Philip Wind: organic farmer in Salzburg’s Lungau

The sun is just starting to rise and the air in the city of Salzburg is still cold and crisp when Philip Wind sets up his stand at the market by the Andrä church. Right across from Mirabell Palace, the passionate organic farmer sells meat products from his own farm and from other organic farmers in Lungau. Philip Wind is blond, in his mid-thirties, and thoroughly fit—someone who practises extreme sports and has always known what he wants.

For Philip Wind, it is a matter of course to regularly set up shop at the Salzburg market: “Only here do I find out what my customers really think and what is important to them,” says the dedicated farmer. “For example, they want to know where the animals grow up and what they are fed. This is also the reason why I completed the training as a master butcher and have specialised in organic fresh meat.”

Lungau is Austria’s newest biosphere park. Its carefully tended cultivated landscape, with meadows, grazing pastures, streams, and woods on the valley floor surrounding the towns of Mariapfarr, St. Andrä, and Mauterndorf, has been recognised by UNESCO.

Typical for the region are also such valleys as the Weißpriach, Göriach, and Lessach Valleys, which lead up into the mountains. The towns and villages are largely unspoilt and old traditions are maintained. Not only the agriculture sector but also the tourism industry strives to attain a sustainable development in this valuable habitat.