SLAVES TO HAPPINESS & PLEASURE

(This piece was published in the autumn 2009 issue of Green Pages Magazine)

Issa knows just about all there is know about growing cocoa beans, the basis of the next piece of chocolate you’re about to savour. He’s been farming it non-stop in the steamy jungles of Cote d’Ivoire for the past three years. What you may not know, though, is he’s never tasted chocolate. Oh . . . And he’s illiterate. He’s not sure, but he thinks he’s 14. And he’s a slave. Pete Heininger has compiled this disturbing feature.

 

Breakout quote:

In the 400 years of rampant slave trading, about 13 million people were kidnapped and shipped from Africa, then sold and traded into Europe and the Americas. But today, slavery is worse than ever, with as many as 27 million people estimated to be ‘owned’ and traded by other human beings . . .

*****

BREAKOUT ONE:

Issa, a native of Mali, now only vaguely remembers his family. He only just remembers the promise of a bike and an education once his parents safely saw him cross the border into Cote d’Ivoire and into the hands of one of the many locateurs (or traffickers) operating in the dusty town of Niele. The promise of an additional $US150 to help out his impoverished family was an added incentive to see him happily make his way, via the locaueur to Le Gros’ (the Big Man’s) farm somewhere deep inside the Ivorian lowland jungles. 

He can’t remember exactly how long he’s been on the farm and he has no real idea that he toils for 12-14 hours a day tending the delicate cocoa pods, then extricating the seeds, drying them in the sun, then bagging and carrying and loading them onto trucks for transport to the coast for export. 

But Issa craves for something better to eat that the burnt, rotting bananas he and his fellow child slaves on his farm subsist on. And at night – after the beatings, after shoeless toil, after the countless insect bites – he’s locked into an airless, windowless single-room slab hunt measuring barely 7m by 8m . . . along with his 18 other teenage ‘inmates’. No bed. No Netting. No toilet. Just the bare boards. 

Issa doesn’t dare contemplate escape. The last youth who tried was tracked for several days through the jungle before being dragged back, exhausted, and bashed to within an inch of his life with chains and tree branches. That young man still drags his left leg somewhat limply – but is expected to work as hard as the others . . . 

Welcome to the basis of much of the world’s chocolate trade. But not 300 years ago. Not 100 years ago. Not even 50 years ago. Issa, along with countless thousands of other child slaves is toiling away right now, in 2009. Just to support the global trade of affordable chocolate . . . 

****

MAIN FEATURE:

 

With almost 70 per cent of all world cocoa coming from west Africa (according to the UN), modern-day child slavery is built into most of the world’s chocolate supply. The only exceptions are ethically sustainable, organic chocolates manufactured by a small handful of major players and a growing army of smaller producers. 

All this African production comes from only four countries – Cote d’Ivoire (38-39 per cent), Ghana (21-22 per cent), Nigeria (about 5 per cent) and Cameroon (another 5 per cent). All four are no shrinking violets when it comes to human rights abuses, torture and misery. Almost all other cocoa comes from Central and South America and South-East Asia. 

Although cocoa forms the bottom rung of the world’s commodity price ladder – traded on two exchanges (London and New York) – millions of poor families in third-world countries depend on it for their livelihoods. Cocoa is the world’s smallest soft-commodity market. Some 5 million families produce the global output of 3.6 million tonnes a year. The London commodities exchange handles most of the west African production. 

But Cote d’Ivoire produces the most globally, generating some 20 per cent of its income from cocoa – and making the issue of slavery all the more pressing. According to the International Labor Organisation more than 109,000 children were working on Ivorian cocoa farms in 2002, but this number had risen to about 200,000 three years later. By now, it could be almost as high as 300,000. No one is sure . . . What we do know is that so many of these children work in some of the most appalling conditions imaginable. 

Given the delicacy of cocoa pods – they have to be grown in the steamy dappled under-storey jungle light – crops are often subjected to huge doses of chemical pesticides, many of which have been banned elsewhere. Farmers, their families and the slaves are all exposed, without protective clothing or gloves. Yet despite these efforts, as much as 30 per cent of all Cote d’Ivoire cocoa crops can be lost to disease in any one year. 

The plight of the country’s child slaves first came to mainstream light 11 years ago, when it was estimated that as many as 6 per cent of children toiling on that country’s crops were being trafficked from neighbouring countries – Ghana, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Mali, Guinea, Benin and Togo. That was 12,000 children. UNICEF puts the total number of children trafficked throughout west Africa at a staggering 200,000 a year. The BBC has reported that as many as 12,000 children a year are being trafficked from Mali alone into Cote d’Ivoire every year. Cote d’Ivoire traffickers are being paid as little as $US10 per child they deliver to Le Gros. 

Sadly, Anti-Slavery International estimates as many as 700,000 women and children are trafficked each year around the world in a squalid trade estimated to be worth about $US7 billion. 

News of how chocolate made from Ivorian beans could be linked to child slavery caused immediate outrage. There was an attempt by several United States senators to add an amendment to the 2001 Agricultural Appropriations bill that would require chocolate products to carry labelling confirming that slaves were not used in producing their cocoa. However, the chocolate industry protested: the action would cause consumers to boycott chocolate products, which would only hurt the cocoa producers even more. The twisted logic was that the less revenue they received, the more these growers might continue using slaves. 

The bill never reached the House-Senate conference committee, as the US chocolate industry joined forces to take “action” regarding the elimination of child labor on cocoa farms. This successfully precluded any official government action. 

But nothing much has changed. Cote d’Ivoire’s internal political situation isn’t helping either. Political unrest is rampant, there have been two coups (1999 and 2001), and civil war has been raging for two years – ironically over prime cocoa-growing areas. 

Just as it’s hard to put a figure on the amount of global cocoa that’s produced by slaves, it’s just as hard to estimate the amount of slave product coming out of Cote d’Ivoire alone. And when Cote d’Ivoire cocoa beans are mixed with production from other countries as far afield as Belize and Indonesia – then onsold to traders via the two major exchanges – the task becomes tragically impossible to calculate. 

Suffice to say, though, there’s an excellent chance that any chocolate not made using cocoa sourced directly from farmers on a Fairtrade basis is tainted by slavery. 

But even when child slaves aren’t used in cocoa production, the International Program On The Elimination of Child Labor and the ILO estimate that most family members involved in the industry around the world earn as little as $US30-110 each a year – a pittance compared with the overall commercial value of chocolate. 

It’s hard to comprehend the disparity when Americans gorge themselves on more than $US13 billion worth of chocolate products each year. 

Nor is it easy to align a product so often associated with our pleasure and happiness with such gross, rampant human misery.

 

1)    Estimation of global slavery today – Expendable People: Slavery in the Age of Globalisation – Kevin Bales

***** 

COCOA – A DELICIOUS STORY 

(SIDEBAR 2): 

But not all west African cocoa is produced in dreadful conditions. In 1993, when the government liberalised Ghana’s cocoa trade, thousands of the country’s farmers – fearing their industry would be over-run by foreign interests – formed the Kuapa Kokoo co-operative. 

Like so many cocoa farmers around the world, many of these people had not only never tasted chocolate before the co-op, they didn’t even know what it was! 

Soon after forming the co-operative, they struck an agreement with Germany’s Divine chocolate company to buy their cocoa at Fairtrade prices. 

Today, some 45,000 farmers are Kuapa Kokoo members. Company sales in 2007 were more than $US18 million, and Divine – which sells its Fairtrade-branded product “not at super-premium prices” – bought 1200 tonnes of Kuapa Kokoo cocoa in the same year. 

However, 98 per cent of the co-op’s production is sold to the state-run marketing board, so ends up in many different chocolate brands around the world. 

Coming full circle, the Kuapa Kokoo co-operative now owns 45 per cent of Divine, allowing it to share in the company’s overall profits as well. 

Sweet! 

CHOCOHOLICS

(SIDEBAR 3)

Although cocoa is largely produced in developing countries, it is mostly consumed in industrialised countries.

For cocoa, the buyers in the consuming countries are the processors and the chocolate manufacturers. A few multinational companies dominate both sides of the mechanised business, and market the final product.

According to the UN, the largest consumers of chocolate are: 

·         The United States – about 33 per cent

·         Germany – almost 12 per cent

·         France – almost 10.5 per cent

·         Britain – more than 9 per cent

Interestingly, the Japanese – who didn’t know much about chocolate before World War II – now consume almost 4.5 per cent of all that’s made in the world.

 ENDS . . .

A TALE OF TWO GREEN – AND FAIR – CHOCOLATES 

(This piece was prepared for the autumn 2009 issue of Green Pages Magazine)

Green & Black's 

Green & Black’s - launched in Britain in 1991 by the founder of Whole Earth Foods, Craig Sams, and his wife Josephine Fairley - was the world’s first organic chocolate brand.  

The company, which Sams sold to Cadbury in 2005 for a reported £20 million, continues to be run as a separate entity from the confectionery giant, and regards sustainable, ethical business practices as a core element of its operation and brand values. 

Sams, now president of Green & Black’s, says the chocolate maker uses only the best organic, ethically sourced and Fairtrade-certified ingredients. The manufacturer was awarded Britain’s first Fairtrade mark, back in the early ‘90s. 

Since 1993, Green & Black’s has bought organic cocoa beans from the Toledo Cacao Growers Association (TCGA) farmers co-operative in Belize. “The TCGA is a democratic co-operative that represents farmers in one of the country’s poorest areas,” Sams says. 

The beginning 

The motivation behind Green & Black's work in Belize started through Sams’ efforts. A pioneer of Britain’s organic movement and ethical trading, and currently vice-chair of the country’s Soil Association and chairman of Soil Association Certification Ltd, he’s passionate about Green & Black's credentials. 

On holiday in Belize, Sams and Fairley met a group of Maya smallholder farmers who had planted cocoa trees at the request of a large chocolate company which subsequently withdrew from the country leaving the farmers with no market. The couple discovered the farmers were growing their cocoa organically, and agreed to buy it at a fair price. This cocoa was then used to create Green & Black’s Maya Gold product. 

“This way of doing business came naturally . . .  and in the process, the Maya Gold brand earned us Britain’s first Fairtrade mark in 1994,” Sams says. 

On-going partnership 

Green & Black’s buys all the cocoa beans the TCGA produce for a minimum guaranteed price – which includes organic and social premiums. “This allows farmers to benefit from cocoa price rises and ensures they have the security in case the market price falls,” Sams says. “We also have a five-year rolling contract with the TCGA, and we’re investing in their cocoa growing communities on top of this.” 

In 2003, Green & Black’s extended its activities with cocoa farmers and started a more structured, sustainable development program with the TCGA to provide further support. The company invested £225,000 over three years with the council and this money was matched by a British government grant. “This investment in cocoa farming communities was used to help improve management and farming practices, rehabilitate hurricane-damaged crops, plant more cocoa trees (more than 1 million), and train farmers in better growing methods,” Sams says. 

Today, Green & Black’s continues to provide technical agricultural advice and support to the Belize farmers. As a result, cocoa bean yields and quality have improved, meaning the farmers are able to sell more high-quality organic cocoa beans, increasing and increase their income. 

“The fair price, long-term contract and community investment the TCGA receives give them economic security and enable them to plan for the future for their families and community – including the education for their children,” Sams says. 

In the Dominican Republic 

Green & Black’s also sources organic cocoa beans from the Dominican Republic.  “We pay the world market price plus an organic premium, which happens to be above the Fairtrade price,” Sams says. “Green & Black’s has also invested in fermentation, drying equipment and technical support to help farmers further improve bean quality so they can sell more high-quality beans and make more money.   

The company says it’s committed to applying Ethical Sourcing Standards in its own workplace, and expects suppliers, co-manufacturers and business partners to do the same.  

 “Our Ethical Sourcing Standards are based on International Labour Organisation conventions, the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, the Ethical Trade Initiative Basecode and adheres to [British] Soil Association Organic Standards,” Sams says.   

Green & Black’s Ethical sourcing standards include:  human rights and labour standards; health, safety, and hygiene standards; work hours and fair remuneration; and environment, organic & sustainable agriculture.  

Green & Black’s chocolates are available widely throughout Australia.

Divine intervention

Not all west African cocoa is produced in dreadful conditions. In 1993, when the government liberalised Ghana’s cocoa trade, thousands of the country’s farmers – fearing their industry would be over-run by foreign interests – formed the Kuapa Kokoo co-operative. 

Like so many cocoa farmers, many of these people had never tasted chocolate before the co-op. They didn’t even know what it was! 

Soon after forming the co-op, they struck an agreement with Germany’s Divine chocolate company to buy their cocoa at Fairtrade prices. 

Today, some 45,000 farmers are Kuapa Kokoo members. Company sales in 2007 were more than $US18 million, and Divine – which sells its Fairtrade-branded product “not at super-premium prices” –says it  bought 1200 tonnes of Kuapa Kokoo cocoa in the same year. 

However, 98 per cent of the co-op’s production is sold to the state-run marketing board, so ends up in many different chocolate brands around the world. 

The Kuapa Kokoo co-operative now owns 45 per cent of Divine, allowing it to share in the company’s overall profits as well. 

ENDS . . .    

GONE FISHING 

 (This piece was published in the autumn 2009 issue of Green Pages Magazine)

Next Time you tuck into a few dozen prawns, or order swordfish as a main, keep this in mind – yours may well be the last generation to have access to seemingly bountiful supplies of edible fish. If some marine scientists are right, all major fisheries around the world will have collapsed within 40 years  . . . Pete Heininger reports.

THE GRIM REAPERS 

There’s little doubt about it now; the damage we humans have caused through over-fishing these past 40 years could well take 250-300 years to repair – if we stop fishing immediately. And completely. 

I didn’t want to scare you towards meat and three veg, but what the hell! Try some of the following information on for size. Then think very carefully about what fish you’ll buy or order next, and when . . . 

Assistant Professor Boris Worm, of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, says almost 30 per cent of the world’s fisheries are already collapsing – which means fleets are harvesting 10 per cent or less of maximum known catches in those areas. 

By 2050, all known fisheries will have collapsed. Forget buying gold by then! A seafood platter may well be something only available to the uber-wealthy. 

Even the staid United Nations – not renowned for alarmist comment – says 75 per cent of the world’s fisheries “are fully exploited, over-exploited or depleted”. Mankind has been aquatically raping and pillaging on a breathtaking scale. 

“In losing species, we lose the productivity and stability of entire ecosystems,” Prof Worm says. Worse still, this overall ecological damage, when coupled with global warming, may make it harder for the world’s oceans to recover. Other animals that depend on our oceans for survival – whales, seals, sharks and dolphins – are also being hammered. 

“Depleted ecosystems are vulnerable to invasive species, disease, the effects of coastal flooding and algae blooms,” Prof Worm says. 

It doesn’t take a Rhodes scholar to counter the sceptics on the parlous state of our oceans. 

Cod stocks on the Canadian Grand Banks in the north-west Atlantic, once one of the world’s richest fisheries and marine environments, collapsed in the early 1990s, taking with them an entire fishing industry and throwing thousands of people onto unemployment lines. In the 1950s and ‘60s an increasing number of nations had sent their fleets to the region in search of seemingly endless cod. Yet by the early 1970s, catches were so small the Canadian government slapped a 200-nautical mile exclusion zone around the Banks. 

But the damage had already been done. By the mid 90s, all major cod and flounder fisheries in the region were closed. Other species, such as turbot and ocean perch, have also had their catch sizes severely restricted. Only now, through the efforts of Canada and other nations are some species starting to make a comeback, with crabs, mussels and scallops leading the way . . . But it’s a far cry from the Glory Days – and a disaster considering Portuguese and Basques fishermen were known to be frequenting the Grand Banks back in the 1400s. 

The global sea and freshwater harvest was 94.8 million tonnes in 2000. This had stalled since the mid 1980s when harvests for the remaining years of that decade hovered between 85 million and 95 million tonnes a year. However, the Earth Institute says catches are now falling 360,000- 660,000 tonnes a year. 

Cod, tuna, haddock, founder and flake catches in the North Atlantic have more than halved since the early 1960s – despite a tripling of the fishing effort. 

And things are not much better here in the Pacific Ocean. The US government recently put the frighteners on the global fishing industry with news that yellowfin tuna had been over-fished in the Pacific. The US longline fleets working the Pacific were forced to cease operating in the second half of 2005, and they were closely followed by fleets from Japan and China. 

Reports have it that Japan’s rubbery catch figures may mean bluefin tuna is in severe strife, and Greenpeace says pirate fishing fleets are still roaming the Pacific undeterred . . . Do you know whether the next fish you eat is sustainable – or a pirate product? 

The US government also says there has been a 90 per cent decline in large Pacific fish since 1950. 

With some already impoverished Pacific nations being paid paltry sums by larger nations to allow fleets to fish their waters into oblivion – and depending on these fees for upwards of 70 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) – things can only get worse. The double whammy is that many of these Pacific peoples depend on fish for as much as 75 per cent of their own protein – much more than, say, Australians or New Zealanders. 

But the economic reality of modern fishing is just as bleak. The UN says total worldwide subsidies for fishing now stands at about $US15 billion ($22.3 billion) a year. What’s more, operating costs exceed total fishing revenues by 50 per cent a year. The US government says subsidies on the North Atlantic fleets now run at $US2.5 billion a year. Not only are we turning the world’s oceans into food deserts, we’re increasingly – and insanely – taxing ourselves for the privilege. 

These huge subsidies have been used to build a sophisticated, global fleet of more than 23,000 large ocean-going trawlers, each weighing more than 100 tonnes. As many of these ships are now true factories, helping to process as well as store catches, we’re burning twice as much fuel per tonne of seafood than we were 20 years ago. 

But as I say, all this madness is fast coming to an end . . .

 

AQUACULTURE – A GROWING BUSINESS

 

Not all’s hopeless when it comes to putting fish on our plates. Some aquaculture – the practice of farming fish – is roaring ahead as a sustainable business, having risen 10 per cent year for the past 20 years. 

Although aquaculture supplied only 1 per cent of global fish in 1950, it now contributes 27 per cent. Fish farm production in 2000, the most recent year for stats, was 36 million tonnes, so it’s a fair bet it’s much higher now. 

China alone is doubling up more than 5 million hectares of rice paddies as fresh fish ponds. Chinese farmers have also learnt to raise more than one type of carp in the same ponds, making their farming land even more sustainable. 

But beware . . . Not all aquaculture is sustainable. Some ocean farms are proving to be detrimental to their surrounding ecosystems, and questions are mounting on where – and how – some feedstocks are sourced. China, for instance, supplies some 23 million tonnes of feed for caged sea fish, and this is growing rapidly. 

THROW ANOTHER PRAWN ON THE BARBEE

No pun intended, but despite our physical size – and the area of ocean directly under our control – Australia is something of a minnow in the international seafood business. 

We also spend a lot less of our household budget on seafood (about 2 per cent) and eat less of it per head than many other countries. Nor do we eat as much seafood as many of our Asian and Oceanic neighbours – an average of less than 11kg per person a year. Seems we prefer our protein on the hoof, and medium rare. 

Our fleets land some 600 different species, which are marketed under 300 names. The 234,500-odd tonnes of seafood we caught last year was Australia’s fifth most valuable rural industry, after beef, wool, wheat and dairy, and worth almost $2.2 billion. Exports amounted to 68 per cent of the catch, netting almost $1.5 billion. Wild seafood was worth $1.4 billion and aquaculture (60,000 tonnes and growing) was worth $793 million. 

Yet in terms of fish caught, we rank as Nation No 52 in fishing importance. 

Our fishing zone, which contains 150 multi-species fisheries, totals an enormous 11 million square kilometres, and the government has established an offshore exclusion zone ranging to 200 nautical miles. 

In terms of value, our biggest fisheries (in order) are Western Australia, Tasmania, South Australia and Queensland. And our biggest export markets are Hong Kong, Japan, China and the US (see export table, by value). 

But like so much of our terrestrial environment, Australia’s oceans are fragile, and nowhere near as productive as some of the world’s great fisheries. Not as nutrient rich, our waters tend to support multiple species in lower numbers, making it far easier for us to tip the balance by over fishing. 

Craig Bohm, campaign director for the Australian Marine Conservation Society, says there simply hasn’t been enough science done on fishing sustainability for us to make hard-and-fast deliberations. “By the time we realise a species is in trouble, it’s generally too late,” he says. “We’ve only just scratched the surface in terms of learning about fish. By the time we wait for the science to provide concrete answers, its too late.” 

Some species, particularly larger fish like the orange roughy and snapper, have complex life cycles, and don’t reach maturity for 20-40 years. If these are over-fished, and populations crash, it may be next to impossible to restore them for many generations. 

Bohm says smaller fish, like sardines and pilchards, stand a better chance of surviving long term because of their shorter, less complicated life cycles – and because they congregate in huge schools, an ideal defence mechanism. 

Check out Australia’s Sustainable Seafood Guide to help decide your next fish meal.

A GUIDING LIGHT 

Too traumatised to know what fish to buy or order? Relax! Help is at hand – courtesy of the Australian Marine Conservation Society, and in the form of Australia’s Sustainable Seafood Guide (now in an expanded edition). 

Simply, it’s your soft-covered, pocket-size guide to selecting seafood wisely. And it’s comprehensive, independent and national. 

The guide bristles with incredibly useful information. In true guide form, it lists wild and aquaculture species we should say ‘no’ to, others we should think about twice before buying or ordering, and those that have the green light. It also comes with three three-step pocket guides. There are images to help you identify specific species too. 

But rather than just saying NO or THINK TWICE, the guide provides excellent conservation concerns and comments – all in easy-to-absorb bullet points. 

There are sections on commercial fishing gear, seafood and health, product labelling, and imports. There’s even a section on aquaculture, and it points out some environmental sticking points. 

Australia’s Sustainable Seafood Guide (and pocket guides) sells for $9.95, and you can order it online from the Australian Marine Conservation Society – www.marineconservation.org.au – or by calling toll free 1800 066 299. 

USEFUL WEB REFERENECES 

• The Australian Marine Conservation Society – www.marineconservation.org.au
• The School of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Hawaii – www.soest.hawaii.edu

 

SEAFOOD EXPORTS 

When it comes to fishy exports, our international customers largely seem to like their skeletons on the outside. Here’s a value breakdown in order: 

• Rock lobster - $463 million
• Pearls - $314 million (not quite food, but valuable nonetheless)
• Abalone - $246 million
• Tuna - $162 million
• Prawns - $94 million

 

ENDS . . . 

 

ECO VINO – SUSTAINABLE WINE 

(This piece was published in the autumn 2009 issue of Green Pages Magazine) 

Ironically, there’s nothing really new about organic wine . . . we humans have been drinking and enjoying it for most of the time we’ve known how to make it . . . 

We’ve been drinking wine non-stop in some parts of the world for thousands of years. And for most of that time, the liquid fruit-of-the-vine has been of the organic variety – no chemical pesticides, herbicides or fertilisers. And no preservatives. 

Anything non-organic is a relatively modern affectation, designed to maximise crop production and bottled – or casked – output. 

It’s a fair bet that the wine Jesus and the wedding guests at Caanan quaffed on that memorable Judean weekend 2000 years ago was as organic as they come. 

But viticulture goes way back, to Neolithic times, some 7000-plus years or so. Those living on the Zagros Mountains of Iran are known to have been dab hands at fermenting grape juice. Ancient pottery found at Godin Tepe, also in northern Iran, shows it was used to store sophisticated vino as far back as 6000 years ago – during the Bronze Age. The Egyptians also loved a drop, and were big-time vine cultivators along the Nile close to 5000 years ago. 

However, it was the Greeks, then the Romans, who gave wine a serious nudge, spreading vine growing and viticulture around the Mediterranean, then on up into Europe. By 97BC, not long before Jesus attended that famous wedding with his friends, the Roman trade in wine had become so valuable an order was put out that all vines throughout the then known were to be pulled out – supposedly to protect the trade.

While viticulture continued thriving east of Constantinople, the industry continued to spread throughout Europe, thanks to the work of diligent religious orders. After all, wine was an integral part of the Christian celebration of Mass. One of the more famous men of the cloth who nurtured wine was a monk named Dom Pèrignon (1670-1715), an expert viticulturist and winemaker credited with discovering Champagne.

Now, the humble grape vine can be found growing in most countries in a wide variety of climates. The primary species is vitis Vinifera, and of the thousands of cultivars only about 300 are regularly cultivated. And of these, fewer than 30 are considered premium.

The moral of this tale? It’s simple. Let’s not look on organic wine as something new-fangled, but rather as harking back to a venerable tradition that has stood the test of eons.

THE WIZARDS OF OZ

The Australian wine industry is serious business, built on the backs of generations of European forebears who recognised this as a great continent for grapes – even if it took mainstream Australia until the early 1970s to recognise it enforce.

Today, The Australian and New Zealand Wine Industry Directory says some 2299 companies in four major groups operating in all states and territories are involved in the wine industry. It says that despite the travails of the current global economic crisis, it’s an industry that grew 7.1 per cent in 2007.

Most wine produced here is of the table variety, and less than 30 per cent of output is fortified.

Yet only 94 producers (4.1 per cent of the industry) have so far gone back to wine’s green roots. To qualify as organic producers, they either make wine from organically grown grapes, or produce organically using the same organic grapes.

Some have been seriously organic since the early 1970s, while many started going green in the 1990s.

When it comes to organics, it’s all about keeping chemical intervention to a minimum. Sulphites – used to combat fungal attacks (such as powdery mildew) on vines, and to preserve and stabilise the end product – can still be used, but typically only about a third the amount normally used find their way into organic operations.

So too can sulphur dioxide. But where it’s normally used in concentrations of 400 parts per million, organic vignerons and wine makers have managed to trim this to 125 parts per million – or less.  

As for chemical pesticides, fertilisers, insecticides, weed killers and other synthetic chemicals, such as preservatives . . . they’re an absolute no-no. Some organic vignerons even spurn sulphur.

Organophosphates, used to control insects in the vineyards, are also out.

Non-organic farmers often apply other non-organic compounds, such as ammonia nitrate and urea, to their vines through drip-irrigation lines.

Many synthetic chemicals now carry S5, S6 or S7 poisons warnings. Once vignerons get to the S7 range, they must wear full protective clothing – and spray within the safety of a fully enclosed cab.

David Bruer, an organic farmer from Langhorne Creek in South Australia, has replaced sulphur with a mix of a canola-based oil, potassium carbonate, and milk and whey. He sprays two to three times in the growing season to keep powdery mildew at bay on his 27ha Temple Bruer property.

He also allows insects to run riot (he can’t use organophosphates), but says the good bugs lay waste to the bad ones, keeping everything in equilibrium.

Bruer, like all other organic vignerons, allows the weeds to run riot. Poisoning them is worse than leaving them grow in peace.

Irrigation is also an important element in organic viticulture. Some organic vignerons use drip irrigation, while others use sprinklers. Drips ensure the most efficient (and minimal) use of water, providing the correct level of watering throughout the growing season while allowing the farmer to keep vine vigour in check. The last place you want to get wood is in a vineyard! Yields can also be more finely managed, maximising grape quality.

Those vignerons in frost-prone areas like sprinklers, as they help with frost control around bud burst.

Marc, the left-over stems and grape skins, can be a difficult waste product  for non-organic farmers. However, when composted, they can be spread around the vines to aid water retention and to add nutrients to the soil.

Another hallmark of organic wine is minimal handling – of the vines and grapes – and minimal filtration and finishing.

A number of organic vignerons are also embracing the biodynamic theories of Rudolf Steiner. These operations are designed to be in tune with earth’s natural rhythms, with an holistic approach to the preparation and nurturing of the vineyards’ soils.

The final word on the future of Australia’s organic wine industry rests with David Bruer. He says our range of soils suitable for grape growing, couple with our benign climate probably make Australia the easiest place in the world to support organics.

One thing’s certain; when you embrace organic (or biodynamic) wines, you’re harking back to the very dawn of fermented juices. 

CERTIFICATION

So how can you tell you’re drinking the real McCoy? It’s all in the certification!

Australia has seven certifying authorities, but most organic growers and wine makers operate under the so-called Big Three.

Demeter is the oldest seal in Australia, and is administered by the Bio-Dynamic Research Institute. This organisation only certifies biodynamic wines.

The National Association For Sustainable Agriculture Australia Ltd holds the rights to the ‘Certified Organic’ label.

The third group is the Biological Farmers Of Australia (which merged with the Organic Vignerons Association of Australia). It allows complying wine makers to use the so-called Bud logo. 

ORGANIC WINES FOR SALE

Despite Australia’s small number of certified vignerons and wine makers, you can find a full range of organic and biodynamic reds and whites – and many are now being exported.

David Bruer (Langhorne Creek, South Australia) grows cabernet and merlot, shiraz, Riesling and a range of lesser varieties. Merlot Grove, in the Riverland area of SA, grows shiraz, chardonnay Mataro and gordo varieties

But no matter what your fancy, a quick search of the internet will uncover any number of high-quality reads, whites and sparkling.

Try this site as a starter: http://www.organicwine.com.au/

For a range of informative (and witty) reviews of organic wines, try the Sydney Cafes site. Meghan Williams, Stewart Dawes and scores of their well-versed drinking buddies go to town on a raft of organic bottlers! http://www.organicwine.com.au/

You’ll also find links back to the producers – a neat touch for those in a hurry to go organic!

For any other information on the Australian wine industry, check out the Winebiz site: www.winebiz.com.au 

ENDS . . .