STRONG recommendation for book on sustainable farming (attn wine lovers!) [View All]

This was triggered by the GM thread in general discussion; this post may be better suited to that forum instead of the lounge, but what the heck...I'm putting it here anyway.

One of the tangents in that very long thread was a discussion about organic farming. As some of the best evidence that organic farming can be both good for the environment AND profitable, I highly recommend the new book True to Our Roots: Fermenting a Business Revolution.

A bit of background--the Fetzer winery, one of the largest in the country, has pioneered organic and sustainable farming practices for the last ten years. To everyone's surprise, they found that their profits were strong and the wines tasted better (gee, who'da thunkit without all those chemicals!). Fetzer's solely organic label is Bonterra (http://www.bonterra.com), whose wines are available widely on the west coast. I recommend the wines even more than I recommend the book--they're fantastic. If you can get your hands on a bottle of their organic chardonnay, marsanne or viognier, you're in for a treat.

Paul Dolan, Fetzer's CEO, was behind this revolution, and their success as well as their power as wine industry players is now pushing other wineries to adopt the same sustainable (and labor-friendly) practices. Here's an excellent article the San Francisco Chronicle did a few weeks ago (an excellent read!):

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/11/06/WIG1I2Q9371.DTL&type=printable

Dolan, then Fetzer's chief winemaker, was walking the vineyards at harvest when he tasted a delicious Sauvignon Blanc grape -- lush and complex. Fifteen feet away, Dolan tried another grape and was shocked at the difference: This Sauvignon Blanc was bland and undistinguished.

There was only one difference between the two vineyard blocks. The first block was part of a small experiment in organic farming in which the grapes were tended without chemicals for one year. The second block was farmed the conventional way, using herbicides and pesticides.

Dolan had believed the chemicals were robbing the soil of precious microbes. The problem was surely worsening with each new round of poisons, he reasoned.

Tasting the grapes validated his suspicions, and Dolan went on to spark a revolution in the California wine industry. Because of Dolan and a handful of other leaders, California vineyards and wineries are converting to environmentally friendly techniques at an extraordinary rate.

Much, much more...it's a great piece. And here's a link for the book:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1576601501/qid=1068838222/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-0870924-4847810?v=glance&s=books

(edited to clarify subject line)