TASMANIAN BIODYNAMIC CO-OPERATIVE

ABN: 60 669 336 229

The biodynamic movement is a social movement with a spirituality expressed through strong feelings for ecosystem and animal health, civil rights and social justice: protecting the family farm and the environment, and promoting food safety.

The bio-dynamic movement rejects the “inevitable” decline of family farms and rural communities. The decline we see around us is not inevitable. It is the result of decisions made by people that can be reversed by people. 

Local control of food production and distribution is basic to sustainability as a whole and to the survival of community and democracy in a corporatist world. There are two possible pathways ahead. If people choose obedience to the corporate dictum and vote with their dollars for convenience in Woolworths and Coles, the bread on our tables will be manufactured from grains genetically engineered and patented by Monsanto, shipped from wherever it is cheapest to grow, and sold to those of us who can afford it under a home brand label. By this path, the multinationals will maximize their profits regardless of the immediate and ultimate costs to our health, our farms, our communities or our environment. 

We can develop an alternative path. If enough people organize to take control of local resources, a local or regional food system becomes possible. This will be a system based on farms and gardens, of many sizes, growing food in the most ecologically sensitive way, compensating farmers and farm workers with decent wages, and distributing its benefits fairly so that everyone can enjoy fresh, nutritious, safe food. Seen in this context food becomes political. Every direct purchase from a local farmer becomes an act of fair trade, and every square metre of home garden, every family-owned farm becomes a small piece of liberated territory in the struggle of community for a fair and sustainable society.