Biodynamic Woo

An article in San Francisco Weekly about biodynamic wine addresses one of the things niggling away in the back of my mind as I'm exploring the world of Real Food. Part of it has to do with the faddishness of it all, and with my feeling that as pretty much anything gets more popular, the amount of bullshit associated with it tends to increase dramatically. Bullshit is not something I need a lot more of in my life. I'm doing this because I am ridiculously overweight and unhealthy, and I want to get better. I'm also doing it because I understand that the modern industrial food system has some seriously negative consequences for people, for animals, and for the environment.

The thing is, I try to be a rational person. I don't believe in fairies or God or Bigfoot. I don't believe in voodoo or séances or homeopathy. And while I think a lot of what some farmers are doing with regard to organic and/or biodynamic methods are excellent, I damned sure don't believe that cow manure buried in a cow's horn, or oak bark buried in a sheep's skull has anything to do with it. The thing is, I want to support the farmers who put in so much hard work to produce high-quality fruit, vegetables, and meat using ethical and sustainable methods, but I don't really want to encourage the anthroposophic mumbo-jumbo that goes along with it.

As Steven Kinsella points out in his Skeptic's Diet post, "Charlatans will will happily flock to any realm where there is a significant gap between the public’s desires and their knowledge." It's hard not to feel like I'm getting scammed here, given how much I don't know.