Ecological Farming Conference - Asilomar, CA

As the Wine Educator at ZD Wines, I was excited by the opportunity to attend the 29th Annual Ecological Farming Conference to learn more about the latest trends in organic & biodynamic farming, alternative energy, and related earth sensitive farming philosophies. It was an enlightening and humbling experience on many levels.

At the conference, in the company of Robert deLeuze, CEO & Winemaster; Julie deLeuze, Executive Director; Rafael Llamas, Vineyard Manager; Barbie Jamieson, Retail Sales Director; Chris Pisani, Winemaker; and Brandon deLeuze, Assistant Winemaker, we “divided and conquered” to gather information at as many relevant seminars as possible. With so much to take in, the strategy was effective in our efforts to access the immense knowledge, experience and optimism present at the conference.

It was an eye-opening experience listening to some of the true pioneers of the organic farming movement, some of whom have been actively transforming the industry since the late sixties. Pioneers though they may be, they were as diverse as the crowd of professionals you might find at a Grateful Dead show (in fact, Jerry Garcia’s widow had an inspiring short film on “soil” that I viewed with the ZD boys). It was refreshing, as we all seemed to connect on a deeper level, and it made me proud to work for ZD, whose belief and focus on organic farming began in the early 1980’s.

For the sake of efficiency I am going to list several of my highlights from the conference:

• There are billions of farmers on this planet growing the crops we eat while there are only a handful (3 or 4) of Multinational Corporations (MNC’s) that control the channels in which this food is “dispensed” back to the billions of us that eat it. Something’s fundamentally wrong with this picture, as many of the people growing the food are dying of starvation, at the expense of the MNC’s profit!

• The amount of potential energy produced everyday by the Sun is equivalent to all of our stored energy (oil, coal, and natural gas) on Earth! It took billions of years to store these “reserves”, so we should treat them as such and focus on Solar and other renewable energy sources.

• “Conventional” farming actually depletes our soil, while Composting actually builds soil! Compost is the best natural fertilizer that you can find, and it’s even better if you produce your own. It adds organic matter back to the soil, helping build up our soil, rather than using it up!

• Organic Farming is not just a movement; it’s the way the world needs to farm! While science has provided some conveniences (pest control & increased yields) during the past century, these techniques are not sustainable. We need to get back to our “roots” and encourage science to incorporate a more natural and sustainable farming focus.

I hope that you who have taken the time to read this have found something to inspire you to help make this world a better place. I know I am a fortunate lad who’s trying to lead by example, and may you do the same. Let’s toast (with your favorite ZD, of course!) to making this world a better place to live, one glass of wine at a time!

~ Trent Ghiringhelli, Wine Educator