Twins heading for careers on stage thank their school for their 'love of learning' Identical twins attending two of London’s top drama schools have thanked Ringwood Waldorf School for giving them the ‘curiosity and love of learning’ to pursue acting careers. Former pupil Leah Gayer is studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) while sister Mhairi is attending Guildhall School of Music and Drama. (Thursday July 7th, 2016 — Bournemouth Echo - UK)

Kindergartens in the Forest Allow Children to Sync With Nature Waldkindergärten, translated as “forest kindergarten,” is a concept that began in Sweden. Its main purpose is to foster a learning environment through discovery and play in outdoor settings. There are now over 1,000 forest kindergartens in Germany, as well as schools in England, Denmark, and Switzerland. They have even found their way onto American soil. (Tuesday July 5th, 2016 — The Epoch Times )

Meet the Modern Farmer: Joseph Brinkley Bonterra Organic Vineyards, Mendocino County, California ... What he lacked in grape knowledge, however, Brinkley more than made up for with 13 years’ experience in biodynamic agriculture. “It’s about bringing everything into balance—the earth, air, and water,” Brinkley says. (Tuesday July 5th, 2016 — Modern Farmer - Hudson, New York USA)

Five Things Monsanto Doesn't Want You to Know About GMOs Here are five reasons why everyone should be concerned about genetically engineered foods (Saturday July 2nd, 2016 — FoodAndWaterWatch.org - )

How alternative schools score better than regular ones in India [Book extract] Free existence and absence of an authority is what is most distinctive about these institutions. (Saturday July 2nd, 2016 — DailyO - India)

5 Big Meat Companies Produce A Combined 162 Million Tons Of Manure Each Year According to a new report released by Environment America, five major animal agribusinesses — Tyson, JBS, Cargill, Smithfield, and Perdue — produce a combined 162,936,695 tons of manure every year. But it’s not just the manure that is threatening America’s waterways. The report also points to the huge volumes of grain that need to be grown to feed animals in factory farms, noting that the chemical-intensive farming often associated with the production of feed like corn and soy can also create runoff that threatens rivers, lakes, streams, and bays. Moreover, factory farms are some of the largest contributors to water pollution, dumping more toxic pollutants into waterways annually from their processing plants, by volume, than companies like ExxonMobil and Dow Chemical. (Thursday June 30th, 2016 — Think Progress - USA)

Derbyshire wine merchant wonders if wine tastes better on some days than others Biodynamic or bonkers? – is the question for today. Or, to put it another way. Does wine taste better on some days than others? atthias Thun, the man behind a book and app called, 'When Wine Tastes Best: A Biodynamic Calendar for Wine Drinkers', certainly thinks so and he's got some credible company. High street heavyweights, Tesco and Marks and Spencer, only present their wines to critics on days deemed favourable by Thun's biodynamic calendar and many seemingly sensible wine lovers are extremely wary of opening prized bottles on 'bad' days. (Wednesday June 29th, 2016 — Derby Telegraph )

Just Five Common Foods Produce More Greenhouse Gas Emissions Than Nearly All Countries Think about the last time you ate something that included wheat, soy, corn, rice, or palm oil. (Wednesday June 29th, 2016 — Think Progress - USA)

Three cheers for county vineyard A Sussex rosé has become become the first English wine of its kind to scoop an international organic award. ... The vineyard's regent variety grape vines were planted 16 years ago and cultivated using biodynamic techniques, which aims to keep the vineyard in tune with the earth's rhythms. (Wednesday June 29th, 2016 — The Argus - UK)

Branding Briefing: How Some Greek Olive Farmers Are Making More Money Selling Less Oil Vasilis Dimas stunned his agricultural community near the ancient city of Corinth when he switched his organic olive groves to the more stringent, premium category of “biodynamic” four years ago. ... Such methods create a more sought-after product for which customers in Germany and other markets are willing to pay a premium. (Tuesday June 28th, 2016 — Forbes - USA)

Camphill Foundation World Wide Weave exhibit displayed at Historic Yellow Springs Historic Yellow Springs representatives said that the unique show of weaving by the residents of Camphill from around the world shows their “power of creativity.” Historic Yellow Springs is hosting the Camphill Foundation World Wide Weave Exhibition in the village of Yellow Springs through July 6 at the Lincoln Galleries at Historic Yellow Springs. (Tuesday June 28th, 2016 — Daily Local News - West Chester, Pennsylvania USA)

This 21-Year-Old May Have Found The Way To Clean Up The Plastic In Our Oceans Boyan Slat was just 16 when he realized he wanted to rid the oceans of plastic. It all happened after he dove into the problem in the most literal way while snorkeling in Greece and finding more drifting plastic than fish swimming. ... lat, chief executive officer of The Ocean Clean Up, has taken his eureka moment and turned it into a collection system based on floating barriers attached to the sea bed that use the ocean’s energy to gather plastic waste. After obtaining over $2 million through crowdfunding and more from Dutch government financing, Slat unveiled the first prototype last week in the North Sea, just off the coast of Netherlands. (Tuesday June 28th, 2016 — Think Progress - USA)

This City Is Home to 820 Urban Farms and Quickly Becoming America’s Urban Ag Capital Who knew that the Windy City has become so green? As Co.Exist reported, Chicago is quietly becoming the country’s urban agriculture capital with 821 growing sites across the city, from small community gardens to multimillion dollar indoor farms, according to the Chicago Urban Agriculture Mapping Project. Even O’Hare’s Terminal 3 is home to the world’s first airport aeroponic garden. (Tuesday June 28th, 2016 — Care2.com - USA)

A Huge Chicken Company Wants its Birds to Play More Before They're Slaughtered Perdue's new animal welfare standards seem as ambitious as the company's move away from antibiotics. ... The company has committed itself to following the Farm Animal Welfare Council's "five freedoms" for farm livestock, the most notable of which are the "freedom from discomfort," "freedom to express (most) normal behavior by providing sufficient space, proper facilities and company of the animal's own kind," and "freedom from fear and distress." (Monday June 27th, 2016 — Mother Jones - USA)

Change the norm for Goodness Greeness Just as you catch up on local, organics and sustainability, along come biodynamics and veganics. These are emerging food interests on the lips of those associated with Chicago’s organic food specialty distribution firm, Goodness Greeness. (Sunday June 26th, 2016 — TheProduceNews.com - Oradell, New Jersey USA)

India’s ‘Unprecedented’ Plan To Bring Millions Out Of Poverty And Power Them With Clean Energy India and the United States have been working together to support India’s transition to clean energy, including its goal of deploying 175 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2022, including 100 gigawatts from solar power. (Thursday June 23rd, 2016 — Think Progress - USA)

Self Medication, Wildlife Style: How Birds and Other Creatures Use Medicinal Plants “Not all pharmacists are human.” So begins a 1993 review article on the use of medicinal plants by animals. Reading on, we learn that pharmacists can be chimpanzees, Kodiak bears, starlings and grackles. As we learn more about how animals use plants to prevent and treat ailments, this list has only continued to grow. It now even includes caterpillars. Self medication defined: When a substance is deliberately sought out that prevents or cures a condition and its use results in increased survival and reproduction. (Monday June 20th, 2016 — Nature.org - )

Steiner school hit by blaze in landmark bid for state funding A former Steiner school forced to shut after its building was destroyed in a fire has launched a landmark bid for state funding. The board of the Glasgow Steiner group has sent a submission to the Scottish Government to become a publicly-funded autonomous school. (Monday June 20th, 2016 — Herald Scotland - UK)

Um, You REALLY Should Know What Biodynamic Wine Is Before Drinking It It all started in 1924 when Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner gave lectures known as the Agriculture Course. These outlined what would become known as biodynamic agriculture. The idea is that the universe is interconnected, from the moon and the stars to the soil beneath our feet — and it should all be considered in a spiritual light when farming. And that’s how biodynamic wine is made, with grapes grown following the practices that adhere to that philosophy. (Monday June 20th, 2016 — Huffington Post - USA)

Camphill Community for the Learning Disabled praised by Leading Think-Tank A report by the influential think-tank the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has singled out the historic community of Camphill Newton Dee for praise saying it provides “many lessons for Care in a communal setting” for those with learning disabilities. (Wednesday June 15th, 2016 — ResponseSource (press release) )