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Appendix

Damage Control

W

hat now seems like a great many years ago, I lead a small team to the

island of Dominica following a hurricane disaster in 1979. It was dur­

ing this relief effort that I met a French biodynamic agronomist who

showed me what the hurricane had done to his prized crops. Most had weathered

the storm. “What do you do about pests?” I asked. “I grow enough for them,” he

replied. “You see these holes?” He held up a large cabbage leaf to the light. “Well,”

he added, with the kind of lopsided grin that only a Frenchman can manage, “the

holes help them cook quicker!”

Of course they don’t, but his real point was that small holes or chewed leaves

or even blotches and bruising should not send warnings to avoid eating the plant.

In fact, it could be the reverse!

We are so accustomed to perfect produce that the merest blemish can cause

rejection. Our modern standard dictates that every plant on display (under special

halogen bulbs) in our supermarkets must radiate reflected light and sparkle with

abundant life—chock-full of vitamins, minerals, and good life promises. But to

achieve this standard, we have a range of chemicals that control everything that

can possibly threaten perfection.

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