Biodynamic Association and Demeter USA Will Unify to Nurture the Future of Biodynamics

We are excited to share with you a significant step forward in strengthening the capacity of the biodynamic movement in the United States to bring greater health and vitality to humanity and the Earth. The work leading up to this moment has been many years in the making, and the current global crisis only underlines its importance and urgency. 

Building on our community-wide biodynamic movement visioning process in 2018 to sense into the future of biodynamics in the US and surface courageous questions facing the biodynamic movement, and the work of Council of Biodynamic Organizations over the past year to creatively reimagine a healthy, associative, collaborative, integrated, transparent, accountable, and functional ecosystem of biodynamic organizations in the United States, the boards of directors of the Biodynamic Association and Demeter USA have voted to initiate a process to bring our two organizations together into one new organization: the Biodynamic Demeter Association. 

This decision to unify is inspired in part by the recent unification of Demeter International and the International Biodynamic Association to form the Biodynamic Federation-Demeter International, and is also grounded in the unique context and landscape of the United States. Our vision for the Biodynamic Demeter Association is that it will serve as a backbone for a more fully networked biodynamic movement in the US, holding functions that are best met by a national organization while strengthening and supporting local and regional biodynamic work and the interconnection between individuals and organizations. 

Our conscious intention is to infuse an understanding and application of Rudolf Steiner's social threefolding throughout the structure and work of the Biodynamic Demeter Association, with balanced effort in the spheres of culture, rights, and economy. We intend to continue to deepen and grow the cultural work that has been carried by the Biodynamic Association and the certification work that has been carried by Demeter USA, while developing new capacity to nurture the economic aspect of the biodynamic movement in alignment with the cultural and rights work. In the creation of the new organization, we will take great care to create clear structural separation between certification and marketing functions so that the integrity of certification is protected from any undue influence. The Biodynamic Demeter Association will continue to nourish and draw from the deep spiritual roots of biodynamics, and cultivate diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout its work.

Woven into the governance of the Biodynamic Demeter Association will be a collaboratively-developed community of agreements to guide who and how we are together as a biodynamic community and how this backbone organization relates to other organizations, with regard to issues such as decision-making, transparency, the use of the term "Biodynamic", fundraising, and communications. Representatives of the various organizations in the movement will continue to come together through the Council of Biodynamic Organizations, which will act as a sensing organ for the movement in connection with the Biodynamic Demeter Association, and carry a vision of the wider biodynamic movement as a whole. The Biodynamic Demeter Association will also continue to participate actively in the worldwide biodynamic community as a member of the Biodynamic Federation-Demeter International. 

We recognize that this news will generate excitement, relief, questions, and concerns for different members of our community. We welcome and encourage you to share your reflections with us here.

We are still early in this process, and there are many details to be worked out as the Boards of Directors and staff of both organizations work collaboratively to develop and implement this unification in the coming months. We will be engaging people with expertise in organizational transition, change management, and nonprofit law to support our process, and we will offer meaningful opportunities for questions and feedback from our members and partners along the way. 

We look forward to hearing from you and sharing more as this momentous unification progresses. 

Yours in community,

The Boards of Directors of the Biodynamic Association and Demeter USA