Connection to living systems, Gaia,
the biology and geology enabling our life sustenance.

Bios [greek] = Life

• BIO-DYNAMIC a chemical free regenerative agriculture that produces both healthier food and soil. It has been called an advanced organic method of farming. Soil is developed and then maintained using appropriate land management practices that are in harmony with nature.
• CONSERAVATION GENETICS a mixture of ecology, molecular biology, population genetics, mathematical modeling and evolutionary systematics (the construction of family relationships). It is both a basic and an applied science. Scientists must first understand the genetic relationships of the organisms under study. The organisms under investigation are usually endangered or threatened populations.
• SUSTAINABLE CULTIVATION

• INDIGENOUS VEGETATION
• ORGANIC FARMS/GARDENS
• ORGANIC SEEDS
NO growth regulators or man-made chemicals.
• PERMACULTURE
Working with, rather than against, nature, of looking at systems in all their functions [Bill Mollison]
• PLANTS (HEALING, NUTURANCE & NATURAL FIBERS)

• HEIRLOOM a ccultivar that was commonly grown during earlier periods in human history, but which is not used in modern large-scale agriculture. Many heirloom vegetables have kept their traits through open pollination, while fruit varieties such as apples have been propagated over the centuries through grafts and cuttings.
• HEMP FIBER [facts]
Thomas Jefferson said, "Hemp is of first necessity... to the wealth and protection of the country."
George Washington wrote, "make the most of the hemp seed and sow it everywhere."
• SUSTAINABLE ORGANIC COTTON no chemical pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers. Particular care is given to the quality of the soil, so that crops harvested generations from now will have grown in soil that is as pure as the soil today.

• SLOW FOOD movement to combat fast food.
- Earthsave
- Vegsource
• WILDCRAFTING The gathering of plant material from it's native "wild" environment.

• BIODEMOCRACY recognition of the intrinsic value of all life forms and preservation of their genetic integrity.
• BIOMIMICRY a new science that studies nature's models and then imitates or takes inspiration from these designs and processes to solve human problems
• QUANTITATIVE BIOLOGY [arxiv archive]

• BIOPIRACY The theft or robbery of biological and genetic resources indigenous to a country.
• GENETIC ENGINEERING The radical technology involving the artifical manipulation of genetic code.
- The Independent Science Panel 'The Case for a GM-free Sustainable World'
• PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE "When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically."
- Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Ordinance City departments would survey their use of chemical products; establish standards or criteria for evaluating the most environmentally preferred products for performing a certain task, and evaluate whether the use of chemical products could be reduced by product substitution or changes in work practices.
- SF Environment