Posts Tagged: organic

Should added sulfites be allowed in organic wines?

Some leading environmentalists in the wine industry are asking the federal government to allow sulfites to be added to wines labeled organic, according to a story in the Los Angeles Times.

Currently, for a wine to be labeled "USDA organic," it may not contain added sulfites. The chemical occurs in small amounts naturally in wines but is considered by many vintners to be an indispensable preservative.

Sulfites arrest fermentation at the desired time, and may also be added to prevent spoilage and oxidation at several stages of winemaking.

"It's extremely difficult to make high-quality wine without adding sulfites," the story quoted Andy Waterhouse, chair of the UC Davis department of viticulture and enology. "The smallest amount of mold on the grapes would cause the flavor to be different."

As a result, other eco-friendly wine labels, which may have weak or even no official standards, have filled the void - including biodynamic, sustainable and "natural" wine.

"Wine drinkers looking for a healthful, green product face confusing choices, and wineries can claim they're eco-friendly without anyone really checking," the story said.

Writer W. Blake Gray noted that several winemakers who are marketing USDA organic wines are campaigning to maintain the current standards.

"Most of the 8,000-year history of winemaking appears to be from naturally farmed, organically grown grapes without sulfites added," the story quoted winemaker Paul Frey.

Brian Fitzpatrick sells organic wines and vinegars. (Photo: B. Dawson)

Organic farming gets more research dollars

The 2008 Farm Bill gave organic agriculture a significant boost by increasing funding for organic research from $2 million a year to $20 million, according to an article in the New York Times.

Reporter Jim Robbins outlined some of the research that is underway across the country, opening with work at the UC Davis student farm, where native sunflowers provide a "bed-and-breakfast" for beneficial insects, according to farm director Mark van Horn.

Robbins also described the work of UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Rachael Long, who has studied bats' role in battling codling moth in walnut and apple orchards. According to her research, bats eat their weight in bugs every night.

“They eat a ton of insects,” Long was quoted. “They also eat cucumber beetles and stink bugs, which affect tomatoes.”

Scientists are continuing their research to identify a blend of systems that will grow food and support the natural ecosystem on the farm and beyond.

“That’s the holy grail,” Van Horn told the reporter. “An agricultural system that mimics a natural system.”

Bats help organic farmers by feeding on crop pests.

New food safety law could hurt small farmers

A behind-the-scenes battle is raging in the Senate over how to regulate small and organic growers without ruining them - and still protect consumers from contaminated food, according to a story published yesterday in the San Francisco Chronicle.

The crux of the legislation gives the Food and Drug Administration greater authority to regulate how products are grown, stored, transported, inspected, traced from farm to table and recalled when needed.

Small-scale producers may face compliance with tough laws.

The California NPR affiliate reports on Small Farm Program closure

The fate of UC's Small Farm Program was the center of a nearly five-minute story on this morning's California Report radio news program. Central Valley bureau chief Sasha Khokha opened her story on the east Fresno farm of strawberry grower Chang Fong. He and his family have for years worked with Fresno County UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Richard Molinar and his assistant Michael Yang, cooperating on research and gleaning information on farm safety, plant diseases, pests and other ag production and marketing issues.

"Many of our farmers are classified as limited resource farmers," Molinar said. "Many farmers don’t have the resources or personnel to find this information out."

Khokha also interviewed Desmond Jolly, the former director of the Small Farm Program. If you love heirloom tomatoes, Asian greens and organic lettuce mixes, he said, you can thank the UC Small Farm Program.

"Immature tomatoes and iceburg lettuce, that was more or less representative of the kind of past we had in the produce department," Jolly said.

With a budget of less than $250,000, the Small Farm Program helped launch organic agriculture in California, Khokha reported.

"If you look at the returns on the small investments, it’s a huge benefit-cost ratio," Jolly said.

Khokha also spoke to UC ANR vice president Dan Dooley. He said closure of the Small Farm Program is part of a restructuring effort to trim administrative fat, Khokha reported. Small farm advisors won't lose their jobs.

"We’re committed to small farm programs, but it needs to be in the context of a broader agenda to support healthy food systems," Dooley said.

Michael Yang, left, and Richard Molinar talk to a Southeast Asian farmer.

Marching to a different drumstick

Do happy chickens taste better? Some customers who buy poultry from Cache Creek Meat Co. of Yolo County think so. One of the owners, however, attributes the meat quality to the sunshine and fresh grass the birds enjoy on a farm that gives them even more liberty than so-called "free range" chickens, according to a story in today's Sacramento Bee.

Cache Creek Meat Co. specializes in "pastured poultry" – raising chickens outdoors and rotating them through a series of pens. The birds spend their first month indoors then they go out to pasture, where they are plumped with organic feed and build muscle roaming around their 100-square-foot pens.

According to the Bee story, "free range" can mean that a small door has been added to a barn packed with chickens. Not all "free range" chickens will actually take advantage of their freedom to go outside.

For perspective on the pastured chicken trend, writer Chris Macias spoke to Don Bell, the poultry specialist emeritus for UC Cooperative Extension.

"It's hard to do something like this for 100 percent of the market," Bell was quoted. "Organic feed has to be milled in a special mill. Some soy has to be imported from overseas."

He believes the premium price such producers can charge for the product is an issue of perception.

"If you can convince people to pay twice as much for meat, more power to you. But I don't think meat tastes different because it was raised a certain way," Bell said.

"Free-range" chickens

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