Miriam MacGillis to Speak at National Biodynamics Conference
July 22, 2010
September 30-October 3, Chestnut Ridge, NY
Miriam MacGillis, Genesis Farm’s director and co-founder, will give one of four keynote addresses at the 2010 national conference of the Biodynamics Farming and Gardening Association in Chestnut Ridge, New York, September 30-October 3. The conference is titled Biodynamics and the Future of Agriculture: Growing the Food Revolution. Miriam will speak on "The Call of Deep Time: Sustainable Agriculture and the New Cosmology."
The other conference keynoters are Fred Kirschenmann, Nicanor Perlas, and Michael Schmidt.
Kirschenmann farms on a 3,500-acre certified organic farm in North Dakota and is a longtime international leader in sustainable agriculture. He is also a Distinguished Fellow at the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University and professor in the ISU Department of Religion and Philosophy. A collection of his essays, Cultivating an Ecological Conscience: Essays from a Farmer Philosopher, was published in April this year.
Perlas has been engaged in civil society for over 40 years as leader of several national meta-networks. He contributes in such areas as good governance, job creation, renewable energy, and national planning and implementation for integral sustainable development. One of his many awards is the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize. He is the author of Shaping Globalization: Civil Society, Cultural Power, and Threefolding.
Schmidt has a masters degree in agriculture and has been a biodynamic farmer for over 33 years. He moved to Canada in 1983 from Germany, and he has been instrumental in massive changes towards the awareness of the cultural importance of agriculture. He was recently vindicated of all charges in his 16-year battle to legalize raw milk in Canada. A scholar of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, he is an advocate for civil disobedience and the non-violent approach in court and daily life. He is helping farmers and consumers to prepare for making real sacrifices in order to win the crucial food rights battle for the sake of our children.
For more information about the conference, visit the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association website.
According to the Association, Biodynamic Agriculture was initiated in 1924 by Austrian scientist Rudolf Steiner. As a worldwide movement, biodynamic agriculture is the oldest, non-chemical agricultural movement, pre-dating organic agriculture by about twenty years. In addition to avoiding chemicals, the biodynamic approach focuses on working actively with the life-giving forces of nature.
According to the Association, Biodynamic Agriculture was initiated in 1924 by Austrian scientist Rudolf Steiner. As a worldwide movement, biodynamic agriculture is the oldest, non-chemical agricultural movement, pre-dating organic agriculture by about twenty years. In addition to avoiding chemicals, the biodynamic approach focuses on working actively with the life-giving forces of nature.
The Association believes that Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and biodynamic farms and gardens are essential for healthy and nutritious food, environmental health, and community development. They are a comprehensive source of information about CSAs.