Attempted definitions:
Vitality - the presence and growth of natural, healthy forces at work
Quality - the ripening, the refined value of things, forces and beings
Vitality and Quality
Of all things in life, vitality and quality play an utmost role. Vitality defines our ability to do things, thus it is coupled with our essential drive for freedom, inwardly and outwardly. It is also the basic building block of health - our most elusive necessity. Quality is a context we define (or allow to be defined for us) as highest, best, most durable, suitable, most wonderful, etc. It is the very definition of value.
In matters of food, nutrition and health, both concepts (and the reality of) vitality and quality play a huge, predominant role. Coming to terms with what kinds of vitality and quality we want for ourselves and our family, friends and community - defines in many ways our philosophy and life practice - if we recognize this or not. Indeed, even coming to terms with these concepts, elevates our awareness and sensitivity to the issue.
Even in the most materialistic of times, ours, science holds the most significant aspects of our nutrition to be named vitamins. Literally, the "holders of forces." Since the beginning of time, it seems, and in almost all indigenous philosophies, especially indigenous medicine - up to and including modern forms of holistic medicine (often known as complimentary medicine) the forces, the vital forces of nature are considered the life giving elements - and their balance (or imbalance) the causative agency of health or illness.
Clearly, both substance and force play a role in our lives, as even modern physics describes. Nothing is really matter indefinately. It is all energy. Matter, so-called materia, is simply particular energies in a particular state of being, an aggregate condition, "frozen" into a material form, for a period of time.
Thus, taking a look at energy, forces, vitalism in general, is something almost all folks do, at some point or another, along their path of development.
In terms of gardening and farming, in terms of producing food for human and animal consumption, there can be no doubt that vitality (strength? longevity? concentration? presence? spirit? ) and quality (perhaps defined as taste, appearance, shelf-life, how it becomes us, effect on our organism, etc.) have a huge role to play in what and how we do things.
The more vital our soils, plants and animals are, the more vital we are likely to be. So even the most self-serving among us, recognizes the value in vitality. Furthermore, quality defines our experience, thus also having a commanding influence in our thinking and practice.
How do we best define, understand, experience, work with vitality and quality in the garden? In the kitchen?
My learning - and most of all my experience - has brought me to the point of recognizing easily that there is a qualitative difference - and vital difference - in different kinds of foods. Not only how they are prepared, but essentially, from the outset, in their raw and natural condition at harvest. Some foods are simply vital and of quality - others less so. Most people today, can, if they want, experience this difference. Eat something grown carefully, ecologically, lovingly - and prepared equally so AND then compare how this tastes, feels, affects you - by contrast with something not grown or prepared carefully, lovingly and without toxins, additives, over-processing, etc. Almost no one is left unmoved.
What constitutes the real difference? Why is homegrown or homemade almost ALWAYS better? Its the energy, the forces, the vitality and quality of the processes of growing and cooking. Clearly.
If we can distinguish the difference between mere substance and substance imbued with vitality and quality, then we have a starting point of reference. Before hand, we are just talking.
There is no doubt "mere" substance. It follows the physical laws of chemistry and physics. However, what makes it good, wonderful, healthy, tasty, etc. (as in the case of food) is the kind of forces it carries.
Working knowledgeably with both substance and forces is one of the fundamental, if often unspoken principles behind biodynamics as a paradigm of agriculture and nutrition - as it was behind every system of farming and gardening, every school of nutrition for all time before modern, materialistic science entered the scene. Now, the task that biodynamics, as a system of agriculture has set itself, is to be a compliment, an extension of modern agricultural science - but it is also a bridge to past perspectives, with a modern consciousness: a method of farming and gardening that bridges both an understanding of substance and that of forces - towards enhancing both vitality and quality.
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