Earth Day Barrage Set to Begin: Beware the Wine Institute's Message of "Sustainability"

The California Wine Institute's getting gussied up for Earth Day - all ready to tell you why they and their sustainability campaigns are great (they are - it's true) and to avoid the subject of pesticide use in wine grape growing in California. They've been holding webinars with vintners to help all of them communicate the message - aided by their professional marketing consultant.

And launching their Earth Day video on Youtube.


Sustainability, as defined by the industry group, consists mainly of limiting the inputs they use - water, energy (they get big rebates for going solar - rebates that taxpayers pay for), and other resources that cost them money. This is the win-win zone for the bottom line - and it gets them within the guidelines of retail giant Walmart's sustainability requirements. All good - but not the end of the story.

If only the Wine Institute would take equal interest in ridding us of the pesticides they are using - 411,000 pounds of Roundup annually. Is that sustainability? Maybe for the grapes but not for the humans.

You can see what a typical Napa vineyard shopping list at the local farm supply store is in this  2012 U.C. Davis report on wine grape growing in Napa which describes local vineyards practices:

• Twice a year, vineyard-wide application of Roundup (that's 30,000 pounds annually in Napa County) a systemic herbicide now so widespread that a 2012 German study found it in city dwellers' urine at concentrations higher than allowed in drinking water

• Fighting vine mealy bug with neonicotinoids (the chemicals most widely credited with bee colony collapse) [this week a group of British MPs added their voices to others in the EU calling for a ban]

• Spreading Rally (myclobutanil), a known reproductive toxin, annually [the insecticide was recently cited by the California Dept. of Pesticide Regulation as in need of a toxicity exposure update]

All this - in spite of the fact that between 10 and 30 percent of Napa vineyards are either certified (9%) or practicing (estimated to be another 20%) organic and don't use or need any of these inputs in order to make a tidy profit on their most-expensive-in-the-nation agricultural land.

If only the organic vintners and their professional marketing consultant were organized and speaking up - with the help of professional marketers - on Earth Day. (They don't have a YouTube video).

Two years ago when I first started asking wineries if their wines were organically grown, any that were not never said, "No." They always said, "we're sustainable."

If you ask again, why they're not organic, they'll usually say being organic costs too much, and takes too much paperwork.

I recently interviewed a prominent winery president (at a winery with more than 300 acres of certified organic vineyards) about this issue. The reply was that after all was said and done, it cost the winery about 4 percent more - in the overall cost of the winery - to grow grapes organically and be certified. Other consultants say the cost is 10% higher; others who are organic say it costs less than chemical methods.

Yes, there is paperwork, but wineries already have a lot of paperwork. Filing pesticide reports with the state is paperwork, too, and strangely nobody every mentions that. Shopping for pesticides and hiring pesticide control advisors is work and money, too - at least $100 an acre.

So beware the Earthy Day messaging barrage. Hurrah for sustainability - it's just not the end of the eco-trail. Keep asking for organic grapes in your wine.

Does Argentina Have Better Pesticide Regulations Than We Do?

On Monday night environmentalists gathered from around the world to honor winners of the Goldman Awards, one of the world's highest environmental prizes. Among them was Argentinian Sofia Gatica who won the prize for the continent of South America for her work in documenting the devastating effects of Roundup (which contains glyphosate) in her local community.

This is, of course, the same toxic herbicide California wine grape growers spray 400-450,000 pounds of annually on state vineyards.

Gatica herself lost a daughter, who lived only 3 days, before asking other mothers in the area about health problems in their families. When the group of mothers found that their area had more than 41 times the number of birth defects as was normal in Argentina, 16 of the mothers formed the Mothers of Ituzaingó to organize against the indiscriminate use of the pesticide in Argentina where 50 million gallons are used annually, mostly in soybeans.


In the U.S., $5 billion is spent on the Monsanto-produced herbicide, more than a quarter of global sales by  price. In 2007, the EPA estimated that 180-185 million pounds of it were used in the U.S. It can be applied by hand-sprayer or in aerial spraying.





Argentinian scientist and researcher Carrasco (featured in the video above) has documented the harmful effects of glysophate in Argentina, including birth defects.

Gatica and allies worked to pass legislation outlawing the aerial fumigation of glyphosate and other dangerous agricultural pesticides and herbicides. Legislation also does not allow spraying within 2,500 meters of residents.


That would appear to be better than we have it in here in California. In a recent interview I conducted with Paul Towers of the Pesticide Action Network, Towers said the Wine Institute has opposed Californians' attempts to pass legislation creating buffer zones and to restrict aerial application of pesticides.


You can, of course, help grow California's organic viticulture movement (where no Roundup can be used) by buying wines made with organic grapes.

Watch Gatica's story here (below in the video) or read more on the Goldman Prize site here:

Gatica with mothers, studying chart of diseases and birth defects in their neighborhood

Photo of tumor caused by glysophate in Argentina, from Dr. Graciela Gomez

I've contacted a pesticide expert to find out more specific information on dosage comparisons and will followup with a post later.


The Ecology Center has a good, succinct fact sheet on Roundup.
• Factsheet

The GLS Bank of Germany has a good review of the scientific literature on Roundup.
• GLS Report

USDA Scientist's Research Finds Roundup Damaging Soils (and Plants)

Prof. Robert Kremer,
University of Missouri

New USDA research is showing that Roundup is harmful to soils and plants.

Midwestern corn and soybean farmers are damaging their soils by using large amounts of Roundup, says USDA researcher microbiologist Dr. Robert Kremer of the University of Missouri.

You can read more about his remarks in the Reuters coverage of the event here. 

The article begins: "The heavy use of Monsanto's Roundup herbicide appears to be causing harmful changes in soil and potentially hindering yields of the genetically modified crops that farmers are cultivating, a government scientist said...Repeated use of the chemical glyphosate, the key ingredient in Roundup herbicide, impacts the root structure of plants, and 15 years of research indicates that the chemical could be causing fungal root disease..."

Kremer's research has found that Monsanto's Roundup-ready GMO plants exhibit the following:

"This [Roundup-Ready] system is altering the whole soil biology. We are seeing differences in bacteria in plant roots and changes in nutrient availability. Glyphosate is very systemic in the plant and is being released through the roots into the soil. Many studies show that glyphosate can have toxic effects on microorganisms and can stimulate them to germinate spores and colonize root systems. Other researchers are showing that glyphosate can immobilize manganese, an essential plant micronutrient."

Granted, wine grape growers in California aren't using Roundup-Read (GMO) seeds. But they are using a heap-o Roundup, according to the California Dept. of Pesticide Regulation - about a pound per acre on 450,000 acres, across the state.

Kremer's research was unveiled in the European Journal of Agronomy in 2009 (link to issue home page here) and he spoke about this year at the August conference of the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM), a farm-based nonprofit, in Kansas City, Missouri.

Here is what the journal's introduction to the special issue says: (Note: glysophate is Roundup)

"Although glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide worldwide (Woodburn, 2000), several problems associated with glysophate interactions with plant nutrient availability, transfer to and effects on susceptible crops, indirect effects on rhizo-sphere microorganisms and plant pathogens, and development of glyphosate-resistant weeds have raised serious concerns regarding the sustainability of cropping systems in which glyphosate is the primary weed management strategy."

Read the full text of his research in the European Journal of Agronomy here.

For years Monsanto has been telling farmers, growers and the public that Roundup quickly dissolves leaving no trace behind. Untrue, says the scientific literature.

As Kremer's article states:

"In contrast to generalizations that glyphosate is tightly bound and inactivated in soil, numerous studies show that glyphosate is available to soil and rhizosphere microbial communities as a substrate for direct metabolism leading to increased microbial biomass and activity (Haney et al., 2000; Wardle and Parkinson, 1990). Indeed, Simonsen et al. (2008) recently demonstrated that agricultural soils amended with phosphorus fertilizers are high in unbound glyphosate because soil sorption sites are occupied by competing phosphate ions; thus, glyphosate remaining in the soil solution is vulnerable to potential uptake by plant roots, microbial metabolism, or leaching into groundwater [bolding mine]."

(This seems to be illustrating the basic concept, once again, that nothing in nature is ever separate.)

Here is coverage from OCM's own Sept. newsletter (see page 11) about Kremer's remarks at the 2011 conference:

"Dr Bob Kremer of Missouri University discussed his research that indicates a possible change in soil health due to accumulated glyphosate residues in both soils and plants...all the indications are that increased levels of glyphosate result in plant nutrients being tied up in the soil and unavailable while fungal diseases thrive for the same reason.

Dr. Kremer said, “We need to develop an agro-ecological approach” to better manage the impacts of relying so heavily on one or two types of crop pest control. Dr Kremer added that potential soybean yields could be much higher than the current mid forty-bushel nation- al average, perhaps up to 100 bushels regardless of genetic modification, if good soil management is applied."

Prof. Kremer says the solution to the over use of Roundup is - surprise, surprise - organic farming. "More farmers are interested in using cover cropping to maintain soil quality and other organic amendments. But it’s a steep learning curve for them,"he said.

[That makes publication of the new U.C. published Organic Winegrowing Manual all the more praiseworthy.]

Now... how/can we get an organic viticulture class and an endowed chair at U.C. Davis to speed things up?

EPA to Study Banning Roundup

A 2009 article published in Scientific
American on the toxic impacts of Roundup
Link to this article

The Pesticide Action Network's latest email is all about Roundup - and good news from the EPA that the government agency will look into the potential health impacts of this commonly used herbicide.

• Roundup has health impacts

Previous studies have focused on residues in food, but the agency has not examined other impacts including:

• groundwater contamination (as well as air)

• ingestion when metabolized to N-nitroglysophate

•"inert" ingredients on human cells (found to be toxic by a French study published in Scientific American)

"One specific inert ingredient, polyethoxylated tallowamine, or POEA, was more deadly to human embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells than the herbicide itself – a finding the researchers call “astonishing.”

Studies on animals have found that it causes birth defects in lab animals.

Meanwhile, the wine industry in California alone is pouring 450,000 pounds of Roundup across the state every year - about a pound an acre where it's used.

Monsanto has done a magnificent job of convincing most people in the wine grape growing world that Roundup is safe and "goes away" - disperses quickly. But where does it go?

We need more answers before allowing this toxic substance to be so widely used.

If you care about restricting the use of Roundup, there are steps you can take - ask your grocery, restaurants, and wine stores to put more pressure on wineries to offer them organically grown alternatives.


• Drinking Organically Grown Wine - Costs the Same as Pesticide-Grown Wine

At the moment, organically grown wine is no more expensive than other wine in the marketplace  - which is a great deal for those of us who care about health and the environment. (Using Roundup is banned under organic certification.)

And as I am finding out in the process of writing my app about 200+ organically grown wines for $20 or less, the organic segment of the industry has a wildly disproportionate number of spots on Top 100 Wineries (Wine & Spirits), 90+ pts ratings (even from Robert Parker), and other high-quality characteristics. Leave out the non-organic wines, and you suddenly discover a pool of mostly better wines (along with better feelings about what you're drinking). And you're not paying for the privilege - you're just getting the benefit.

• Costs to Growers: $10 an Acre for Certification

If people tell you that it is too expensive for them to get certified - ask them how much they think it will cost. According to Lake County's CCOF certifier, the costs are about $10 an acre (after government rebates - which refund 75% of certification fees to the grower).

• Paperwork for Growers: Yes There is Some

Perhaps we could set up an intern-run service bureau to help growers get certified. The paperwork is not that awful - hundreds of growers do manage, provided they have incentives. About 40% of Mendocino County growers are CCOF certified. That may be because they have had - for the last 20 years - a major organic-only buyer (Bonterra) or it may be that they also have - hand in hand with a local buyer - developed a different culture and group norm.

• Action Beyond Consuming Alone

If you want to expand your sphere beyond individual actions, read on to learn more about what PAN's most recent newsletter says:

Like many people, I once believed in the safety of RoundUp. Back in the 1980s when I was a young graduate student in ecology, it was the “safe” herbicide of choice for clearing weeds from study plots.

Monsanto would like us to continue to believe their flagship product is safe, but the data are increasingly saying otherwise. The latest? Widespread exposure is a near certainty, since RoundUp — now linked to birth defects — shows up regularly in our water and air.

Glyphosate, RoundUp’s active ingredient, was found in every stream studied and in most air samples taken in a recent study conducted by government researchersin Mississippi and Iowa. And it's undoubtedly in other states too. Across the U.S. it's used commonly on corn, soybeans, cotton and rice, to the tune of 180-185 millions of pounds in 2007 — more tonnage than any other pesticide.

And that's only use on farms. RoundUp is also the second most commonly used pesticide in homes and gardens across the country.

Scientists bust Monsanto's safety myth

Glyphosate is now known to cause birth defects, and at extremely low levels it can kill placental cells and disrupt the human hormone system. Yet regulatory authorities still only formally recognize its potential to contaminate groundwater. 

SafeLawns recently pointed out that while glyphosate is not listed by EPA as highly toxic when inhaled, it may become highly toxic in the human digestive system where it is metabolized to N-nitrosoglyphosate — a chemical known to cause tumors.

It can be expensive to test for pesticides in air and water, which is why we haven't before seen the kind of data recently collected in Mississipi and Iowa. Independent testing for health effects can also be costly. Yet these are precisely the kind of data that should be required for continued use of any product. Are we exposed? Does it harm us? How does it affect children's health and development?

One common-sense solution: manufacturers should be required to fund (through not conduct) such testing if they want to keep their pesticides on the market.

EPA agrees to take action — eventually

EPA has set 2015 for deciding if glyphosate should continue to be sold, or should have its use in some way limited.

We know the regulatory process can be woefully slow, even when science is very clear that a pesticide is harming human health. Yet this remains one important route for grassroots efforts. Meanwhile, educate yourself and your friends about the serious threats posed by Monsanto's biggest seller, and help build the public voice to get rid of it once and for all.

There's a LOT more dirt on glyphosate — from additional impacts on human health to serious impacts on plant and soil health (my bailiwick). Stay tuned.

Roundup's Hidden History of Birth Defects Highlighted by New Report; California Wine Grape Growers' Use Up 40% Over 18 Years

One more reason to buy organic: an international panel of scientists says regulators in Europe and the U.S. have regularly overlooked scientific research on the toxic effects of the commonly used herbicide Roundup for decades in affecting frog and chicken embryos.

(While Roundup may not be present at detectable levels in wine made from wine grapes sprayed with Roundup, the pesticides' effects on the environment are measurable.)

See coverage of the story on Huffington Post here.

The report, published online by a group called Earth Open Source, says "Scientific research published in 2010 showed that Roundup and the chemical on which it is based, glyphosate, cause birth defects in frog and chicken embryos at dilutions much lower than those used in agriculture and garden spraying."

To see where Roundup is sprayed in California on wine grapes, visit the Agricultural Pesticide Mapping Tool from the California State Dept. of Health here. To use the tool, select "Service Options" and then select "wine grapes" and "glysophate." The tool allows you to select the region you want to see. Click on any point on the resulting map and you can view data by year or by bar charts. All data is from the California Dept. of Pesticide Regulation.

Average increase of Roundup in pounds per acre (for wine grapes only) from 1991 to 2009 in selected counties:

Lake County - up 100%
Mendocino County - up 61%
Napa County - up 5%
Sonoma County - up 76%

Statewide, during the same period, glysophate use increased 40%.

The report cites data and studies from numerous peer-reviewed journals and urges regulators to reconsider permissible levels of Roundup use.

In 2009, more than 341,000 acres of California wine grapes were sprayed with more than 367,000 pounds of Roundup. The average rate of application was one pound per acre.

It's likely that the increased use of Roundup is in response to the decreased use of more toxic synthetic chemicals - i.e. growers are replacing older, more toxic pesticides with the "less" toxic Roundup.

Of course, organic wine grape growers are not permitted to use Roundup. Alas, organic growers represent less than 3% of all wine grapes grown statewide.

Update: The Pesticide Action Network has now published its story on the new report. Read it here.

Results from the California Dept. of Health's map of Roundup in California on wine grapes.