Agroecology: Biodynamics as the Trail Blazer (1924–1938)

In a series of eight lectures in 1924, Dr. Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) laid the foundations for Biodynamics, and thereby for the awakening of an Agroecology Movement. Steiner called for pushback against post-WWI chemically dependent farming and called for biologically focused farming. He urged farmers to regard the farm as ‘an organism’, he proposed some specific compost and field preparations to facilitate biological processes, called for experiments to determine what worked in practice, and called for the broad advocacy and uptake of this newly differentiated agriculture. By 1938 (shortly before the outbreak of WWII), Steiner’s agriculture had achieved differentiation by name (Biodynamic farming), market branding and a logo (Demeter), production standards and certification, a body to oversee the standards, a body to manage experiments, and producers, advocacy groups, and handbooks in multiple languages. In the years 1924 to 1938, the 5-point infrastructural elements (Certification, Logo, Advocacy, Name differentiation, and Standards (CLANS)) of this foundational agroecology were invented and put into practice. With these agro-innovations, Biodynamics laid the foundations for itself and future varieties of agroecology. When, in 1940, a Biodynamic farmer coined the term ‘organic farming,’ the 5-point CLANS infrastructure model for a differentiated agriculture was already well-formed, developed, and implemented, and ready for emulation. Green Food in China, founded in 1990, also followed the CLANS model. Biodynamics was the first mover in agroecology, and its devotees pioneered eco-certification, eco-labeling, eco-advocacy, and eco-standards. Biodynamics was the prototype and the trailblazer for the diversity of agroecologies that have followed.