Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 45:21 — 51.9MB)
Food is the most important key to health yet much of what people eat these days is not worthy of such a label. This is partly because of the high concentration of pesticides, herbicides, insecticides and other toxic substances used in the growing and processing of what we eat. Biodynamic growing is a way to address this insanity, take into account a broader context and produce food that nourishes instead of poisoning the consumer.
Growing healthy food with Biodynamic growing
In this Episode of ‘Living outside the Matrix,” Nigel Howitt finds out about Biodynamic growing from Alysoun Bolger from the Biodynamics Association in the UK. Alysoun shares the principles and many of the biodynamic practices and gives us an insightful look into a way of managing our farms that best serves the end user as well as taking care of the soil, the animals, the wildlife and the environment.
In its broadest sense Biodynamic means a set of guidelines for more conscious farming. It began with the writings of Rudolf Steiner back in the early part of last century, well before the advent of such insane practices as the routine use of antibiotics in animal husbandry. Yet it is even more relevant today than it was back then. following its guidelines prevents the destruction of the soil structure and the microbial life support mechanism of the bacteria within it.
The most rigorous standards for growing food
Biodynamic is possibly the most stringent of the various methods of farming practices. It predates the ‘Organic’ standard and has been referred to as `organic plus’. Yet in principle, it is entirely practical and demonstrates a degree of flexibility within the general principled framework. One of the key areas in which it differs from conventional mainstream agriculture is that it takes into account the quality of the end product and its health supporting effects on the human consumer.
Back in Episode 41, we discovered from Dr William Davis how the development of modern strains of wheat has done much for increasing pest resistance for the convenience of the farmer, yet at the expense of the consumer in the form of a less wholesome end product. Lectins are substances produced by plants as defences against any pests eating them and so are desirable to breed into new strains of wheat, but they are a problem for human consumption as well as pest consumption. This is a typical case where the context of one activity is not integrated into the big picture and problems for human health are the result. The gut destroying use of Glyphosate in food growing is another such example and you will be unsurprised to learn that Biodynamic certification does not support its use.
Modelled on the success of natural systems
Another Key Biodynamic principle is the modelling of agricultural systems on successful natural systems that use diversity and many complex inter-relations between species and microbes to ensure the well being of all components. But perhaps the wisest and broadest principle employed in the Biodynamic method is taking into account context. Context is everything. All knowledge exists only within a context and we drop context to our bitter cost – as in the examples given above.
Personally, I don’t blame farmers for the production of toxic food. I think we all must bear the responsibility of educating ourselves in how to achieve and maintain health. This is a subject we are not taught and few seem particularly interested in. This is odd considering how important good health is for the enjoyment of a life on Earth. As we become more educated in this respect we will naturally demand food of a higher quality and the food producers who wish to stay in business will then provide quality food. In the marketplace production follows demand.
Legislation is not the way to make things better. Virtue cannot be enforced. Education is the key and it is its own reward. When we educate ourselves about the health requirements of the human body we (and our children) enjoy an evolutionary advantage over those who decline to do so. It is our challenge that we live in an age of disinformation and propaganda that is mixed in with all the good information on the internet. But we must sift through the information to discern truth from falsehood in order to arrive at knowledge.
Conclusion
The take-home message is this. Given that our food is important because it is the number one determining factor of health, it requires us to grow it and process it with great awareness. We must not poison ourselves and compromise our health as we eat. Eating organic food is an absolute necessity for anyone seeking health, but Biodynamic standards take things a step further. It could be considered the gold-standard for wholesome food.
The tragedy is that too many people are not yet aware that their food is this important. And additionally, most do not seem to value their health sufficiently to educate themselves on how to maintain it. The inevitable result is pain and suffering in ill-health for these people. make sure YOU are not one of them. health is a choice and it is well within your control to achieve it and avoid all of the modern chronic diseases.
Learn about some of the key factors you must attend to if it is health you wish to experience by clicking on the links below:
- Maintain a healthy gut
- Eat real food
- Nutritional Ketosis
- Fasting – one of the healthiest things you can do
Check out the Biodynamic Association based here in the UK, and find out more about what these techniques can offer you and your health.
Feel free to join the conversation and leave a comment below.
Nigel Howitt
Treehouse farm, June 2018
Leave a Reply