The Birth of Biodynamic Agriculture | Vincent Choisnel, Jean-Michel Florin

In 1924, traditional agriculture had already given way to an agriculture that heavily relied on chemistry and machinery to increase yields and profitability. However, the exclusive pursuit of quantity was detrimental to the quality of products; the land and animals, transformed into "production machines," became sterile. More and more fertilizers were needed. Concerned farmers and scientists felt the urgent need for a new impulse in agriculture. They asked Steiner to suggest, based on his knowledge of nature, a different way to consider and treat the land. He accepted and, from June 7 to 16, 1924, he presented new insights: thus revealing the agriculture that would later be called "bio-dynamic." This book describes the circumstances, the places, and above all the beings that surrounded this birth. It consists of contributions from various individuals with very diverse perspectives. It complements the theoretical contribution of the Agricultural Course by evoking the "human environment" surrounding this birth. It is also from this human perspective, warm, but also full of humor, that the initiator of this bio-dynamic agriculture, Rudolf Steiner, appears.