Yesterday I attended the International Conference for Biodynamic Agriculture that was held at the Great Hall of the University of Economics Bocconi in Milan. I usually find it pretty hard to sit down and listen to people talk for ten hours in a row but I was pulled in by my friend Pary who works as an architect but as a second activity, she teaches how to build orchards for primary and secondary schools in Milan, which are managed by teachers and students. Being very fond of the biological and biodynamic agricultural related subjects she always finds a way to convince me to attend some sort of meetings I wouldn’t have chosen on my own.
In spite of my initial resistance the lectures were interesting and in at the same time a bit scary too. The point of view of people who are trying to develop a new concept of agriculture (I must say relatively new since biodynamic agriculture was founded by Rudolf Steiner in the twenties, almost a century ago) openly clashes against the common and widespread practices not only of the large corporations that control the majority of the farmland in the world, but also against a lack of sensitivity of farmers and common breeders, constantly struggling to make their work if not profitable at least suited to survival.
I’ve learned a lot during those hours, I listened to researchers concerned about global warming and tenacious farmers who are trying to prove through their concrete experience that solutions do exist, detached from the big company lobbies oligarchy.
I felt fear and hope, in a seesaw of despair and deep affection for our planet in danger, full of short-sighted and greedy forces but at the same time also of many people that every day fight to see things changing, driven by the one and only wish to leave to our children and our grandchildren a better world.
Among all the speakers present at the conference, one in particular caught my attention: Lucetta Betti (and not just because her last name ringed an obvious bell!!!). Professor Lucetta Betti is a researcher at the Department of Agricultural Sciences (DIPSA), Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Bologna and she has also developed the DEM (Droplets Evaporation Method) for qualitative analysis of food and agricultural products.
In simple words they put in different containers of pure water seeds planted with the traditional method, which means growing them using chemical fertilizers and pesticides while in the other container they place seeds that are grown organically and biodynamically. An hour later they select a water drop from both containers in which were immersed the seeds into a special dryer: the result is amazing. The water in which were immersed the seeds traditionally cultivated formed disordered crystals, with totally disorganized fractals, while those grown with organic and biodynamic system growth showed perfect and beautiful crystals.
A fractal is a natural phenomenon that exhibits a repeating pattern that displays at every scale. We can call it an expanding symmetry system that regulates the natural growing. This method of investigation researched by Professor Betti teaches us that we managed to destroy the inner intelligence of nature by forcing it to an unnatural growing system that kills the intimate nutritional quality of the food we eat.
This method which is based on a concept that has always been considered a crazy esoteric delusion is now accepted by mainstream science.
The thing that impressed me most was the way Professor Betti was speaking about crystals, presenting them to her audience as they were jewels. Beautiful was the word she was using to describe the crystal pictures she was showing and I believe we should all spend a thought on the so proved fact that treasures are often hidden to the human eye.
Betti
[socialWarfare]