Organic Wine Isn’t Necessarily Better for You (or the Environment)
Organic wines, like other organic foods, seem great until you go into details. While we believe organic fruits are healthier, they are not ; they are not guaranteed to be better for us as consumers, the environment or agricultural workers.
A VinePair article highlights some of the issues surrounding organic wine, and concludes that the healthiest and most sustainable wines are unlikely to have organic brands.
[In] the drive to bring organic products to market (and satisfy society’s desire for healthier, more environmentally responsible foods), some manufacturers often do little more than follow the letter of USDA law to earn the organic label. to hell with the consequences for the environment and our health in general. In fact, grower studies have shown that it may be worse for the environment and your body to buy organic wine from a large grower instead of buying wine made from grapes in a smaller vineyard that has been intelligently sprayed with synthetic pesticides by a practitioner. farmer.
Organic growers use a lot of pesticides. These “natural” pesticides are less studied, but they still kill wildlife (because that is the job of pesticides), and many of them are associated with toxic effects on workers and the environment. And because the appropriate use of pesticides depends on the terroir, large California wineries can afford to meet organic labeling requirements, while vineyards in other regions, such as New York, do not, due to specific plant diseases and pests. with which they are fighting. with.
The solution may be to reach out to small farms that are committed to sustainable cultivation and be open to wine tastings based on new grape varieties. Grape breeders come up with grape varieties that require fewer pesticides, so don’t be afraid of new names on your wine labels.
This Is Why Your Organic Wine Is Really Bad For The Environment | VinePair
Photo by Malcolm Carlow .
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