Modern Agriculture: The Vicious Circle of Decreasing Life
Modern industrial agriculture is the offspring of scientific thinking and
chemical engineering. The materialistic,
reductionist, and
mechanistic
approach of modern science is very useful in the advancement of modern
technology that is using the substances from the mineral kingdom, but it has its
limits and serious drawbacks when applied in agriculture.
[1] For here we are dealing with living
organisms – microorganisms,
plants and animals – and with natural food containing living forces.
For example, the use of artificial fertiliser
increases the electric charge between the earth (negative pole) and the
upper part of the plant (positive pole). This raises the
electro-osmotic
pressure and consequently plants suck up more water than usual. Thus
artificial fertiliser does not increase plant growth by producing more
cells – which is the normal way of growing – but it increases the cells
because of the larger amount of water in them. [2]
This can be noticed in the watery taste of conventionally grown fruit
and vegetables. A further consequence of expanded cells are thinner cell
walls which are more sensitive to environmental conditions and more
vulnerable to outer impacts. This results in weaker, less vital plants.
Such artificially 'swollen' plants do not do very well in a natural
environment where is necessary for the survival of each plant species that only
the strongest and fittest can thrive. Plants grown in conventional fields need
the help of synthetic herbicides,
insecticides and other types of pesticides.
These agrochemicals create a protective barrier against so-called 'weeds',
'harmful' insects and microorganisms, and other so-called 'parasites' which have
the role in nature to remove and break down those plants which don't possess
enough life forces to be capable to survive without such help.
Of course, with such an approach we create serious problems in the
whole chain of food production. Such plants are fed to animals which
need antibiotics to keep them 'healthy' and alive; in food processing
they need food additives to make food 'palatable' and prevent its decay;
and finally people who eat such food need medical drugs to keep them in
'good health'. But, the truth which many don't want to see is that these
substances work as 'chemical shields' against the forces of natural
selection which would otherwise destroy organisms which are too weak to
survive in a natural environment.
There are two key sources behind the vicious circle of decreasing life in conventional food production:
- Materialistic, reductionist, and mechanistic approach to living organisms
- Use of artificial chemical substances: fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, antibiotics and food additives
[3]
In this light we can see the use of genetically modified organisms as the
logical step in the development of such an approach. Genetic engineering tries
to 'solve' problems which have been amassed by the same one-sided thinking,
which treats the living organisms as types of 'food machines' – with the aim to
produce food as cheaply and as quickly as possible. Because the problems in
conventional food production cannot be effectively solved any more by the use of
chemical engineering only, modern genetic science is offering help with its
radical interventions into the basic structures of the living organisms. If
those who promote genetic engineering prevail, the final result will be loss of
suitable living forms for healthy life on earth.
Organic Agriculture: The Circle of Increasing Life
One of the most fundamental principles of
organic farming
and food processing is that only life stimulates life. This means that only soil
which is teeming with life forces can produce strong plants, which in turn
provide healthier food for animals and humans, which then contribute with their
actions to the improvement of the quality of soil and other conditions that
affect the food production. Here we have a circle of increasing vitality and
health. For example, if we just look at the effect of earthworms – which have in
organic farming a very important role – we notice that they help in the airing
and fertilising of the soil. Their castings contain high amounts of nitrogen,
phosphorus and potassium, as well as other minerals and micronutrients necessary
for the healthy growth of plants.
The circle of life presents an ideal picture. The most important
aspect is that we are aware that all we do at any stage of food
production is dependent on a multitude of factors, so we can never claim
that further improvement is not possible. However, it is crucial that we
move in the right direction – that is, in the direction of ever
increasing vitality and food quality.
There are two key sources behind the circle of increasing vitality
in organic food production:
- New science of life (new understanding of living organisms)
- Use of natural substances in farming and food processing
In this context "it is particularly important that we nourish the plants
themselves in the right way. Here you must consider the fact that the plants are
something living. The plants are not minerals; they are something living. A
plant comes to us out of the seed we put in the ground. The plant cannot
flourish unless the soil itself is to some degree alive. And how do we make the
soil alive? By manuring it properly! Yes, proper manuring is what will give us
really good plant proteins.
It's no use thinking that one can make fertilizer simply by
combining substances that are present in cow manure. One must see
clearly that cow manure does not come out of a chemist's laboratory but
out of a laboratory that is far more scientific – it comes from the far,
far more scientific laboratory inside the cow. And for this reason cow
manure is the stuff that not only makes the roots of plants strong, but
that works up powerfully into the fruits and produces good, proper
protein in the plants which makes man vigorous."
[4] always when he eats good natural food.
Now we can understand why in organic farming so much importance is given
to the enlivening of the soil. Behind this approach is a more or less
conscious awareness that although "plants themselves could never be diseased
in a primary sense, since they are produce of a healthy living world, they
can suffer from diseased conditions in their environment, especially in the
soil; the causes of so-called plant diseases should be sought there,"
[5] in
the environmental impacts. Thus we can also understand why everything we do
in each step has an effect on the level of living forces in the soil, plants
and animals, and why it will all inevitably affect the final quality of food.
Plants as the Source of Life on Earth
Plants grow out of the mineral realm and provide food for animals and human
beings. Thus they form the living bridge between the dead minerals and living
organisms.
[6] In FOURFOLD HUMAN BEING plants are described as organisms
consisting of two bodies only: physical and
etheric body.
The essence of the etheric body is life and for that reason we can comprehend
why plants manifest various life functions to such an extreme degree as they do
when we investigate them.
But plants do not work in isolation; they form interrelationships to
everything around them, to the visible and invisible realms of existence.
Plants live in the midst of four elements of earth, water, air, and warmth.
They breathe and thus produce oxygen; they regulate microclimatic
conditions, such as warmth, wind, and moisture in the surrounding earth and
in the air. The mineral kingdom provides the basis from which the plants
grow; besides this it provides
chemical elements which plants absorb via intricate underground
relationships and activities.
"Plant roots, though confined in space, have an extremely large surface
area. This root surface releases differing amounts of chemicals at different
locations, strongly regulating the local biocommunity throughout the life of
the plant. These compounds promote the growth of bacteria and fungi,
stimulate soil microflora respiration, stimulate the growth of
nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and increase the numbers and mass of nitrogen
nodules, their haemoglobin content, and more. But their actions are not
random, nor is it random bacteria, fungi, and microflora that are affected.
The newly germinating plant releases compounds that literally call the
proper bacteria to the area where it is growing. Bacteria are so attuned to
these chemicals that they respond to them even if they are present only in
parts per billion. And these plant bacteria are species specific. The
compounds that plants release into the soil are in such combinations and
ratios that the health of their bacterial community is maximized. The
bacteria respond in kind. Some of the microorganisms, for example, provide
metals from the soil, such as zinc, that the plant needs to grow. The better
the bacterial population establishes itself and the more healthy and active
it is, the healthier and better plants grow.
The newly photosynthesizing plant also releases compounds that initiate
the growth of revolutionary fungi (mycelia) around its roots. The compounds
chemically cue specific mycelial spores to germinate, potentiate their
growth, and exert powerfully attractive forces on all (already growing)
symbiotic mycelia in the vicinity, calling them to the newly emerging plant.
As with bacterial cues, these compounds can be strongly active, even at
dilutions of parts per billion. The mycelia, which are small hairlike
filaments growing throughout the upper layers of the soil, attach themselves
to the surface of the seedling's root (as do some bacteria), sometimes
penetrating the root body, to form a complex symbiotic relationship called
mycorrhiza. [7] This will last throughout the life of the plant. The plant,
through photosynthesis, creates sugars and secondary compounds that the
mycelia need for growth. The mycelia in turn provide substances the plant
needs (nitrogen and phosphate uptake, for instance, can increase 7,000
percent), produce complex
polysaccharides
that stimulate the plant's immune
functioning, and facilitate chemical communication (through its mycelial
network) between all the plants in its area" [8] which are connected to the same fungal network.
Plants are also surrounded by cosmic ethers –
warmth ether,
light ether,
chemical ether, and
life ether.
Warmth ether is the supersensible aspect of physical warmth which is
essential for developing flowers, fruits and seeds. Light ether is the
essential factor in the photosynthesis which enables
synthesis
of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins out of mineral elements. Chemical ether
is manifested in the enormous capacity of plants to produce all kinds of
chemical substances found in them.
[9] And where in the plants can we see the working of life ether? In the
simple fact that without plants no higher form of life on earth would exist.
Plants do not form symbiotic relationships only with fungi and bacteria
underground, but also with other forms of life: with insects and birds as
pollinators; with animals which spread their seeds, etc. But plants do not
stop with such relationships found by natural science, they are also under
more invisible influences coming from the cosmic bodies and stars. The
awareness and purposeful use of this knowledge in the growth of plants is
one of the main differences which distinguish
biodynamic agriculture
from an organic one. [10]
For example, "there are two things we need to observe about the life of
plants. The first is the fact that plants possess the power of reproduction.
Not only the plant world in general but also each individual species
develops the ability to bring forth its own kind. That is the one side. The
other side is the fact that plants, as members of a comparatively lower
kingdom of nature, serve as nourishment for members of the higher kingdoms.
In everything related to the inner force of reproduction and growth, in
everything that makes one generation of plants follow another, Moon, Venus,
and Mercury are working from the cosmos into the Earth by way of lime and
similar substances. If we look only at plants that we do not eat, plants
that simply renew themselves over and over again, it's as if we were only
interested in the influence of the cosmos as it manifests in the forces of
Venus, Mercury, and Moon, since these are the forces involved in plant
reproduction on Earth. On the other hand, when plants become food or fodder,
when they develop in such a way as to form substances that can nourish
people or animals, then Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are involved, via
substances like silica. These substances make the plant receptive to the
expanses of the universe; they arouse the plant's senses so that it takes up
from the whole surrounding universe what is shaped by the distant planets,
by Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Conversely, what makes a plant capable of
reproduction is taken up from the spheres of Moon, Venus, and Mercury."
[11] Or in other words, heavenly bodies between the
Earth and the Sun are conveying to the plants those forces which enable
their growth and reproduction, while planets between the Earth and the outer
expanses of the universe are conveying to the plants those forces which
enable their ripening and production of fruits.
The above description of the planetary influences serves only as an
illustration which shows that for the proper life of plants they are
necessary not only for the connections of plants with their mineral
surroundings and with the beings from the other kingdoms of nature, but also
the more hidden interplay with the invisible cosmic forces. [12]
If we really want to understand the plants we need to know that "a plant
such as we see in the external world is a being which is made up of a
physical and etheric body. At the same time it is a being which brings to
our notice the fact that what we call the physical and etheric body are in
principle healthy, and that it has to wait until it meets with an external
injury before it can become diseased. In the case of a diseased plant we are
never able to say that the original etheric body itself is changed, but only
that all kinds of disturbances and harmful influences from outside have
penetrated into the physical body and especially into the etheric body"
[13] of a plant.
Now we can look at one example of such harmful influence coming from
outside which needs to be brought to the core of our attention when we
investigate the difference in the quality of organic and conventional
farming methods.
Harmful Effects of Artificial Fertiliser on Growth of Plant
From the above description it is evident that the life of plants is
dominated by relationships with their environment and by symbiotic
collaborations with other forms of life. Even the antagonistic activities
between various species contribute to the final outcome – the harmonious
ecosystem which is capable of regulating itself. In the organic cultivation of
plants we strive to emulate and use these natural self-regulatory processes and
thus maintain the health of plants. In contrast to this, the use of artificial
fertiliser has very negative effects on the life and health of plants.
As we have seen, plants are not just passive receptors of influences
coming from outside but they are very active in providing themselves with
the minerals and other elements they need for proper growth. In fact, plants
are choosing what they will absorb from their environment. But a "plant that
is feed by artificial fertiliser is no longer capable of getting its food
from the soil with the choice of suitable nutrients. Fertiliser dissolves in
water and the plant receives the nutrients contained in fertilisers by the
absorption of water through the roots. These nutrients which have not been
chosen by plant itself according to its needs in cooperation with specific
bacteria are not suitable for the plant's proper nourishment."
[14] This effect – in combination with the accelerated absorption of
water due to increase in electro-osmotic pressure – we can see as the forced
feeding of plants based on human arbitrary decision about what is good for
plants and what is not. This approach results in the weakening of the
plants’ vitality and in the loss of food quality.
The use of artificial fertiliser has another negative effect: it
suppresses the life of microorganisms and mycorrhizal association. This is
evident from the cases of long-term use of artificial fertiliser which has
lead – in cooperation with the use of herbicides and pesticides – to the
complete loss of other life-forms in the soil. What is left is more or less
sand and dust. Such environment prevents plants from obtaining
all the minerals they need for healthy growth.
This is the paradox of the use of artificial mineral fertiliser: it 'cuts'
the plants from living symbiotic relationships with other life-forms in the
soil and thus prevents them from obtaining all the mineral substances they
need. Such development also hinders the inflow of beneficial cosmic forces.
The final results are plants isolated from living interrelationships with
the natural environment and surrounding universe. Such plants cannot nourish
human beings in the same manner as those grown as nature intended. [15]
On top of this we need to be aware that since the beginning of modern
agriculture substances which have never before been used in food production
are entering into our food chain. These are
hydrocarbons,
the dead geological remnants of former living organisms. The main
characteristic of these substances – to which belong petroleum,
coal, and natural gas – is that they no longer contain oxygen, the carrier
of cosmic life. [16] In
spiritual science the realm from which we get these hydrocarbons is called
'subnature'. While these substances are very useful and effective sources of
energy in industry and transport, they do not have any beneficial effects on
the quality of our food. We could even say that their primary effect is to
create an opposition to the life forces in the living organisms. For that
reason we should not use them as a means for growing plants, if we want to
support and evolve the intrinsic life forces of the plants and subsequently
of all higher forms of life.
For a complementary perspective see:
♦ FOOD AS SOURCE OF ENERGY
