in March 2011.  This pre-emptive suit seeks to prevent Monsanto from threatening farmers with patent infringement in the future, should their farms be contaminated with patented transgenic seed from Monsanto. 

MANAGE- Ensure that Demeter has the resources to achieve its mission and these objectives by effectively managing our certification office, creating additional resources, ensuring excellent standards, and developing our board to meet the challenges and opportunities presented through our first five objectives.