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This article explores the distinction between organic and biodynamic agriculture. Most people are more familiar with the term "organic", when applied to food or farming, as this term has entered the mainstream. The term "biodynamic" is less familiar, although it is most familiar in the area of wine. Both of these systems of farming aim to promote sustainability by reducing the use of synthetic, chemical inputs which can potentially be harmful to the environment and to human health. However, as this article explains below, biodynamic agriculture goes a lot farther than organics towards achieving this goal.
Both organic and biodynamic have certification systems:
Biodynamic certification is carried out primarily through a single organization, called Demeter International, an umbrella organization that has member organizations in the individual countries where certification is carried out. Because the certification is run by a single organization, biodynamic certification is more standardized globally than organic certification.
Organic certification is run by a variety of different agencies. In most industrialized countries, including the U.S., Canada, the European Union, and Japan, the organic label is defined and regulated by the government. In other countries, organic certification can be carried out by non-profit organizations. Because there are different certifying agencies in different countries, the standards for organic certification differ. However, there are still some basic similarities in common between these different systems.
Biodynamic goes above and beyond organic certification:
The core idea of organic certification boils down to one idea: avoiding the use of synthetic chemical inputs, which can include herbicides, pesticides, and synthetic fertilizers like ammonia- or nitrate-based fertilizers. In this respect, organic agriculture is defined more in the negative than the positive sense: organic certification specifies what a farmer cannot do, but does less in terms of specifying good or healthy approaches to agriculture. Because organic certification does not specify much more than some restrictions on what farmers cannot do, there are many different ways of realizing organic farming.
Some organic farms stick to the letter of organic certification, following all the requirements and rules, but while maintaining the same fundamental approach of industrialized agriculture, using mass-production of crops in large monocultures, and applying fertilizers and herbicides or pesticides as one does in modern industrial farming, with the only change being the use of mixtures allowed under the organic certification systems. The gains of this sort of approach, from a sustainability standpoint, are minimal.
Biodynamic agriculture, on the other hand, takes a more holistic approach. In biodynamic agriculture, the farm is viewed as an ecosystem. Biodynamics, like organics, avoids chemical treatments, but goes even farther, promoting decentralization of production, using cover crops, crop rotation, livestock manure, composting, and open pollination combined with seed saving Each of these practices provides benefits in terms of sustainability, both creating a more positive environmental impact, and increasing the resilience of the farming operation.
The effects and yield of biodynamic agriculture vs conventional organic farming:
There are not many studies comparing biodynamic agriculture to organic-certified factory farming. However, there is a lot of research comparing biodynamic farming to conventional (non-organic) farming, and this research seems to find a common trend, which is that biodynamic farming results in slightly lower crop yields, but greatly increased soil quality and lessened environmental impact. Furthermore, biodynamic operations tend to be much more resilient to disturbances, such as changing environmental conditions or unusual weather or climate fluctuations. This is likely due to the use of ecological principles such as diversification and use of open-pollination and seed saving. And in the case of biodynamic wine, a specific topic that has been studied more, there is some evidence that the biodynamic practices result in greater quality of the grapes.
In summary:
Biodynamic agriculture goes above and beyond organic agriculture in embracing ecological principles. Biodynamic certification is more standardized than organic certification. Biodynamic farming results in lower crop yields, but greater resilience in the face of changing conditions, and a more positive impact on the environment.
Alex Zorach is the founder and editor-in-chief of RateTea, an online community where anyone can rate and review teas, with a searchable database of teas and herbal teas, classified by brand, style, and region. RateTea has a wealth of information about tea, health, sustainability, and related topics. Visit RateTea to learn more about organic tea production, or to read about other topics pertaining to tea production.
