Vineyard Ruminations…
An Evolving POV!
When you work against nature, bad things happen. This could be a catch phrase for a sci-fi movie where the well-meaning scientist unintentionally unleashes a monster; but I’m not talking about science fiction. We are witnessing a “nature out of balance” scenario on a global scale in the form of the pandemic. Ostensibly, it started when the Chinese government thought it made economic sense to encourage a poor community to raise wild animals in captivity for food. This brought disparate animals together that would normally not live in close proximity to one another; at least not in a high density environment. The natural order was disturbed so nature attempted a correction by spreading disease. The same parallel can be made with climate change. We humans have been altering nature to serve our needs without giving back. Nature is about balance and once the scales tip, nature can’t evolve fast enough to offer its own checks and balances. The result is a chain reaction of “natural” disasters.
From our point of view, a fine wine (or any agricultural product) shouldn’t hurt your palate or the planet. This ideal simply means that, as farmers, it is our responsibility to overcompensate for the damage modern farming inflicts by striking a deal with nature. We attempt to emulate natural patterns by offering assistance to natural processes like the soil’s ability to absorb and sequester carbon or provide habitat for insects, birds and animals. Industrial farming has for too long acted like miners, pulling nutrients from and destroying the tilth of the soil. The result is a toxic landscape where birds, insects and living things, other than the targeted monoculture, are no longer welcome and any interlopers are treated to a chemical slurry of pesticides, herbicides and poison bait. This pattern needs to change.
We feel a particular sense of urgency to heal an ailing earth and have committed to continually do better. We are not perfect and we recognize that there’s plenty of room for improvement. We view agriculture as inextricably linked to nature’s rhythms and will always look for holistic solutions that will not just treat symptoms but attempt to address the cause.
Rob Sinskey
