One Man, One Cow, One Planet

First, just to be clear, I grew up farming. I'm very involved in the support and advocacy of sustainable, clean, and local food and farming. I keep an urban garden and a small but very functional compost operation. I contribute financially to several like minded organizations and sit on a few of their boards. I shop at the organic and farmers markets, blah, blah. You get the idea. However, I somewhat disagree with advocating biodynamic practices, at least here in the US. The ONLY reason I feel this way is because many of the "mystical" processes involved are ripe for slander by those inclined to slander or otherwise resist ANY change to the current industrial food chain. I fear these biodynamic detractors may then attempt to lump more...let's call them, "evidenced-based" practices into the same discussion and attempt to cast a negative light on a broader movement that is growing and has a real chance of success here in the US. I'm pretty sure if I told the average farmer in my hometown (like my dad) to fill a lactating cow's horn with her own dung and bury it in his field over the winter, I could expect to be promptly escorted to the front gate. And I'm sure Monsanto would relish the opportunity to very publicly point out that these are the types of practices preached by ALL modern sustainable farmers and make us all look ...well, a little silly in the eyes of legislators, decision makers, and the average consumer. I can hear it now, "You think these dung worshipers can feed the world?!?!?".But please don't get me wrong, biodynamic farming is great! I'm sure the cow horn thing works just fine as a compost technique; I just don't find it to be necessary to achieve the desired results and Peter's explanation in the film of how it works is anything but scientific or even logical. However, many ideas overlap with more scientific approaches (whether they indented to or not) and I think the spiritual elements of biodynamics make it a good fit for Indian culture (although I'm neither spiritual nor well versed in Indian culture). Ha!Anyway, my apologies for a review focused more on biodynamics in general and less on this particular film. The film does a wonderful job of documenting the application of biodynamics in a culture likely to accept and adopt it, but let's lose the mysticism for the US market. Read Joel Salatin and Michael Pollan and watch 'Farmageddon' and 'Dirt! The Movie'. I believe these sources represent approaches which would be much more well received by the American public. This whole movement is still in its infancy and, for better or worse, people are watching. The more we can all get on the same page with more broadly appealing ideas, the better off we will be.

Amidst the destruction of our environment and the tyranny of the corporate model, where Monsanto and Syngenta monopolize the seeds, genetically transformed to resist their pesticides (see also  ), it is wonderful to watch this documentary. Biodynamic farming moves away from the corporate model of junk food, and offers food that is healthy to grow, healthy for the environment and healthy to eat. It is definitively a feel-good movie for those who are really concerned about the fate of the Earth.Peter Proctor is one of my heroes. After traveling 25 times to India in 15 years, he finally decides to leave his home country New Zealand and settle there, where he will continue teaching biodynamic farming for the remainder of his days. He says : "In biodynamics, the flow of energy is reserved. It is a profound local alternative to the corporate model of globalization that is incapable of addressing the human need we all share for self-realization and self-determination."He is profoundly influenced by Gandhi, who said : "True democracy cannot be worked by twenty men sitting at the center. It has to be worked from below by the people of every village". At the moment of filming Maharashtra officially had 1.000 organic and biodynamic training programs and more than 4 millions ha under organic or biodynamic cultivation. And this movement continues to expand very rapidly.

this movie doc was very informative to understand the problems of commercial farming and provides good info and practical knowledge in setting up organic farming communites

"One Man, One cow, One Planet", apparently is not the same movie as" How To Save The World : One Man, One Cow, One Planet", as it is missing the original opening segment that showed the cutting up of an apple to represent various parts of the planet. This was a powerful statement that seemed to set the "tone" for the movie. I was quite disappointed to discover this. There was no information describing the difference between these two films.

An excellent way to begin the study of biodynamic agriculture is to watch this video a few times. Peter Proctor is a master, and his passion and dedication are inspirational.

This is a film I was very excited to come across. Unfortunately, the title is misleading. The film has very little to do with a cow. The cow should have been the center of the film, as the cow is the center of the farm. The film completely whiffs in this regard. So much potential, yet such a failure.

This is a very informative, very inspiring story about a topic we all need to know about - wish everyone could see it!

esta pelicula me ha motivado mucho para emprender un huerto propio, es muy buena, se las recomiendo, verla promueve un cambio de conciencia