In recent years there has been an explosion of interest in organic and biodynamic produce. Although once marginal and "alternative," escalating concerns about health, food quality, the environment, and animal welfare have brought organics into mainstream consciousness.
Biodynamics, a unique development of the organic approach, does not narrowly focus on agricultural techniques. It was conceived as a new way of thinking about farming, nutrition, and the world of nature, allowing for a revitalized relationship with the living soil, the elemental world, and the cosmos. Biodynamics broadens the outlook of agriculture and the science behind it, leading to a holistic perspective that incorporates astronomical rhythms and unique preparations for plants and earth.
In this book, author Richard Thornton Smith describes the foundations on which not only biodynamics, but also the wider organic movement, is based. He builds bridges between mainstream science and Steiner's insights, making it easier for the wider organic and ecological movement to approach biodynamic concepts and practic.
This book has much to offer the beginner, as well as those already involved with biodynamics. Its broad range of related topics — including the ecology of the farm organism, food quality and nutrition, community supported agriculture, planetary influences, seed quality, and the vitality of water — contribute to a deeper understanding of agriculture. The author is also concerned with promoting innovation so that biodynamics moves with the times. An appendix includes details for contacting various elements of the biodynamic world.
An accessible, timely, well-written overview of biodynamics and its importance for our nutrition, our social and economic problems, and our relationship with the earth and cosmos.
Author bio: Dr. Richard Thornton Smith was formerly a geography professor at the University of Leeds, specializing in soil science, environment, and conservation. Widely traveled, he has a longstanding interest in indigenous and sustainable farming. He was introduced to the work of Rudolf Steiner at an early age, although his full involvement with biodynamics dates from 1990 when he began to participate in training programs and workshops at Emerson College in Sussex. In 1996 he began a biodynamic extension program in Sri Lanka, for which he published a book, updated in 2007. Since 2001 he has been an inspector for the Biodynamic Association's Demeter and Organic Certification in the UK. In 2003 he produced an edited selection of Steiner's work relating to agriculture. He is currently a council member of the Biodynamic Agriculture Association (BDAA) in the UK and lives in Ross-onWye, Herefordshire.
Author: Richard Thornton Smith
Paperback: 298 pages
Publisher: Sophia Books (2009)
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