Profiles in Farming

Sustainable Settings

Sustainable Settings, founded by Brook and Rose Levan, is a Demeter certified Biodynamic® working ranch and Whole Systems Learning Center on 244 beautiful acres at 6,500 feet elevation in the heart of the Rocky Mountains.

Brook is not your average farmer with an affinity for good food. With a broad range of degrees and titles in addition to farmer, including MFA, NYSCC, BFA, certified Permaculture designer and consultant, not to mention Fulbright Scholar, Brook has consulted, practiced and taught sustainable design, green building, renewable energy, and wetland creation. With such a broad academic background, it is no surprise that Sustainable Settings is based in philosophy and approach, not just product. According to Brook, “this is an experiment, a continuation of the 10,000-year-old experiment called Agriculture.”

The heart of Sustainable Settings is the ranch, and their products include: 100% grass fed poultry, lamb, beef, pork; eggs; and a broad assortment of greens and vegetables. They offer full share and half share memberships through their CSA, and even have a Herd Share program that makes raw milk, cream, yogurt and kefir available to their members.

But Sustainable Settings is much more than a working ranch. Their Whole Systems Learning Center is an unprecedented effort in the inter-mountain West to provide an experiential learning environment for the cultivation of a sustainable future. By utilizing place as pedagogy and harvesting nature’s intelligence, the Learning Center offers a rich and dynamic context in which people are inspired to embrace integrated solutions for sustainable development. The core elements of the program- including Sustainable Agriculture, Green Development, Micro-Enterprise, Land Stewardship, Art for Daily Life and Education & Ecological Literacy- form a foundation from which learners of all ages experience and develop ways to live more sustainably.

In addition to running the Learning Center, Sustainable Settings is also home to several business ventures, including Biodynamic Source- a new Demeter certified Biodynamic preparation making and distributing company, Biodynamic Botanicals- which provides medicinal herbs for the apothecary market, and BioSprays- a Biodynamic agricultural application service founded by Brook and Lloyd Nelson.

In addition to running the Learning Center, Sustainable Settings is also home to several business ventures, including Biodynamic Source- a new Demeter certified Biodynamic preparation making and distributing company, Biodynamic Botanicals- which provides medicinal herbs for the apothecary market, and BioSprays- a Biodynamic agricultural application service founded by Brook and Lloyd Nelson.