We never expected the need to get into Land Activism, and yet, here we are, attending Napa County Board of Supervisor Meetings, Planning Commission meetings, Agricultural Protection Advisory Committee meetings, making public comment, advocating for the health of our environment. One thing that sets Biodynamic farming and certification apart for organic and conventional farming is that we are mandated to consider the whole of our ranch and its relationship to the ecosystem of which it is a part. I wish we all were mandated to consider this question! As a Jungian analyst, I consider this with each patient each hour. Considering what we would rather ignore about ourselves is critical to our mental and physical health.
This is true in farming too. Farming that does not consider what inputs (chemicals) are used to grow crops, and the fact they find their way into our food and water systems, is putting the problem onto the world around the farm. It is not taking responsibility for one’s actions. California state literature estimates as much as 55% of farm chemicals sprayed on crops “leave site” and end up in surrounding neighborhoods (Pesticide Safety, University of California Publication 3383). These same chemicals also find their way into ground water and surface run off.
So it is up to us all to study the facts of what is being sprayed around us, and what is being clear cut for farming at the expense of the health of our watersheds, and show up with our elected officials and with those making public policy. Farming is an act of communication with the energies of plants, animals, minerals, and this includes with other human beings. Sometimes that means the communication has to be in public forums. Please join your local groups advocating for healthy environments through more conscious practices with farming, gardening, and local policy.