A Sustainability Study

By Contributing Columnist Richard Olsen-Harbich

Most people understand the general concept of “organic,” especially as it applies to the food we eat. But lately in the Long Island wine community, the “buzz” is all about sustainability. The question on a lot of people’s minds is—what exactly does this mean?

The concept of sustainable agriculture grew out of the early organic movement and became fine tuned during the late 1980s. In 1989, the American Agronomy Society adopted the following definition for sustainable agriculture:

"A sustainable agriculture is one that, over the long term, enhances environmental quality and the resource base on which agriculture depends; provides for basic human food and fiber needs; is economically viable; and enhances the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole."

In a nutshell, sustainability is an activity that can be carried out (or sustained) successfully over a long period of time with minimal impact on the surrounding society and environment. In essence, it is a way of life and a pathway to long-term success—for everyone involved.

Simply put: sustainable agriculture utilizes practices that are economically viable, socially supportive and ecologically sound. The types of practices employed are dependent on the crops grown and on the place in which they are grown.

Sustainable agriculture actually transcends both organics and the strict ideology of biodynamics, as it understands that farms as well as people don’t operate in a vacuum.

It's a practical, research-based approach to the complexities and challenges of agriculture that encourages people to care about their environment, their neighbors and their crops using a system of localized “best practices.” These practices may include organic concepts but as is often the case with wine grapes in the Eastern United States, the climate along with the seasonal weather conditions usually require growers to manage outside of organic dogma to be economically successful.

But following sustainable agricultural practices is not just about insect and disease control. It's also about managing small farms in a way that can be sustained successfully over a long period of time in the community they're situated in.

Examples of unsustainable agriculture from the past include some of Long Island's duck and potato farms—both which contributed to water pollution in the region. This past winter we saw the results of large-scale organic lettuce and spinach operations—food that made many people ill and took the lives of others. Even though these operations were certified organic, they were, to say the least, not sustainable.

Larry Perrine, the CEO at Channing Daughters Winery is a long-time practitioner of sustainable agriculture. He defines it as a "combination of a concept, a philosophy and a web of interrelated actions." He goes on to say that “organics are not always the answer to grow crops successfully. The system is more complicated, especially with wine grapes since they’re a perennial crop and are exposed to the surrounding environment a long time before the crop is harvested."

Alice Wise, the Grape Research Program Leader at the Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center in Riverhead, NY has worked on the issue of sustainability for Long Island vineyards for many years. She is one of leaders in writing the sustainable guidelines for New York State called VineBalance. Alice states that the VineBalance program is a set of self-assessment guidelines that encompasses all aspects of farm management. “Growers rate their practices in areas such as nutrient management, vineyard management and pest management,” said Alice. “Based on their results, growers can devise strategies for practices that need improvement. The goal is to not impose economic hardship or unreasonable expectations, but to work with growers in a creative and helpful manner to address the issues and challenges of grape growing.”

A website for the program, www.vinebalance.com, will launch next month.

What does this have to do with Long Island wine?

Lots.

Long Island is all about sustainable wine growing. The concept is in full force here on the East End where the producers are small, environmentally minded and making handcrafted wines. Wine itself is a healthy beverage (in moderation) and on Long Island production is limited to small batches, with attention to detail that require little or no additives and truly represent our terroir. Vineyards are a long-term investment which preserve farmland and reduce soil depletion and erosion due to minimum tillage. Much of what is removed from the fields—prunings and processed fruit—are eventually returned to the soil. Long Island wine producers use a tremendous amount of hand labor for everything from pruning, leaf pulling, shoot positioning and harvesting, providing employment for many in the local community.

Is sustainable agriculture a perfect system? Of course not, but it is the best overall strategy for long-term success. Examples of unsustainable winemaking still dominate the marketplace. Mass-produced, mechanized, large scale, industrial-style wines, manipulated with additives and made with a minimum of hand labor are transported thousands of miles to consumers. Talk about a carbon footprint! This is clearly not a sustainable model.

Sustainability starts at home—with all of us. Recycling, conserving energy and supporting your local farms are all sustainable actions we can take on our own. We need to be open to buying products that give equal emphasis to the social, environmental and economic benefits of paying a fair price for locally grown products. More and more, consumers are learning about the impact of their food and wine choices on their total quality of life. So next time you’re looking to pull a cork, remember all that goes into your local wine—and think about sustainability.

It all begins with you.

Comments

[Jennifer BB]

Right on! I just had a conversation about this yesterday at my food co-op. When folks see the USDA organic label they often think they've done the good thing but big business organic is not necessarily sustainable. That's part of the Cornucopia Institute's big beef with milk--some (most?) of Horizon's organic milk isn't sustainable. Michael Pollan raised this issue (organic versus sustainable) over six years ago in a NYTimes magazine piece.

When it comes to wine many of our Finger Lakes wineries think sustainably but my guess is most do not (I may research this this summer). This why I love Silver Thread wines so much--they are sustainable, biodynamic and very, very good.

If more people were to think of wine as agriculture we could have a great and positive impact on the environment.

[Jason Feulner]

Ironically, sustainability is not a new concept. Before the 20th-Century, almost all farms were family owned and the sustainability of the health of that farm was essential for the well-being of the family that owned it. Many products and by-products of the farm were either consumed or recycled directly back into the farm. Efficiency was key, as well as the rotation of crops and the balance of consumption versus waste. Fertilization of fields was done by hand, limiting some of the excess nitrate-rich runoff that plagues streams today and chokes out the fish.

Of course, people made stuipd decisions in the past, and no one can say that they were environmentally conscious in a perfect fashion. However, those who truly live off of the land tend to appreciate its value.

I have never been sold on organic as a complete concept, but sustainability harkens back to the Puritan sense of efficiency--waste not, want not. I'm interested to see how this movement manifests itself and how it can be reconciled with commercial agriculture.

[Nate]

Cheers to that!

I think wineries and vineyards have been quick to adopt sustainable techniques into their practices as sustainability is a logical extension of "the good life" that attracts so many of us to wine in the first place.

Apparently I can't use html tags in my comments here, otherwise I'd provide some links to the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance, the California Association of Winegrape Growers (which has online examples from their California Code of Sustainable Winegrowing Practices), and to Oregon's LIVE (Low Impact Viticulture & Enology). All of these groups are really pushing the broader picture of "sustainability" in the wine industry, as opposed to more specific biodynamic practices advocated by Demeter USA or of the somewhat bogus "USDA Approved Organic" practices.

I'm excited to see the wine industry moving in this direction. Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma" deals with the issue of sustainable agriculture, and many of these same general concepts could be applied to our favorite agricultural product, wine. For although we call them "vineyards", we're really talking grape farming here, and treating a vineyard more like a "farm ecosystem" and balancing inputs and outputs could result in healthier, more resilient vines and an overall better final product.

Thanks for bringing up this important issue, and I'm glad to see Long Island is moving in the right direction!

[Greg Peterson]

Bravo, one of the finest explanations of sustainable agriculture I have read. There is such depth to the interdisciplinary nature of sustainability that we need simple and understandable explanation. So thank you very much for this.

[Valerie]

I LOVE it. I live in Arizona and I am removing my AZ back yard (rock) replacing it with compost and mulch and plants and items I have been collecting for years that would othewise have ended up in the landfill. Rain and greywater collection will augment out miminal rainfall. I can barely wait for the transformation. What I love about the concept of sustainability is that it's more holistic than organic. I am always asking -- have I thought of everything?