Those who know producers like Ligas (Greece), Lissner (Alsace) and Meinklang (Burgenland), to name but three, are all following principles which effectively leave the whole ecosystem to regulate itself. But the methods, practical teachings and philosophy of the man I will introduce you to have taken off all over the wine world, whether directly influenced or indirectly. I keep hearing about projects in the UK, and I even read about a return to this way of farming in The Guardian newspaper this week, in Spanish olive groves.
In fact, such methods were common in many countries until the 20 th Century.
I think we can say that in some respects the wine fraternity is moving ahead of other agricultural sectors, and one way it is doing this is by exploring the methods of regenerative agriculture. We are starting to see this to a degree, but nowhere near enough. What needs to happen (as indeed with things like plastic packaging) is a producer-led approach.
In many ways the food strategy is framed in a way that puts the focus on a change in diet, and on educating people to change habits. Whilst low input agriculture remains a minority sport, there’s little to worry about, but we can’t have the whole world going organic, surely? Think of food security, think of the costs (they say). Aside from the fear that climate change will bring new challenges, no challenge to the profits of the large agri-chemical producers will go unchallenged. Such proposals may well get nowhere, and especially those relating to synthetic chemical interventions.
Aside from the dangers to human health they may or may not pose, long-term, it is their destruction of ecosystems which has finally been recognised (in some quarters) as unacceptable. Less eye-catching, but no less important, is the need to massively reduce agri-chemical inputs. Perhaps the most eye-catching proposal is that we should reduce meat consumption by 30%. Its author, Henry Dimbleby, has outlined a raft of measures we need to adopt in order to save lives from our poor diet, to protect nature and the environment and ensure that farming in the UK is sustainable. Here in the UK a series of proposals has just been published under the ambitious heading of a “National Food Strategy”.
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