It’s nice to be quoted. Must mean that some people read what you write and even appreciate it!
“Civil Eats is a daily news source for critical thought about the American food system. We publish stories that shift the conversation around sustainable agriculture in an effort to build economically and socially just communities”, it says on their site.
Civil Eats recently published an article on organic wine trends in Sonoma. Sonoma has defined a five year goal of certifying all the vineyards in Sonoma as sustainable. Civil Eats rightly asks the question “What does it mean if a vineyard claims its grapes are ‘sustainably certified’?” It is an interesting article that describes some of the challenges with organic winegrowing and sustainable principles.
As one of the items illuminating the issues they talk about our book Biodynamic, Organic and Natural Winemaking:
Sonoma is not alone in allowing pesticides like Roundup in its sustainability curriculum. In the 2014 book “Biodynamic, Organic, and Natural Winemaking,” authors Britt and Per Karlsson wrote, “There are many to whom organic growing is not a realistic option. This is why so-called sustainable growing has achieved such widespread impact all over the wine world. This approach is about conserving resources without jeopardizing profitability. It also means that synthetic chemical products are permitted.” In Europe and beyond, winegrowing practices span just as wide a spectrum: Unless noted as organic or biodynamic, one would have to read through a great slog of material to discover what rules were being followed.
You can read more on this and on many other issues around organic and sustainable winemaking in the book: Biodynamic, Organic and Natural Winemaking. Follow the link for more info and for buying options.
If you are interested in these issues the article on Civil Eats is certainly a good read: Sonoma County Says its Wines Can Be ‘100% Sustainable’ By 2019. Is That Enough?
