WHAT IS ORGANIC WINE?

The organic agricultural movement, like the natural wine movement, started with individuals working independently worldwide. These individuals influenced subsequent generations and as interest spread communities began to develop. Unlike the natural movement, the organic movement has taken the final step of government regulation. Each country has legislation for a food item or beverage to be labelled organic. Let’s start at the beginning.

As we know it today, organic farming began as a reaction to the harm caused to the environment, humans and animals by substances such as chemical pesticides and synthetic medicines or fertilizers. Three names are consistently encountered when searching for the ‘start’ of organic agriculture: F.H. King (1845-1911), Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) and Sir Albert Howard (1873-1947). These three gentlemen educated subsequent generations by observing, hypothesizing, and writing books or lectures.

Fathers of Organic Agriculture:

F.H. King & Sir Albert Howard

F.H. King and Sir Albert Howard both had an impact on organic agriculture due to witnessing firsthand traditional farming practices in Asia and India respectively. F.H. King, who taught agricultural physics at the University of Wisconsin, was an expert on the chemistry and physics of soil. During a nine-month tour of China, Korea and Japan in 1909 King observed their farming practices which had been in use for about 4000 years. This led to the publication of his book ‘Farmers of Forty Centuries’ in 1911. John Koster, in his article ‘F.H. King, on the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners website, tells us he took note of how healthy the soil was in these three countries compared to the diminishing health of the soil in the United States. He attributed this to factors such as the use of plant, animal and human waste as fertilizer as opposed to synthetic fertilizers as well as crop rotation, intertillage, crop succession and letting the soil dictate the crop as opposed to money. This book highlighted what King saw as the impending problem of  Western agriculture  – soil depletion.

Sir Albert Howard was an English botanist who lived in India for 26 years. According to the Rodale Institute website, Howard was there ‘to teach Western agricultural techniques, but he quickly found his views challenged by traditional Indian farming practices’. He observed a connection between healthy soil and the health of the crops, livestock and the villagers which led to his famous quote “The health of soil, plant, animal and man is one and indivisible.” Building upon the traditional Indian composting system, Howard developed the Indore composting process, adding a scientific basis to a long-established practice. The result of Howard’s observations in India was several publications, the most notable of which are ‘The Waste Products of Agriculture’ (1931), ‘An Agricultural Testament’ (1940) and ‘Farming and Gardening for Health or Disease’ (1945).

Rudolf Steiner, whom we met in the Biodynamic blog, presented eight lectures in 1924 called ‘The Spiritual Foundations for the Renewal of Agriculture’ that became the foundation of the Biodynamic movement. Steiner looked upon a farm as a self-sufficient living organism in which healthy soil is the key to producing healthy plants, animals and people. The main difference between the biodynamic movement and organic agriculture is the biodynamic preparations and the influence of the astronomical calendar in Steiner’s vision of farming. 

The common thread between King, Steiner and Howard is healthy soil. Steiner and Howard take it further and relate healthy soil to the health of plants, animals and people. The generations influenced by King, Steiner and Howard increased awareness of organic agriculture by creating organizations dedicated to research and education. Jerome Irving Rodale (1896-1982) and Lady Eve Balfour (1898-1990) are two of the best-known examples of establishing organizations such as these.

Organic Farming: Ongoing Research

Jerome Irving, an American entrepreneur, influenced by Sir Albert Howard’s theories about soil health and using natural methods such as composting and cover cropping in food production, bought a farm in the 1930s in Emmaus, Pennsylvania and started farming,  putting those theories into practice. Rodale began publishing a magazine called Organic Gardening and Farming in 1942 and in 1947 he founded the Soil and Health Foundation, later renamed Rodale Institute.

Lady Eve Balfour was a leading figure in organic farming in England. Balfour became aware of compost-based farming in 1938 and started an experiment on her farm called the Haughley Experiment that lasted 30 years. The experiment was a comparison of organic-based farming with chemical-based farming by designating three plots of land where each had different combinations of organic and inorganic fertilizers. She published a book in  1943 about the initial findings of this experiment called The Living Soil which highlighted the link between soil health, human health and organic farming. Balfour then went on to co-found the Soil Association in 1946.

 Alongside Rodale and Balfour, organic farming associations began to appear. Organic production increased and Cora Dankers’ publication ‘Environmental and Social Standards, Certification and Labelling for Cash Crops’ for the FAO of the United Nations informs us the farming associations started developing their standards to communicate what they had learned through practical application. Eventually, they started implementing their on-site inspections and in the mid-1970s they started certifying their members. 

Recognizing a need for organic agriculture movements to coordinate their actions and to share their scientific and experimental data Roland Chevriot of Nature et Progrès, a French organic agricultural organization, invited Lady Eve Balfour, of Soil Association (UK), Kjell Arman from the Swedish Biodynamic Association and Jerome Goldstein from the Rodale Institute (USA) to a meeting in Versailles in 1972 which was the beginning of the first international organization - the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). IFOAM issued the first version of the IFOAM basic standards (IBS) for organic agriculture in 1980 which are revised biennially. Dankers tells us that these standards are used as guidelines by public and private standard-setting bodies to develop more specific organic standards. Today there are over 700 members in more than 100 countries. IFOAM has identified four principles of organic agriculture - Health, Ecology, Fairness and Care, which are interconnected and guide the development of IFOAM’s positions, programs and standards.

The 1970s into the 1980s became a watershed period for organic agriculture. There was now an international organization, IFOAM, which was quickly gathering members, and according to Cora Dankers’ FAO publication, supply was outstripping demand, and the premium price point of organic products was encouraging fraud prompting governments to start passing laws regulating what could be labelled organic. Oregon state was the first government body to pass organic regulations in 1974 followed by California in 1979. France became the first European country to pass organic regulations in 1985, the United States passed its first set of regulations in 2000 while Canada passed its first in 1999. The difficulty is that the regulations vary from country to country.

Organic Regulations

Canada’s regulations are called the Canadian Organic Standards (COR) which include Organic Production Systems: General Principles and Management Standards (CAN/CGSB-32.310) and Organic Production Systems: Permitted Substances Lists (CAN/CGSB-32.311). They are updated every five years – the most recent of which was in 2020. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is tasked with accrediting third-party organizations to carry out organic certifications in Canada. 

The General Principles and Management Standards begins with 0.1 Description:

• Organic production is a holistic system designed to optimize the productivity and fitness of diverse communities within the agro-ecosystem, including soil organisms, plants, livestock and people. The principal goal of organic production is to develop operations that are sustainable and harmonious with the environment.

This is followed by 0.2 General principles of organic production:

• Principle of health – Organic agriculture should sustain and enhance the health of soil, plants, animals, humans and the planet as one and indivisible. 

• Principle of ecology – Organic agriculture should be based on living ecological systems and cycles, work with them, emulate them and help sustain them. 

• Principle of care – Organic agriculture should be managed in a precautionary and responsible manner to protect the health and well-being of current and future generations and the environment. 

• Principle of fairness – Organic agriculture should build on relationships that ensure fairness concerning the common environment and life opportunities.

These are the same principles as IFOAM which is referenced as a source in the standard. You can see the strong resemblance between the principle of health and Howard’s famous quote: “The health of soil, plant, animal and man is one and indivisible.”

How are these four principles carried out in practical terms concerning organic production in Canada? Soil health and a balanced ecosystem in terms of crops are achieved through practices such as biodiversity, using natural fertilizers derived from animal and plant residue, crop selection and rotation, water management, tillage and cultivation.  Fungicides and synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and veterinary drugs, such as antibiotics are, in general, not permitted due to the detriment they pose to the health of the soil, crops, animals and people. However, there are circumstances outlined in the standard, CAN/CGSB-32.310, where some of these substances can be used. Their use has to be documented. Non-organic ingredients, food additives and processing aids are not permitted unless specified in the standard or listed in CAN/CGSB-32.311. Livestock welfare is also highly regulated. Living conditions, such as access to pasture time, fresh air, daylight, and exercise, and the size of indoor and outdoor spaces are specified in the standard. Their feed, medical treatment, and permitted physical alterations are also outlined. 

Organic Wine Farming: Soil Health

The practices mentioned above concerning COR will be found in the organic regulations of other countries. The differences come concerning specific details. For example, the substances that are included on the permitted substances lists will differ from country to country. If there are exceptions to the permitted substances list, which substances have exceptions and what circumstances allow those exceptions will differ. An example of these differences is Canada, and the EU allows limited additions of sulfites in organic wine while the United States does not. Unfortunately, you have to research each country’s regulations to become familiar with how they differ.

Equivalency arrangements have been made between countries with organic regulations to facilitate trade. The two standards are assessed and compared to determine if they are consistent with each other. If there are discrepancies that cannot be resolved then they are considered to be critical variances, and those specific products will not be included in the agreement. Canada’s Organic Standards are recognized as equivalent to the respective standards created by the European Union, Switzerland, Japan, the United States, Costa Rica, the UK, Taiwan, South Korea and Mexico.

Labelling is how we can identify organic products. As with organic regulations, labelling is country-specific as well. Canada’s standards state that only products with 95% or more organic products can use the term ‘organic’ in their labelling and advertising or use the organic logo. Use of the logo is voluntary. The EU logo is on products that have 95% or more organic products and the remaining 5% is strictly controlled. Use of the logo is mandatory for most EU organic products. The American logo is accompanied by either ‘100% Organic” or “Organic”. Those labelled “Organic” means the product can contain up to 5% non-organic ingredients.

According to the 25th edition of the yearbook “The World of Organic Agriculture”, published jointly by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL and IFOAM – Organics International, the amount of organic farmland in the world increased by 20.3 million hectares in 2022 to 96.4 million hectares – comparatively there were 15 million hectares of organic agriculture in 2000. More statistics for 2022: 188 countries have organic activities, 75 countries have organic regulations while 14 are drafting regulations and there are 4.5 million producers - 1999 had 200,000 producers. The numbers are climbing - unfortunately, the organic share of total agricultural land for 2022 is 2%. We have a ways to go.

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This article contains references and quotations from the following publications:

• John Koster, Fall 2009, ‘F H King’, Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners, accessed August 1, 2024
  

• Rodale Institute, ‘The Leaders Who Founded the Organic Movement’  accessed August 2, 2024
  

• Keith Addison, Journey to Forever, ‘Albert Howard’. Accessed August 2, 2024

• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome 2003, Environmental and Social Standards, Certification and Labelling for Cast Crops, accessed August 4, 2024
  

•  Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Organic Products: Equivalency Arrangements under the Canada Organic Regime, accessed August 10, 2024
  

• Canada Organic Trade Association, The Guide to Organic Labelling in Canada, accessed August 11, 2024
  

• European Commission, The Organic Logo, accessed August 10, 2024
  

• USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, Rules & Regulations: Organic Regulations, accessed August 10, 2024

• FiBL survey 2024, IFOAM – Organics International, Organic Agriculture: Key Indicators and Top Countries, Willer, Helga Jan Trávníček and Bernhard Schlatter (Eds.) (2024): The World of Organic Agriculture. Statistics and Emerging, accessed August 11, 2024