O.K.; here you are looking at a Steiner School, Camphill or whatever for your offspring or sibling. Probably you have been impressed by the references- if any have been made- to the "whole food" or "biodynamic" emphases on dietary regime. 
Maybe your special person is already at an Anthro centre, and you are beginning to wonder about some comments made about nutrition that, while given in a throw-away manner, leave you a bit bewildered. But still, it all sounds sensible (more or less) and since they are professionals, they must know what they are talking about, eh?
Perhaps you are no more involved than being a habitué of some commercial outreach, maybe thinking you are doing no more than supporting the special needs folk who work there, and good for you too.
As with other aspects of Anthroposophy, there is much- so very much- more to it than is imparted to a generosity-inclined public.
In the meantime, with thanks to an Australian fellow Survivor (why do you think Anthroposophists so resent us so calling ourselves?) for providing source material, some small indicators of the occultism driving the 'impulse' behind Anthro nutrition are provided here.
At a later stage, a separate page on "Biodynamics" will probably appear, but for the time being, it suffices to note that 'biodynamic' and 'organic' are not one and the same thing. To achieve this  the faith/ritual- the 'magick' if you like- would have to be removed from 'biodynamic' or added to 'organic'.
It should also be noted that neither organic nor biodynamic necessarily means vegetarian.

Here's a little bit guidance from the Edinburgh Steiner School's Parent Handbook:
"In the interests of healthy eating we would ask you to provide wholesome, nourishing food and to keep pre-packed, convenience foods to a minimum. In the Lower School, crisps, chocolate bars and canned drinks are not permitted on normal school days." http://www.steinerweb.org.uk/assets/0000/0463/Parents_handbook-2009.pdf (website link no longer valid)  Accessed 03/01/11

Great eh? School giving a lead in healthy living.

Hang on though. Even though one may not perceive this as an unwelcome attempt at control freakery, do you think that this might, just, seem to be prescribing something of what may or may not happen at home? What do you think is wrong with a packet of raisins, a tin of pilchards and a can of Britvic? Oh right: its all the additives eh? Ah well, Mum will just have to get to the local shop....make that Organic shop....or better still, Biodynamic Shop...and get the goodies. After all, Mum never has anything else to do, has she?

Or.....dunno...where is the closest Biodynamic shop?  There isn't one? Jeepers. Oh, there is a once-a-week shop available at the school?

Sorted!

Yes, you are indeed sorted. you have already allowed this movement into your home.

 "In the Lower School, crisps, chocolate bars and canned drinks are not permitted on normal school days."  Who is going to supervise this? On signing up to the school, did you actually stop to consider that by doing so, you have actually agreed to some honcho at the school getting into your kids' lunch box. Did you consciously agree that no matter what other pressures you come under, you will not send the kids to school with a non-approved item in their lunch box?

It has started then. The osmosis by which Anthroposophy takes over your life.

                                                                                    Fats
 
"Let us again emphasize the fact that the formation of plant fat -in the green leaves- presents a direct communication with the cosmic warmth forces"
pp122,123
 
Woah.... Fact?..... "cosmic warmth forces"
Any idea of what, or from whom this "fact" is derived?
Fact or faith?

This section then goes on to discuss aspects of saturated/unsaturated fats. It expresses some chemical formulae, and adresses the bonding-or not- of hydrogen and carbon. Since most of us are niether nutritionist or chemist, this may well prove persuasive or even intimidating since we don't have the necessary resources with which to challenge it.

Having been suitably repressed by this apparent erudition, we are led to this:

"This gas (hydrogen) fleesfrom the earth....and is most closely related to warmth....Hydrogen.."actually negates everything" 

There (in the human heart system) itis related to the actual spiritualizing processes in man, to the phosphorus processes." 

and 

"The unsturated fatty acids develop a bond with hydrogen. ...The warmth contained in these fats serves to humanize the entire organism. It also appears as "warmth of heart" and forms the bridge between physical and soul-spiritual processes" (p124)

..."actual spiritualizing processes in man"?..."forms the bridge between physical and soul-spiritual processes"?    

Maybe this indicates that those churches offering the Sacrament of The Eucharist have been missing something all these years! Atheist visitors might be inclined to run a mile on much the same basis that they are uncomfortable with religion in the first place.

Have you, by the remotest chance, thought that in order to come to terms with this, you will need at least a basic understanding of Rudolf Steiner's exposition of the twelve senses of homo sapiens? It must be noted that when considering diet, nutrition and even medicine in Anthroposophical terms, it really doesn't do to limit oneself to only being cognizant of the conventional five sense of sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell.     

Once again we are placed in a position where we have to decide for ourselves if this is a matter of scientific fact, or simply a matter of faith. From page 'Evolution', are you by any chance now wondering about aspects of Old Saturn and Vulcan? 

This has been used first as an indicator that much of what is publicly said about nutrition in Anthro promotional material seldom reveals anything of the informing wisdom that goes a good way beyond that which most people would understand by "whole foods" or "organic". Perhaps it also serves as something of an alert that "biodynamic" goes a bit beyond the pale too.

Some visitors will undoubtedly already think this is entirely in line with their own wishes. Fair enough. Isn't it a pity though that you had to come here to find out even this little. Were anthroposophical publicity to be a little more forthcoming, there would be a steady stream of suitable applicants.

Other visitors might be highly spooked already.

Either way, we will now enlarge a bit: read on or not as you see fit.

Let's consider some more snippets from Essentials of Nutrition                                                     
 
                                              Milk: The Universal Foodstuff

"We have seen that milk represents a memory of the old Moon condition. When we ask how the formation of mother's milk came about, we must again refer to the ...unity of nutrition, repiration, sense-activity and reproduction which existed before the division into sexes. As this unity dissolved, the female bodily element remained in a stronger relationship to the cosmic past. The bodily male element on the other hand undergoes a stronger solidification, and the development of earth forces brings a future condition into the present."

 "This milk liquid... is especially necessary for the formation of the brain. The brain in man is actually hardened milk fluid."

"The male brain is not only anatomically heavier than the female, but it also provides a more powerful instrument for the development of logical, abstract thought. The female individual, on the other hand- who in part holds back these forces for milk production- will be less able to develop the forces of intellect. This is especially so during pregnancy." p11

People will have their own thoughts on the above. The list of suggested implications and interpretations could be almost infinite. However, you might care to ask of yourself, that of aficionandos you have encountered, do you think that just below the affable, maybe slightly batty exterior, there lies a suggestion of something not unlike the ethos of  Isis and Osiris, Earth Mother and Heaven Father (in their most benevolent modes of course) and that these aficianados remain in situ since moving to the real world would necessiatete a reinvention of themselves, and a reconstruction of their lives?

This suggestion is offered as no more than a possible explanation of what you maybe felt was the something you had 'missed' after an intial enquiry.

Perhaps some are attracted by the implication that by committing to the movement they too might acquire such favour. That's ok- just so long as this superiority is assumed by the practitioner, and not granted by everyone else they encounter.

                                                     Sugar and the Development of Consciousness

"Rudolf Steiner made a significant contribution...in pointing out that when one investigates the western-orientated nations...one finds a high level of of sugar consumption, Among the eastern nations, however (Steiner then used the Russians as an example) one finds a relatively low level of sugar consumption. This is related to the fact that the western peoples have developed more self-consciousness, more Ego-consciousness than the eastern peoples.....[the Russian] wanted to extinguish his egoity; it was not very well developed."  p.162

Well, if Steiner said it, it must be true eh?

Please bear in mind that when Anthroposophy uses 'ego', it is referring to the highest state of (Anthroposophical) spirit development.  

At the time of writing, there is an petition action by ELIANT to secure greater support from public funding for Steiner/Waldorf schools in the European Union. One must wonder what EU citizens from Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and others will make of this.

                                                            Iron Activity Within Man

Most of us will be aware that iron is an essential constituent of our being, and so of our dietary needs. So too is Anthroposophy...and then some.

"...iron mediates the 'inner respiration'-the exchange of of oxygen between the blood and the organs and tissues. we must therefore speak realistically of an iron 'phantom' which permeates not only the blood (both red corpuscles and plasma) but also every cell of the body in a constant, rhythmic movement...this stream of production and decay (of red blood cells) does not occur uniformly. Rather, it follows a 24-hour rhythm with a daily high and low point. This daily rhythm is similar to the daily rhythm in which 25,920 breaths are taken, corresponding to the number of years the sun takes to go through the entire zodiac... Thus, by means of iron, man partakes of the life of the cosmos...It harmonizes the life processes borne by protein with the formative forces necessary for the development of the consciousness.'  p262

Do you too think by now that this is getting beyond the 'simply' organic? Does your ordinary organic supplier carry such belief? Will you allow your own understanding and interpretation of 'organic' to be hijacked?

It lies with you. You, not anyone else.

                                          "Sickness is the Necessary Precondition of Health" 

This can of course be interpreted as the basis of homeopathy. It could equally give some indication of the sort of irresponsible ineptitude visited on Robert Smith-Hald.

"When we eat the fruit of plants which contain cyanide, our liver has to exercise a process of detoxification.....If the liver cannot do this, it becomes ill....we also know that meteors contain cyanide...Moreover, spiritual science could determine the significance of  this cyanide for the earth and man. Meteoric substance is actually a condensation of sun forces...its activity in man leads to a constant stimulation of will-forces through the liver... (Steiner) said 'in order for us to live , there must be a constant poisoning within us and also a constant de-poisoning....'Sickness is the necessary precondition of health' ... (of meteors and comets) bear this process to earth as 'the heroes of freedom in the universe. They contain that substance which, in the human being, is connected with free activity- with the activity of the will.'  Cyanide, in conjunction with iron, stimulates the will-forces in man" p307 

Spiritual Science (ie Anthroposophy) 'demonstrating' some supposed connection between the liver and the will  Back to the twelve senses again. Comets and meteors as 'the heroes of the universe'. Maybe we should let all the agencies of various governments in on this. After all, there are ginormous amounts of money being spent on detecting the heroic comet that will bring about a total extinction event. Comets bring cyanide, and we are supposed to love them for that? Trust spiritual science if you like. Most of the rest of us would probably rather trust those who work on finding out more about such bodies without the 'spiritual' bit.

                                                                       Meal Times

As is customary at easeonline, it has been the intention to provide a little information, with a suggestion that you may want to investigate further for yourself. On the basis of fearing information overload, much has been omitted typically Steiner's revelation that honey is the most spiritual presentation of sugar, this apparently stemming from the spiritual nature of bees, which were of course, bred (genetically modified?) from wasps by the Atlanteans! As a final observation, perhaps this little bit of Steiner will indicate once more how the entire dietary regime of Anthroposophy goes far beyond what you might expect:

"Eating and drinking are done every day on impulse, from instinct. It really takes a very long time before someone who is evolving spiritually, so to speak, includes these things in their spiritual life. For eating and drinking will only be included  when we can understand why we need to rhythmically  ingest physical substance in order to serve the progress of the entire world. Furthermore, we we must understand the relationship of the physical substance to the spiritual life, and the ways in which the metabolism is not only physical, but also spiritual because of its rhythms" p295 

This is what your  cash at the Anthro cafe supports. You are perfectly entitled not to mind. You are also perfectly entitled to feel conned.

Science, 'spiritual science' or quackery? There are probably bits of them all involved: draw the lines for yourself.

published 25/11/07

addition  02.12.07