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“Healing people and the planet through agriculture”

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Biodynamic Farm

Cowhorn Vineyard and Garden • Jackson, OR
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Biodynamic Farm

Benziger Family Winery • Glen Ellen, CA

Great Press

Biodynamic agriculture, and especially viticulture, has been enjoying a lot of press.  Please check out these articles to find out what all the buzz is about.

Green America: Demeter Biodynamic certification receives 5 out of 5 stars
Green America awards Demeter Biodynamic certification 5 out of 5 stars!  Demeter is only one of 4 out of 33 labels to be awarded 5 stars and the only "Environmental Concerns Labels" that achieved this level of recognition.  In that category- NOP Oganic received 4 stars.
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Dr. Mercola Interview: "The Effects of Biodynamic Farming on the Environment and Food Quality"
"I really think there's a clarion call right now, especially for the natural food industry, to focus on regenerative and Biodynamic agriculture. Because at the end of the day, Biodynamic farms are uniquely suited to address carbon sequestration in a way that other industries are not. The good news is that consumers have tremendous power when it comes to driving this change. Every time you shop for food, you're voting for one agricultural system or another, so make deliberate, intentional choices."
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Today Show Feature: "School Lunches are Getting Healthier"
"Revolution Foods and Back to the Roots are companies that are rethinking school cafeteria meals. From whole grain cereals to meatless peperoni, these lunches and breakfasts are getting a healthy makeover."
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Today Show Feature: "Meet biodynamic, the food approach that goes beyond organic"
"Organic food has become more popular, but a different approach called biodynamic goes farther as it seeks to promote health. NBC News special anchor Maria Shriver visits One Gun Ranch in Malibu, where rescued animals roam free, to investigate."
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Today Show Feature: "Meet biodynamic, the food approach that goes beyond organic"

Consumer Reports: "Demeter Biodynamic seal receives highest rating of 'Highly Meaningful'"
The standards are comprehensive and take into account various aspects of sustainable agriculture, including soil fertility, animal welfare, reliance on natural methods of pest management rather than chemical pesticides, and biodiversity preservation
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Consumer Reports

Shape: "What are Biodynamic Foods and Why Should You Be Eating Them"
Laura Mazzo
Long story short: Biodynamic is the new organic and you need to get behind it, like yesterday.
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Shape

Clean Eating: "Is Biodynamic the New Organic"
Clean eaters, rejoice. There's another food label popping up that can help you go a step further in your journey to better health: biodynamic. Though still an emerging trend (as organic was once), biodynamic is making its way to grocery shelves where it's reshaping the food conversation from the ground up.
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Clean Eating

Well + Good: "Biodynamic Food is Seriously Trending"
Thrive Market co-CEO Gunnar Lovelace is one retailer who is 100 percent on board, saying he is prioritizing adding more biodynamic food options to their customers….commenting that biodynamic really is better for you—and has better flavor, too. "Not all produce is created equal," Lovelace says. "Soil that's more nutrient-dense produces food that's more nutrient-dense, and that's also why it tastes better—you're tasting those nutrients."
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Well + Good

Cooking Light: "What are Biodynamic Foods"
Organic growing is great for the consumer, but not always best for the planet. Biodynamic farming looks after the planet and the people.
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Cooking Light

New Hope Network: "How Natural Beauty Brands are Fighting Climate Change"
Dr. Bronner's believes that biodynamic is the next frontier… Consumers should look for companies that "engage with farmers directly, or partner with supplier partners who do, to implement best organic and regenerative practices, like cover cropping and using compost to build soil health and organic matter,"
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New Hope Network

Organic Matters: "The Rich History & Bright Future of Biodynamic"
Melody Meyer …seek out some of their brands that bear the Demeter-certified label. Sit down with the precious bag, with a whiff and a sigh open up and savor the flavor of vitality. Take a screw to the lid and dip into the nectar that a whole system organic farm can create.
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United Natural Foods

Kiss the Ground: "What's the Big Deal About Biodynamic?"
Blair Wojcik "Biodynamic farming is truly about Regenerative Agriculture. The term 'biodynamic' was in many ways the inspiration for the organic movement we know today, but it goes even further…"
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Kiss the Ground

Kiss the Ground: "What is Biodynamic?"
This is a wonderful video, featuring Katrina Frey of Frey Vineyards, and infographic "What Does Biodynamic Mean and Why Should You Care?"
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Kiss the Ground
The Taste

Conscious Company: Nello’s Sauce Summer 2015
"Biodynamic agriculture uses the NOP [National Organic Program] as a base but adds dimensions to it that are unique, such as viewing the farm as a self-regulating ecosystem, caring for the diverse flora and fauna, managing water runoff, and welcoming animals and insects within the habitat."
Read more >

Conscious Company: Nello's Sauce Summer 2015

Edible Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Taos: Can Biodynamics Save Terroir
By Joseph Mora
A series of excellent articles by Sommelier, Certified Wine Professional, and Biodynamic wine enthusiast Joseph Mora. 
"When Biodynamics are applied, the concert grows to include what Kepler referred to as the 'music of the spheres', that creates harmony of the universe that allows wine to connect to its place in a natural and original way. "
Part I: November 1, 2013
Part II: November 16, 2013
Part III: December 1, 2013

Edible Santa Fe * Albuquerque * Taos

Edible Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Taos: Biodynamic Primer and a Roundtable
By Joseph Mora
August 30, 2013
"What is Biodynamics? Well…there’s no concise answer. 'Seeing the farm as a living organism,' is often mentioned, but obviously lacks the how, why and when of the thing."
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Edible Santa Fe * Albuquerque * Taos

Edible Monterey Bay: On The Farm: Cultivating a Cutting Edge 
By Cameron Cox
Spring 2012
http://www.ediblecommunities.com/montereybay/online-magazine/spring-2012/on-the-farm.htm
"One of the key tenets is that you are trying to create a closedloop system, wherein you create as much of your own fertility as possible,” Cynthia Sandberg begins. "This entails keeping animals such as goats, pigs and chickens and composting the animal manure as well as weeds from the garden. Any of the produce that isn’t used by Manresa goes to the animals for food, and moves on to the compost pile as manure. This limits the need for bringing in outside goods, and solidifies the garden as a self-contained, self-sustaining unit."
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Edible Monterey

Whole Living: Beyond Organic
March 2012
Jim Fullmer: “Biodynamic farmers look at their land the way a holistic healer looks at the body- they take the entire agricultural system into account….The land and animals are a self-sufficient ecosystem and can function without outside materials.” 
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Whole Living

San Francisco Magazine: David Kinch Steps Up To The Plate
by Josh Sens
January 2012
"Today, (Biodynamic) Love Apple Farms and Manresa exist in symbiosis.  Kinch is Sandberg’s sole customer, and she supplies the restaurant with 90 percent of its produce…. On the beautifully terraced 22-acre property tucked into the folds of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Sandberg and her crew employ biodynamic practices developed by Rudolf Steiner….”
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San Francisco Magazine: David Kinch Steps Up to the Plate

Imbibe: The Birds and The Bees 
By Katherine Cole
January 2012
http://www.imbibemagazine.com/In-This-Issue-Jan/Feb-2012
Rudy Marchesi, of Montinore Estate, talks about the birds and the bees, among other things, and why they are all part of the process of making great wine.  “The way Marchesi sees it, farming isn’t just about raising a single crop; it’s about supporting and maintaining every form of life in an entire ecosystem”
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Imbibe- Amazing Home Bars

Edible East End: On Good Land: Farming to a Different Beat
By Geraldine Pluenneke
April 25, 2011
For Barbara Shinn of Shinn Estate Vineyards… the attraction to biodynamic farming is as much about specific techniques as the “intent” behind the approach, which encourages “being mindful in farming practices while farming with instinct, creativity, and current ever-evolving scientific guidance.”
Read more >

Edible East End: On Good Land: Farming to a Different Beat

Whole Living
January/February 2011
http://www.wholeliving.com/134836/organic-vs-biodynamic-wine
Q: What's the difference between organic and biodynamic wine?

A: I think of the two as fraternal, not identical, twins. Here's how they're similar: Both organic and biodynamic wines use grapes grown without synthetic pesticides and fertilizers or bioengineered seeds. 
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Whole Living

Edible Marin & Wine Country: Biodynamic Winemakers Reach for the Stars Part II: Napa 
By Christy McGill
Summer 2010
http://www.ediblecommunities.com/marinandwinecountry/digital-editions/summer-2010-online-magazine.htm
Biodynamics, a set of ideas applied to viticulture derived from the teachings of early 20th century Austrian philosopher, Rudolf Steiner, is steadily making its way into the farming practices of some of the greatest winemakers of Napa Valley.
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Edible Marin & Wine Country: Biodynamic Winemakers Reach for the Stars Part II: Napa

Edible Marin & Wine Country: Biodynamics Comes Into Its Own 
Part 1.   Sonoma and the North Coast 

By Christy McGill
Spring 2010
These farmers, vineyard managers, and winemakers practicing biodynamic farming and processing are part of a growing community that is slowly but steadily pushing back against big corporate tides of conventional, homogenous winemaking and as they do so, discovering the wonders of their own “terroir.”
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Edible Marin & Wine Country: Biodynamics Comes Into Its Own Part I Sonoma and North Coast

MIT Technology Review: In Vino Veritas: Winemakers Disappointed By Organic Methods Have Turned to Biodynamics As The Purest Route To Wine That’s True To Soil, Grape, And Climate
By Corby Kummer
September October 2009
This approach sounds completely in tune with Slow Food, the movement (about which I wrote a book) that since the 1980s has called for a return to growing and production methods dictated by nature, place, and subsistence economics.  These are the methods that gave rise to the world’s great artisan foods and wines in the centuries before artisan was needed to indicate “non industrial.”
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MIT Technology Review: In Vino Veritas

Drive: Biodynamic Vineyards: Inviting Nature Back In
By Trish Riley
Winter 2010
Biodynamics differs from organic because, although it is based on natural growing practices, it goes beyond the plant to encompass the soil, the life force of plants and nature, honoring a connection to the land and recognizing the spirit of the place.
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Drive: Biodynamic Vineyards: Inviting Nature Back In

Specialty Food Magazine: What Exactly Is BiodynamicÂŽ Agriculture?
By Julie Besonen
March 2010
There’s a growing swell of interest in foods grown biodynamically among consumers who view it as organic 2.0 and are seeking out foods grown this way as a healthier, more sustainable choice.
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Specialty Food

Mother Jones: Is Your Eco-Label Lying?
December 2010
Biodynamic: Demeter’s standard for ‘beyond organic’ biodynamic food and wine requires biodiversity and zero pesticides on farms.
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Mother Jones: Is Your Eco-Label Lying?

O The Oprah Magazine: What “Green” Means
April 2009
The Demeter-certified Biodynamic designation means that farmers use practices emphasizing a holistic connection with nature.  The nonprofit has been certifying produce and wine since 1982, and bans harmful chemicals and synthetic fertilizers.
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O the Oprah Magazine: What "Green" Means

Ode Magazine: Tasting Is Believing
By Jay Wallsjasper
May 2008
Esoteric practices, like burying manure inside cows’ horns, has put many people off biodynamic agriculture.  Now, the sensational flavour- and ecological benefits- of biodynamic produce is winning them over.
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Ode Magazine: Tasting is Believing

Real Simple: Can You Trust That Label?
May 2008
Wines and foodstuffs that carry the Demeter logo are biodynamic, which means their growers use methods such as crop rotation, composting, and homeopathic sprays to cultivate the long-term health of the soil.
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Real Simple: Can you trust that label