Heard it on the grapevine...
The growth of fairtrade wines has begun to focus attention on workers' rights in the industry. Lindsay
Whalen searches for claret-fication.
In 2003 Oxfam published research into the wine industry in South Africa. It found that workers on wine farms
in South Africa tended to be women experiencing the 'triple oppression' of precarious jobs, racism and paternalism.(2)
Work intensification, declining permanent contracts, lower wages and fewer benefits than male counterparts,
lack of transport and discrimination meant a difficult existence.(2) For example, two-thirds of employers in a
Centre for Rural Legal Studies survey reported incidences of domestic violence on their farms, with a quarter
indicating there was sexual harassment.(2).
The report found that while Tesco and Sainsbury's both publicly committed
themselves to workers' rights, they admitted that their 'distance' from
the farm prevented them from guaranteeing that all suppliers adhered to
their codes.'(2) The report noted that grape producers in South Africa were
mostly unaware of any codes.(2) One grower said that: 'Tesco never asked
us what we pay our labour or what our cottages look like. It is up to our
own conscience in terms of how we treat our labour.'(2)
A company will receive a full mark on the table if it doesn't have a code
of conduct for workers' rights and it uses suppliers in the Third World.
Fermenting trouble
In June 2005 the United Farm Workers Union (UFW) called a boycott of all
Gallo wines because of the company's exploitation of workers in California.
The union claimed that Gallo denied the majority of its workers benefits
and grievance rights, job protection and humane living conditions. Specific
grievances concerned wages inferior to those provided by other grape growers
in the region, breaking state law when it tried to de-certify the UFW union,
firing the witness who testified that the company had illegally tried to
get rid of the union, and refusing to extend health and other benefits to
labour contractor workers.(3) The boycott call was called off on 14th September
2005, when the UFW and Gallo agreed on new labour contracts. Arturo Rodriguez,
president of the UFW commented 'We now have the largest winery under contract,
and it is a good contract.' (12)
Fairtrade
Consumers seeking guarantees of fair working conditions have a range of
potential solutions. Broughton Pastures, Pennard and Limney wines are made
from UK grown fruit. This should mean that fruit pickers are protected by
UK laws. It also cuts down on food miles. La Nature is sourced from France
and Spain which also have legal protections for workers. However, if you
want to help people trade their way out of poverty you'll want to purchase
fair trade wines. Some of Broughton Pastures ingredients like sugar and
ginger come from far-flung places such as India and Zambia, and those that
can be are fair trade certified. Live a Little is from the Stellar Organic
Winery in South Africa, and is fair trade certified. Traidcraft's wines
come from Argentina, Chile and South Africa and are all fair trade certified.
The Co-op launched a fair trade wine in 2001, and now has seven certified
wines in its stores from Chile and South Africa. A full list of fair trade
certified wines and where to buy them appears on the Fairtrade Foundation
website (www.fairtrade.org.uk).
Food miles
However, buying organic or fair trade from halfway around the world isn't
necessarily environmentally sound. Food campaigners Sustain found that shipping
three bottles of organic wine from New Zealand meant a journey of 22,992km
and production of 828 grammes of climate changing carbon dioxide.(14)
Thankfully, it doesn't appear that wine companies are compounding this
problem and transporting wine by plane. Ships and trucks seem to be the
norm. This problem can be avoided by buying UK-produced wine from UK-grown
fruit. There are too many UK organic producers to include them all. We chose
three because they had websites and were willing to engage in dialogue about
their products. A starting point for more could be the Soil Association's
Go Organic website (www.whyorganic.org).
Grape expectations
The winemakers behind Broughton Pastures, Limney and Pennard got into the
trade for different reasons, from home-brew kits when they were 16 to chemistry
degrees at Kings College London, but they have similar outlooks on nature.
Will Davenport, producer of the Limney brand of wine, decided to go organic
because he strongly believed 'that by managing the soil without chemicals
and encouraging a healthy living soil, the vines would be stronger and would
produce fruit with more interesting flavours.' He went on to say that: 'nature
has a way of achieving a balance of acid, flavour and sweetness that is
an essential part of making wine and I think too many wines recently are
overly man-made rather than a product of nature.'
Blandness was also a problem for Jonathan Nossiter, whose documentary Mondovino
attacked California for the region's disproportionate influence on wine
flavours. In an interview Nossiter stated that 'just as Hollywood makes
bland, standardised movies.....Californian vineyards produce wine with little
discernible character....Alas, more and more European wine producers are
adopting an 'easy-listening' approach and betraying their roots. They're
making easy-drinking, international-style wine that has no character. It's
a kind of McDonaldisation.'
There are plenty of benefits though to organic wine other than taste. Fewer
pesticides mean fewer harmful toxins in the environment which helps wildlife
and health. Friends of the Earth are concerned about the 'cocktail effect'
of multiple residues in particular foods, noting that some white wines have
been found to contain two residues which have been linked to effects on
our hormone system.(5) Additives are also a problem in conventional wine,
because some people may want to avoid them. The labels don't have to mention
the large number that are permitted. Brian Reid from Broughton Pastures
notes that 'if people want to avoid certain additives in alcoholic drinks,
the only way they can is by drinking organic.' For example, sulphur dioxide
(SO2) is allowed in wine to prevent it turning to vinegar. It can cause
allergic reactions, especially in asthmatics. The Soil Assocation claims
that 'on average organic producers use just one quarter of the legal maximum
for conventional wines.' (6) Another added bonus with organic wine-sellers
is they are a lot more open about animal substances in their products.
Carnivorous vines
Yes, that's right, many wines found in supermarkets and off-licenses are
not suitable for vegetarians and vegans. Many wines use animal-derived products
such as blood, bone marrow, fish oil and gelatin in the filtering process,
although this is completely unnecessary. Most of the companies in the report
did not respond to our questions about which wines were suitable for vegetarians
and vegans. The Brands and Companies table indicates which products claimed
to be suitable for vegetarians and vegans (Ve) on the company website. The
Vegetarian Society's website (www.vegsoc.org)
and the Vegan Society's Animal Free Shopper book provide information on
suitable wines.
Carnivorous vines
If you have bought a bottle of wine recently, instead of the expected
cork in the top, you may have found a plastic one in its place. Corks are
being increasingly replaced by plastic, apparently because of incidents
of 'corkage' which can render the wine sour or undrinkable. Depending on
who you talk to, incidences of corkage occur in between 2 to 10% of wines.
Cork comes from the bark of the Quercus Suber tree, which is inextricably
entwined with many other species and can be stripped periodically without
it suffering long-term damage.(13) The RSPB has found that careful husbandry
of cork tree areas, known as dehesas, exclusive to the Mediterranean Basin,
has maintained these ecosystems for hundreds of years and allowed them to
flourish.(13) It is also estimated that 25,000 jobs depend on it in Europe,
especially in Spain and Portugal. The withdrawal from cork threatens the
livelihoods of those living in the area, the dehesas themselves and a high
number of endangered bird species.(13) Plastic corks may be recyclable,
but without universal plastic recycling facilities plastic corks in their
millions are likely to end up in landfills. Avalon Vineyard, Broughton Pastures
and Davenport Vineyard only use natural cork. Vintage Roots said it only
'knowingly' stocked natural cork, although it did stock some screw tops.
Purewine Co said it stocked both, and did not label plastic corked bottles.
Traidcraft said it varied and it did not label plastic corks. Vinceremos
stocked two screw top wines and one plastic cork, all unlabelled. The Co-op
labelled all own brand wine with plastic corks so consumers know before
they buy.
Online Retailers
Many health food shops and plenty of ethical wine fans buy their wine from
importers like the Purewine Company, Vinceremos and Vintage Roots. All of
these importers stock only organic wines; they also have a range of fair
trade certified wines and place special emphasis on labelling wines suitable
for vegans and vegetarians. Sounds great. But all of the companies stock
wines that are not fair-trade certified from countries like Argentina, Chile
and South Africa, which have unreliable records on workers' rights. None
of these companies yet have a code of conduct for workers' rights at supplier
companies despite Oxfam's evidence that farm workers in South Africa are
not getting a very good deal. Jem Gardener from Vinceremos claimed it was
'in the process of drawing up a code of conduct checklist regarding workers'
rights for all our suppliers, initially beginning with non-EU ones.' (7)
We haven't included the Purewine Company on the table as it doesn't sell
own-label products.
Links
References
1 'The Grapes of Wrath', Guardian, 17/5/04
2 'Women Workers in Wine and Decidious Fruits', Women on Farms Project, 2003
3 www.unionvoice.org,
viewedon 31/8/05
4 'Wine', Mintel Market Research 01/05
5'Latest results reveal a cocktail of pesticide exposure', Friends of the Earth 3/3/04
6 Email from Soil Association 1/9/05
7 Email
from Jem Gardener, Vinceremos 30/8/05
8 'Clicking with kids: alcohol
marketing and youth on the internet', Georgetown University 2004
9
Direct Action 15, 2000
10 Sunday Mail (Scotland) 15/5/05
11
Corporate Watch 24, 06/05
12 'Gallo Boycott over!', UFW, 14/9/05
13 Ethical Consumer 56 01/99
14 'Eating Oil: food supply in
a changing climate', Sustain 2001.