Job Opening — Executive Director

The Association is seeking a full-time, professional staff person whose primary responsibility is to provide leadership and to manage the operation and growth of the Association. We believe "our responsibility is to be a unifying voice for the biodynamic movement," and the Executive Director is the "face" of the organization. The Executive Director is accountable to the Board of Directors and is responsible for carrying out board-approved goals and objectives; facilitating the work of staff and contractors; and operating the organization within the board-approved budget. The Executive Director has primary responsibility for program development, fundraising, communications, and financial management. Please see full job description for details about responsibilities, qualifications, benefits, application procedure, and deadline.

Please help support the work of the Association!

We believe that you are at the heart of accomplishing the mission of the Association. Please help us this year as we seek to provide the growing biodynamic movement with adequate funding — like much-needed education, research, and development for the regional groups and associations, as well as continuation of the training and education initiatives we undertook in 2008. Recognizing that these are challenging economic times, we encourage you to support the work of the Association — work that we believe becomes even more crucial in light of this changing world. Read more.

Fall 2008 issue of Biodynamics: Opportunities for New Farmers and Gardeners

Now more than ever we need the influx of new energy and motivation, new excitement, new willingness to help heal the Earth. As society begins to recognize the intertwined natures of food production and human and ecological health, we realize that new biodynamic farmers and gardeners will be critical to the rejuvenation of our world and our selves. Supporting a new generation (whether young or old) requires a multi-pronged approach — one that looks, among other things, at training, access to land, and access to capital. We have only begun to ponder how to support such growth. Please join our discussion.

Articles now available online

(We will be adding HTML versions of some articles previously posted in PDF format, as well as new articles. Please check back regularly for additions.)

• "Letter from the President" — Jean-Paul Courtens (Biodynamics, Fall 2008)
• "Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, the Threefold Community, and the Birth of Biodynamics in America" — Bill Day (Biodynamics, Fall 2008)
• "Nature Spirits: How Can We Help Them?" — Beth Wieting (Biodynamics, Winter 2009, coming soon)

Seasonal gift ideas

We have a great selection of seasonal gifts — including cookbooks, calendars, gardening books, DVDs, and notecards! You can also give the gift of membership. We appreciate your help, as contributions and member support are more important than ever in these challenging times.

Announcements

• Petition for GMO labeling: the Institute for Responsible Technology offers an online petition urging President-Elect Obama to announce a GMO food labeling policy.
• USDA seeks public comment on deregulation of GE corn: on a petition to deregulate corn genetically engineered (GE) to produce a microbial enzyme that facilitates ethanol production. Comments must be received by Jan. 20, 2009. Send two copies of postal mail comments to Docket No. APHIS-2007-0016, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. Comments can also be submitted online at the the Federal eRulemaking portal.