What are the wine producers' motivations to convert their farm into organic agriculture ?

This research paper, but also the first part focused on my six-month internship, Indie Wineries and its environment, allows me to have a bigger vision of what organic agriculture represents for different parts of the economy: producers, importers and consumers. My tasks within Indie Wineries made me meet a lot of people from the wine industry who each of these people has a different relation to wine. I always tried to listen carefully all the stories of the producers, sales representatives, buyers, etc., to understand how they work with organic and/or biodynamic agriculture and wine. It was disconcerting to realize that each producer has his/her own way to work organically, even if they have common points in their practices. Today, I know there are multiples way to apply these methods to the agriculture, and I need to make my own opinion on it. I also learned a lot of things interviewing five producers for the research. I would have loved to collect more stories from them. They all have interesting stories and anecdotes to tell me and were willing to talk about organic agriculture in their region. The American wine market is very interesting to study as wine is becoming a part of American culture. It is also interesting regarding the wine production in this country, this is such a large country that diversity in wine, grape varieties could seem unlimited. I am also curious of what is going to happen with Mr. Donald J. Trump’s presidency and his position statement on Paris Climate Agreement. In terms of results of the research, I found motivations that I did not find before when I studied other research papers, such as the defense of ancestral gesture which seems today to me very important. The local aspect interests me a lot: to promote products from the region where it is produced is maybe the first step to educate consumers about organic wine. It is also common sense for organic producers to sell locally their wines as it is one of the goals of organic and biodynamic agriculture to support local economy. Finally, it would be interesting if public organizations (GAB, Chambers of Agriculture) approach more the producers with trainings, experts, etc., again at a local level so people understand well what is happening in the region.

UFR de Lettres, Langues et Sciences Humaines