Farmers & Makers: Will Bratton
Chapter #2: Will Bratton on his role at Gaia Herbs and experience with Biodynamics
“Our food is overbred and without the spiritual energy we need to reach the next level.”
For our second installment of our Farmers & Makers series we are delighted to welcome Will Bratton, founder of the Biodynamic Guild (who’s podcast you can find Adrien featured in episode 11) and the Procurement Manager at Gaia Herbs. Gaia has been a leader in medicinal plant products for over 3 decades, with their own farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina (which, I’m sure you can imagine, earns quite a bit of respect from us). There they cultivate anywhere from 20-40 different species of herbs (depending on the year) and produce over 3 million individual plants every season.
Through the work they do on their farm, and Will’s exceptional skills procuring some of the highest quality plant material being grown anywhere, Gaia has a variety of outstanding supplements and medicinal products for which they have garnered much acclaim and esteem.
For this reason we are beyond thrilled to speak with Will and dive a little deeper into how he and Gaia approach the medicinal herb market from both the sustainable sourcing perspective as well as their affinity towards Biodynamics and plant quality.
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M/M: Welcome to Farmers & Makers Will! Let’s dive right into it, what drew you to Biodynamics? When were you first exposed to it?
Will: I ran for Texas House of Representatives in 2010, as an Independent, and did a lot of door to door work collecting signatures, shaking hands, etc.. What I learned in that experience is that people aren’t making good choices because they’re entirely dependent on the current systems (food, energy, etc.). Having studied anthropology in my undergrad I already knew that the foundational system of civilization is Agriculture, and that that would be the primary system we should target for change.
I designed, invented and manufactured a number of Open Source, automated, food production devices that would utilize modern technology to produce healthy food at the individual or family-scale, to counter the monopoly-scale of the dominant system. I started researching how to make the food as healthy and nutrient dense as possible, and dug into Organic and Permaculture production methods. While visiting various Organic and regenerative farms and ranches producers would say things like, “Plant by the signs or don’t plant at all,” or “Give your cattle apple cider vinegar three days before a full moon,” but couldn’t tell me why. Just that it was in the Farmer’s Almanac and that it worked.
I dug into the Farmer’s Almanac but it only took me so far. When I finally stumbled across a Thun calendar and the Agriculture Course at a book shop in Austin in 2011, Brave New Books, I was immediately hooked. I’ve been a devout acolyte since. At that time we programmed the food production devices to the Thun calendar.
M/M: Wow, you really dove right in! And what is it about Biodynamics that gets you excited today?
Will: Greater human destiny. That it speaks to what I knew before I found it, that we have to reform agriculture. That our food is overbred and without the spiritual energy we need to reach the next level. And that we can use ancient, “atavistic” techniques to create novel cultivars. A union of both our past and our higher futures. It's the only path I’ve found that offers greater human destiny.
M/M: Absolutely, we couldn’t agree more. And as we both know, it transcends beyond the food system. In our case, skincare, and in yours, herbal supplements. Tell us about your role at Gaia, what’s the scope of your work?
Will: I am currently Procurement Manager at Gaia Herbs. I lead the team that is responsible for acquiring everything that is involved in Gaia’s business, to include materials needed for our farm, production facility, business operations, etc. For the purposes of this conversation that includes all the botanicals used in all of Gaia’s products, to include from our own Organic, Regenerative, and [partially]-Biodynamic herb farm in Western North Carolina.
M/M: Wow, you must have your hands full! And does Gaia have any connection to, or affinity for, Biodynamic medicinal herb growers for its products?
Will: In my time here at Gaia I’ve led the initiative toward transitioning to as many Biodynamic practices on our own farm as possible. I am currently working with Josephine Porter Institute on the prospect of our being the producer/provider of the vast majority of their botanicals used in their preparations. Of course it would be deeply meaningful to me if I were able to arrange that relationship and therefore be in my own way involved in over 80% of the Biodynamic Preparations used in North America.
Beyond this I absolutely promote transitioning to as Biodynamic as possible with all of my direct producer growers, and have always in my 7 years in this type of role. I have been pleasantly surprised with the number of herb producers in the United States that have been open to the idea, and have taken steps.
M/M: Why do you think that Biodynamics hasn’t spread or picked up in the US in the same way that it has in Europe, more specifically in Germany or Switzerland, for example?
Will: This is a question I hope to better understand in time, myself. The more I read the more I begin to understand the complex history of that region (Germany or Switzerland) in the period following the lectures. There are many interesting details, like the original landscaping of the Autobahn was done Biodynamically, and lets just say there were many other governmental departments and projects of that period that operated Biodynamically. It’s a challenging and nuanced history, but one that is ultimately from that place.
At the moment I believe it is a matter of culture, and that we will need to foster that culture. We will need to continue to promote it’s adoption and persistent application over periods of time, and continue to show it’s superior performance, as well as the impact it has on the practitioners and their immediate spheres. Because that is what we’re after, after all, is a change in the agriculture system. A fundamental change in culture. A greater human destiny.
M/M: Where do you see the area of greatest potential to grow the Biodynamic/Regenerative movement?
Will: Personally, I see the greatest opportunity in the less-included, or even excluded regions globally. There are so many places that aren’t considered agriculturally relevant, that are practicing, and are prime candidates. So many of these places have agricultural astrological traditions that they can relate to, and frankly are appreciative of being included in what might otherwise be considered the highest standard in agriculture. Global communication is no longer a barrier.
M/M: What is quality control like at Gaia? With so many different types of herbs used in their products, how is Gaia able to maintain its high quality?
Will: Gaia’s Quality Control is like nothing I’d experienced. It is absolutely what separates Gaia from the competition. We have our own internal lab that is multiple times larger than any of our competitors, respectively. We set our own standards and specifications well beyond anyone else's. Granted, that makes my job exceptionally difficult, particularly in this polluted world, but good problems and good challenges.
Thankfully, due to our moderate size, we’re able to afford such quality. Further, we’re able to support the volumes of material that justify many production operations. We’re able to, in part, foster a clean ecosystem. Of course, the more the merrier, and the lighter the load.
M/M: Can Biodynamic/Regenerative be a viable economic incentive for farmers to make a good living AND grow to be a major agricultural producing method?
Will: In certain categories, absolutely. Like wine here in the US, for example. And many other examples in Europe (dairy, grains, etc.). But this question goes back to the matter of the systems we’re in. Can Biodynamics compete in a system where such large percentages of the population live like imprisoned rodents, or locusts, so divorced from their own spirits and souls as to deny that they even exist? Probably not in that culture. But that isn’t the future I’m interested in. We have to change agri-culture, and percentages of the greater culture will make that change with us.
Working so closely with farmers and growers around the country and the world, do you see this movement picking up steam, or is there hesitation from these people to adopt the term since there is no actual definition? Or will all growers now begin adopting the term “regenerative” since there is no body actually enforcing what it means to be regenerative? Could/should Demeter be that body.
From my perspective in the herbal and otherwise medicinal botanical space we are definitely seeing a steady trend toward the certifications: Organic, Non-GMO, ROC, Fair, and even Demeter. Some players in the space come and go, but the general trend is toward more certifications for if nothing else than product differentiation. I would say that Rodale is the ideal institution to certify Regenerative. I am a big fan of Rodale. And I think that Demeter is ripe for reformation. Not lazily, of course, and maybe not at this moment, but I think the evidence is clear that the regulations are not entirely adequate. Neither are ROCs, especially for what we’re doing, but we’re working with them on the improvements that need to be made.
M/M: And please tell us about your side project of herb mineralization! We know it’s a complicated process, but maybe you can provide an abridged description. 🙂
WB: So I am particularly experienced in traditional Paracelsian Spagyric alchemy, and I love making the various salts of plants. I can take any of these medicinal botanicals into one of my kilns and process it down to its mineral base using steady heat, between 600-900 degrees fahrenheit (depending on the goal). After rendering the plant material down to a pure white ash I can then wash, filter, evaporate and crystalize the salt solution, producing the crystalline mineral salts of the given botanical. All of the minerals represented in the plant, without the heavy metals in a crystal form. These minerals, of course, pair very nicely with the phyto-constituents of each of the plants being extracted, naturally. It’s one of the botanical processing steps that's being neglected in our time, and is an incredibly valuable addition to any tincture or otherwise botanical extract.
M/M: How does Biodynamics spill over from the business into your personal life?
Will: Well in 2021 I decided to found a 501c3, the International Biodynamic Guild. I’ve been a member of the Alchemy Guild for many years, and recently joined the American Herbalist Guild, and I’d been interested in Biodynamics far longer than both of those subjects and found it to be the balance of the trinity. I thought, “What would I want from a Biodynamic Guild?”: A dynamic calendaring portal that relays the current locations of the various astro bodies to my own physical location in real time; access to raw prep materials (fresh skulls, bladders, etc.); and a global community with fresh conversations on these subjects. The calendar platform is very much a work in progress and likely will be for the foreseeable future. No simple task. I am experimenting with methods to ship fresh raw animal sheaths. This seems to be somewhat approachable. And we’ve started the podcast where we’re interviewing guests on these subjects, which has been so enjoyable, personally.
M/M: What is Biodynamics' role in the push for regenerative agriculture? How do you see this relationship?
Will: I see Biodynamics as the esoteric grandfather of all of these movements (Organic, Regenerative, etc.), and their superior. I think we should whole heartedly promote Regenerative agriculture while persistently reminding them that Biodynamics is their predecessor and superior. A percentage of those that adopt Regenerative agricultural methods will be interested in further bettering themselves.
(Some of the questions and answers have been edited for brevity and clarity)