This classic work is the result of Dr Hauschka’s many years of research at the Ita Wegman Clinic in Arlesheim, Switzerland. Through decades of experimentation, he came to radical conclusions that suggest the possibility of new directions for science. This book includes the detailed results of Hauschka’s experiments, though his approach is not restricted to measurement and surface observation. Based on the work of Goethe and Rudolf Steiner, he encourages a method of seeing nature that has an artistic quality and calls for direct experience instead of intellectual theorizing.

The Nature of Substance is accessible, and the author deliberately avoided technical terms and academic style in favor of vivid descriptions and lively discussions. His fascinating study takes in many substances, with chapters on plants, animals, oils, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, metals, carbon, oxygen, poisons, high dilutions, and much more.

The scientific and spiritual path of anthroposophy is at the core of this work, a philosophy and method that Steiner developed throughout his life. This informative biography clearly illumines the numerous struggles and achievements in his life -childhood; the young, respected Goethean scholar and philosopher in Weimar; his work in the Theosophical Society; the establishment of the Anthroposophical Society and development of anthroposophy as a spiritual science; the creation of spiritually based movements in art, the social sciences, education, medicine, agriculture, religion, and architecture.

Hemleben’s biography of Steiner includes a chronology, personal tributes, an extensive section for further reading, an index, and 69 photographs and illustrations.

Biodynamic farm management relies on close attention to the interrelation of the farm’s parts (i.e. fertility management, water management, pest control, etc.), rather than solely isolating and concentrating on its individual parts.

In practice this entails managing a farm in such a way that inputs, which otherwise would need to be imported from off the farm, arise from within the living dynamics of the farm itself.

At some point in time there was a divergence from this fundamental thought underlying organic farming. While many in the organic farming movement continued to be guided by this principle, and still do to this day, there also arose an organic agriculture that, out of necessity, had to be guided by the pressures of supply and demand economics. The original idea of organic agriculture requires a cooperation with living systems inherent to this planet. Fertility, for example, is based on the recycling of organic material that is generated on the farm. In one way or another raw organic materials are fed to an army of soil life that use it as food. The organisms die and in return provide nutrition to growing crops.

The concept of time that these systems operate in is biological in nature. It is rhythmic, based on seasons, weather patterns, sunrise and sunset. It is this biological time that dictates how quickly a farm can reach a level of fine tuned efficiency and maximum productivity.

The network of biology can be intensified and moved along to a degree, but the system can not be pushed beyond its means without bringing in help in the form of imported materials.

Bringing in materials reintroduces some of the same set of problems that conventional agriculture presents, namely dependence on the earth’s natural resource to transport, mine and refine a myriad of materials that are shipped all over the world. By its nature this puts pressure on natural resources and the natural systems from where these materials are mined or harvested.

For there to be a supply of product based on the production of a network of farm organisms there has to be foresight in developing the right farming systems to generate the supply. A farm that has been severely neglected can take up to a decade to be revived. There is an intense biological regeneration that has to occur.

When the demand for organic food exploded, the only way to meet this demand was to fortify the existing farm systems with materials imported from outside. This reality has created a new form of organic farming that has diverged from its roots.

From the start Biodynamics has also maintained an expansive definition of the farm organism that does not stop at the fence line.

For instance:
The farm sits within a general bio-region that influences the farm via local weather patterns, animal and insect migration, and geography. The farm’s bio-region is part of a greater regional bio-system. In North America, the ebb and flow of the jet stream keeps some regions wet, some dry, some warm, and some cool. Any farmer will tell you that the effect of this on the farm is profound. The bio-region itself is part of the functioning of the earth as a whole living unit. The farm is inseparable from the living identity of the earth as a biological system. Further, the earth is in a clear mathematical and gravitational relationship with the sun and all the planets in the solar system and the solar system itself is an element of the vast expanse of its infinite back drop. In such a blue print, the tiniest element of the farm is, in fact, the expression of the widest expanse of the infinite. Biodynamic farming utilizes observation of celestial activity and a series of preparations to aid in aligning a farming system with the pure rhythm that comes from the widest expanse. To put all of the above into a nutshell Biodynamics requires a keen observation of nature itself. Produce and the related products that result from such an approach has a profound sense of place that is expressed as vitality in the product.

A Demeter Initiative In The United States

In a piece entitled New Directions In Agriculture, Ehrenfried Pfeiffer recollects a conversation with Rudolf Steiner in which Dr. Pfeiffer wondered why peoples’ will for action to carry out spiritual impulses was so weak. Rudolf Steiner’s reply was, “This is a problem of nutirition. Nutrition as it is today does not supply the strength necessary for manifesting the spirit in physical life.” One of the final impulses that Dr. Steiner left to humanity was Biodynamic Agriculture.

A Biodynamic farm is formed in the image of an organism in its widest expression. This is in fact the origin of the organized organic agriculture movement internationally. The US National Organic Program, out of its own nature, has abandoned this foundation of organic agriculture. Biodynamic agriculture has an important responsiblity to help carry this foundation forward.

The purpose of this initiative is to present the alternative of Biodynamic food to Americans and to nurture the farms and food systems that result. Because Biodynamic farms are integrated into the workings of nature, in her archetypal form, the food that results is deeply nutritious and has a profound sense of place. What you and your children eat matters.

As we move through the certification process, the Demeter Association seeks input and support for the following programs:

Local Food Systems
In theory and practice the influence of a Biodynamic farm radiates beyond its fence line. In its ideal expression, the food produced is preserved and consumed within the local area of the farm. With in the Bidoynamic movement there are examples of this in the form of the CSA movement, Camphill Communities, and local processing to preserve the harvest from local farms. Many of these are Demeter certified even though they do not necessarily need certification for purposes of commerce. The Demeter Association wishes to extend its effect so that, through promotion and education, it can help amplify the need for and value of local food systems nationally so that others may arise.

Certification
Demeter Association certification meets and exceeds the minimum international Biodynamic standards that date back to 1928. The function of certification is to provide assurance to the consumer of Biodynamic food that the food is producced and processed in compliance with Demeter standards. There are a growing number of very high quality Demeter certified Biodynamic products available throughout the Unitied States. If you are a grower or processor interested in certification or a consumer in search of Biodynamic food, please contact us. At a minumum we want to connect Biodynamic food produccers with Biodynamic food consumers and from that minimum base educate the planet on this renewal of agriculture.

Extension
The Demeter Association now offers a service to help farmers and food handlers achieve a thriving farm organism, and resulting food preservation, that meets Demeter Biodynamic standards. It is our intention to help farmers and processors overcome barriers to Biodynamic production. Please contact us.