Message from the Conference Organizer

Hello All,

I’m Coree. I have been working behind the scenes to coordinate the National Biodynamic Conference, coming up very soon in Colorado (tickets, day passes, and all kinds of opportunities are still available, November 8-12, in case you need reminding). We just wrapped up our regional conference in the southeast at Jeff Poppen’s Long Hungry Creek Farm, and it sparked some thoughts for me that I hope will touch you.

In this increasingly fast-paced and virtual world, we are capable of meeting and doing amazing work with one another instantaneously across continents. People now form businesses and intimate partnerships over screens. But there is really no substitute for meeting face-to-face, and I think we all know it. At our local conference, I watched the faces of friends meeting again after a year or more apart – there was nearly a palpable glow as conversations began to warm and spread. By Saturday evening, no one wanted to do organized workshops anymore, but the farm was lit up with conversations between all these beautiful and authentic individuals that populate this incredible movement.

I’m talking about you here.

The conference planning team has worked hard to piece together this jigsaw puzzle of the various interests and needs at play in our shared movement to make an amazing weekend, but in the end, it’s you who creates the synergy to energize all that potential. Maybe you will come and soak in every possible educational opportunity available, or you may spend the whole weekend basking in the company of the dear people you haven’t seen in five years. Either way, the magic is in our presence, together.

We are certainly living in uncertain times, and we all have our own means of coping with the instability and suffering of the world. It is tempting sometimes to disappear into our farms, into our work, rather than engage with the mystery and challenge of each other, and the world. We are not all of one mind about so many of the hot issues of our time, but it is my experience that biodynamics, as represented in the many beautiful farms and the strong characters of so many farmers, is the beating heart and living soul of agriculture today. Each of us has been touched by this work and stirred to further investigation and action. When we gather, I believe that we strengthen our charge, so to speak, and that our work becomes stronger, and more potent. I hope we can embrace this heart and soul quality and walk our paths together in a peace that will radiate out and inspire each person we meet, and each person we feed.  I believe that this is how biodynamic agriculture will thrive for another hundred years.

Looking forward to seeing you at the conference.

Peace be with us all.

Coree
National Biodynamic Conference Coordinator
conference@biodynamics.com