biodynamics

Here’s the thing. Despite what would probably seem the common-sense view of the relationship, approaches to sustainability and veganism, at least in wine-making, don’t necessary overlap. Indeed, depending as always on how you define things, at times they are in opposition to each other. This is an observation worth exploring. I am not taking sides in the issue. Rather, my goal here is to point out that things are, as always,...

As part of my summer reading, I’ve been going through some of Nicolas Joly and Gerard Bertrand’s writings on biodynamics and wine. (See the list of readings at the end of this post.) It is fascinating reading, and I wish I could find more writings by winemakers who practice biodynamics in English. (Or, in a pinch, Mongolian…) If anyone has suggestions, please do get in touch.  This is going to be even more of a rambling post than mine...

‘So, what are your results?’ ‘Ask us again in about, oh, three to five years.’ Thus runs an imaginary, but typical, discussion during fieldwork. Fieldwork is part of a slow process. It takes time, often slowed further by issues of funding and, well, life. But even if Julia and I had all the funding we could wish for, and no other obligations or commitments, we’d still be telling people to give us a few years. That’s a slightly...

This is a lightly edited version of the talk I gave at the Oxford Food Forum conference ‘Culture, Food, & the Environment: New Perspectives on Food Sovereignty and Security’ on 2 May. As it was written to be read, the original version does not include references, and I have not bothered to add them back in. Most edits are not marked here, but as a kind of experiment, instead of adding in footnotes where they might be appropriate...