Vineyard sustainability
Sustainability must include people too
When we first started the farm, we realized were doing the most intrusive thing that could be done to an environment--to remove the entire vegetation cover of a land area and replace it with something completely different. This on land that was sloped up to 30 degrees, making the chances of erosion quite severe. The importance of that change, and managing that change, was not lost on us. And so we adopted a set of approaches to make sure that the changes we were making to the landscape would be sustainable.
The first thing we did was to write down what we thought a good set of environmental principles would be. They were:
Morning Bay’s Statement of Environmental Principles
1. Morning Bay Farm exists within the legacy of land stewardship sustained by the agricultural community on Pender Island for more than a century.
2. Morning Bay Farm seeks to enhance the lives of people on Pender Island by producing the best quality food and drinks.
3. Morning Bay Farm is sustained by the best possible resource management practices regarding soil, water, forestry and wildlife. We use the best available research and expertise, supported by the best available technology, controls and field monitoring. These include such practices as integrated pest management, advanced canopy management, active cover-cropping, green manuring, and composting, and complete soil, water and air monitoring to ensure it is all done safely and effectively. The ultimate aim of all practices is sustainability.
4. Morning Bay Farm’s first priority is to ensure the absolute safety of all workers in all farm activities, through provision of information, safety equipment, training and outside expertise wherever possible.
5. Morning Bay Farm seeks to manage and enhance the sound environment on the farm by restricting the operation of all motorized equipment to weekday working hours only, and by encouraging indigenous bird species on all vineyards to enhance natural sound environment.
6. Morning Bay Farm seeks to build the cultural environment of the Island by creating a harmonious relationship with all neighbours and with all Island residents, by sponsoring cultural events in the community, and by developing the talents and abilities of the people who work on the farm.
7. Morning Bay Farm seeks to contribute to the financial sustainability of Pender Island by the best possible stewardship of all resources on the farm, by using local contractors, materials, and suppliers whenever possible, by providing career employment opportunities in a new industry to Island residents, and by developing the talent of those employed on the farm through the provision of the best professional development and equipment.
Morning Bay Farm, Pender Island, B.C. May 23, 2001
Pretty words look good on paper, but how were we going to make this work?
We needed to visit the places where agricultural terracing was being practised. We went to California, centre of all things agricultural in North America, if not the world. There we visited Justin Vineyards and others high up in the coastal mountains where soils are light and floods frequent. We saw how terracing had maintained slopes from severe erosion in some places, and exacerbated erosion in others. We went to New Zealand, where we saw some agricultural terraces producing the most expensive wines in the land, because of their unique effect on wine flavours, and we saw where terracing on gravel soils had caused hundreds of feet of soil failure and slumping. Finally we went to Cinque Terra in northwestern Italy, where terraced agriculture has been practised for two thousand years. There hand-stacked, rock terraces climb 2000 feet up the south-facing mountainside above the Mediterranean Sea. Only increasing labour costs have rendered those terraces inoperable, and in many places the terraces still stand in defiance of time and abandonment.
Through it all we came to realize that it was agricultural terracing that had created the surplus of human labour that allowed civilization to flourish. If agricultural labour could be made more efficient, through the provision of regular flooding to bring plants soil, or the creation of flat steppes on which to farm, then more people could be involved in other human activities--buying and selling agricultural commodities, creating intellectual life through religious societies, making works of art to adorn temples and other public buildings. The cradle of civilization was the modern farm, originally established in the Nile and Euphrates Valleys through agricultural terracing. We would build terraces across our steep slope most importantly to protect the safety of the tractor driver, but also to bring flat land to the warmth of the sun on the slope, to leverage our rocky, steep property into a piece of land grapes would love.
And so we returned to our statement of environmental principles:
1. Morning Bay Farm exists within the legacy of land stewardship sustained by the agricultural community on Pender Island for more than a century.
People have been farming on Pender since 1890. The first subsistance farmers carved meagre lives out of the forest. Then the enterprise farmers used dynamite to blow huge stumps out of the ground and create the open pasture that would sustain livestock and orchards. In the 1930s, Pender farms won top prizes in the Pacific National Exhibition. But as the Okanagan Valley was opened up agriculture went into decline on Pender. Today most agriculture is recreational, with weekend farmers doting over patches of organic vegetables which they sell at the Pender Farmer’s Market on Saturdays. Morning Bay is established in the legacy of commercial agriculture on Pender Island, where farms used the unique environment of the Islands to produce meat and vegetables which were sought all over British Columbia for their quality and distinctiveness. We seek to produce food that is recognized over a large area as superior product because of its provenance. Pender Island is a label of distinction for us, and that distinction can only be recognized off Pender Island. The original farmers of Pender could only exist if they produced food that could be sold to customers off Pender. That is our agricultural legacy.
2. Morning Bay Farm seeks to enhance the lives of people on Pender Island by producing the best quality food and drinks.
But that doesn’t mean we only produce for off-Island. Most importantly, the wine consumed on Pender Island should be the wine produced on Pender Island. Only then are the carbon-footprint-advantages fully leveraged. The Pender Island lifestyle involves consumption of alcohol, and drinking wines grown and produced on Pender is the only way that lifestyle can be sustainable. Living on Pender should involve the enjoyment of the fruits of Pender, and how better way to do that than to enjoy Pender wine?
3. Morning Bay Farm is sustained by the best possible resource management practices regarding soil, water, forestry and wildlife. We use the best available research and expertise, supported by the best available technology, controls and field monitoring. These include such practices as integrated pest management, advanced canopy management, active covercropping, green manuring, and composting, and complete soil, water and air monitoring to ensure it is all done safely and effectively. The ultimate aim of all practices is sustainability.
Whew! A long one! But it says what we do. We figure out a way to do something safely, and we try to do it all the time, and we measure how well we’re doing. That doesn’t mean no errors. Instead it means a guaranteed track of improvement. When we were building the vineyard, we used some of the most qualified experts around to work with us on each step of planning. When we were done we established systems for measuring how well we were doing and how to react to that information. When we cut our terraces on steep hillsides, we used stacked rock and cover-cropping to minimize erosion. When we built our winery we harnassed three of the most important natural forces--light, gravity and the coolness of the earth--in designing a building that both increased the quality of the wine and decreased the carbon footprint of the operation of the winery. We test our water and soil regularly to make sure that nothing we’re putting in the soil can cause harm on other properties. Throughout the development of Morning Bay, we have sought to use the best management practices available, regardless of cost. That has been a great investment.
4. Morning Bay Farm’s first priority is to ensure the absolute safety of all workers in all farm activities, through provision of information, safety equipment, training and outside expertise wherever possible.
If an operation is going to be safe to everyone, it must first be safe to its workers. Morning Bay employees receive the safest equipment manufactured, they receive the training to use it well, and they receive the safety equipment to protect them from whatever risk may be involved. If a farm is going to be environmentally sustainable, the first place to measure that is with those who work on the farm.
5. Morning Bay Farm seeks to manage and enhance the sound environment on the farm by restricting the operation of all motorized equipment to weekday working hours only, and by encouraging indigenous bird species on all vineyards to enhance natural sound environment.
One of the most precious disappearing environments is silence. Where can we go to hear the world just be. Very few places. At Morning Bay we are lucky to still have that sound, without traffic, sirens, bars, crowds. We want to protect it. So we only operate machinery between 9 and 5, unless its an emergency or a unique situation. We use manual labour whenever possible, in the vineyard and in the winery. We make sure, whenever possible, that our equipment is properly equipped with muffling devices to make sure they make as little sound as possible. However, when we have a good time, we have been know to sing.
6. Morning Bay Farm seeks to build the cultural environment of the Island by creating a harmonious relationship with all neighbours and with all Island residents, by sponsoring cultural events in the community, and by developing the talents and abilities of the people who work on the farm.
From the beginning Morning Bay has tried to maintain good relations with our neighbours. For the most part we have been successful. A few neighbours have not been happy to have a vineyard and winery next to them. Their reasons are entirely understandable. They had a quiet respite before we arrived, and they’re afraid we will bring that to an end. We have tried not to. We hold events far away from the neighbours. We communicate with the neighbours, as we do with all Islanders, about what we’re doing on the farm. We also reach out to the greater Island through contributions to charities, sponsorship of athletes and other activities.
We also offer our winery for free to musicians, actors and artists who want to showcase their work. We have had three plays, a dozen art shows, and several musical shows through this program. We have sold over $5000 worth of art by Pender artists and charged no commission. We prominently display the work of Pender artists on our label. Our environment includes the cultural environment as well.
7. Morning Bay Farm seeks to contribute to the financial sustainability of Pender Island by the best possible stewardship of all resources on the farm, by using local contractors, materials, and suppliers whenever possible, by providing career employment opportunities in a new industry to Island residents, and by developing the talent of those employed on the farm through the provision of the best professional development and equipment.
Another big one. But this is probably most important of all. If you’re not caring for the human environment, you’re not caring for the environment at all. We have followed this principle almost without fail. We only bring outside contractors in when those on the Island are not willing or capable to take on the job. We send our employees to training and work experience to bring more skills onto the Island. But most of all we value our employees. We work together collectively as a family (although perhaps with not as many spats) and we play together as well. If we can’t have fun as part of our environment, then what kind of an environment is this.
Modern farming does not have a great reputation in this increasingly urbanized world. People have a vision of farmers out in the field throwing toxic materials around to jack up harvests and kill anything unwanted. At Morning Bay we feel that vision is distorted. The first environmentalists, the people closest to the environment, are the farmers. It is the farmer who exposes himself and his family to hazardous materials (be they organic or synthetic), so the farmer is the first person responsible to make sure those hazardous materials are handled safely. The farmer must purchase these expensive hazardous materials, so the likelihood of him throwing them around is slight. Most of all the farmer works in the environment twelve months a year. He sees the changes in his land. Many (most?) farmers care for the land because they know the land is the only thing that will support them and their family. Farmers care for the land because the land cares for them.
At Morning Bay we feel very grateful to live in one of the most beautiful environments in the world. That gratitude is returned.
Morning Bay welcomes questions and comments about our environmental principles. Please send us an email by clicking here.
Keith
Keith Watt is founder and co-owner of Morning Bay Vineyard on Pender Island