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W i n e s & V i n e s M A R C H 2 0 1 4 31 Vineyard View C L I F F O H M A R T M ore regional sustainable farming certification pro- grams exist for winegrapes than for any other crop in the United States. By my count, there are six (see table at right). With so many options, it is worth discussing why there are so many programs and how to evaluate them. After six years of hype, the Leonardo Acad- emy (a nonprofit group dedicated to advanc- ing sustainable agriculture, LEED building and fire suppression) has finally made avail- able for public comment what they are call- ing the National Sustainable Ag Standards. This is their attempt to establish a single set of sustainable farming practice standards for all crops throughout the United States. There are several reasons why the U.S. wine industry has been an incubator for so many sustainable wine-growing certification programs. First, wine grape growers are pro- gressive and proactive, and they have formed trade associations in many regions to meet local wine grape-growing challenges, with several focusing on the sustainable growing of wine grapes. Second, many sustainable wine-growing practices are correlated with good quality fruit that makes good wine. Third, terroir is a key factor in wine market- ing, and some regional groups decided to connect regional identity with sustainable farming practices. Lastly, every winery is a brand unto itself—each with its own market- ing program that can use the sustainable farming story, providing a comprehensive Evaluating Sustainable Certification Programs Highlights • More regional sustainability certification programs exist for wine grapes than for any other crop. • Many wineries make claims that sustainable practices are used to grow the grapes with no process for verifying this claim. • Regional certification programs provide verified and credible evidence that growers are striving to farm in a way that is environmentally sound, socially equitable and economically viable. Program Certifier Region Certified Acres California Certified Sustainable Winegrowing; sustainablewinegrowing.org California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance California 62,455 Fish Friendly Farming/Napa Green; napagreen.org Fish Friendly Farming Coastal California 75,000* Lodi Rules for Sustainable Winegrowing; lodiwine.com/certified-green Protected Harvest California 26,000 Long Island Sustainable Winegrowing; lisustainablewine.org Long Island Sustainable Winegrowers Long Island, N.Y. 800 LIVE (Low Input Viticulture and Enology); liveinc.org International Organization of Biological Control Oregon and South Central Washington 9,580 Sustainability in Practice; sipcertified.org Vineyard Team California 31,600 Regional Sustainable Certification Programs * The number of Fish Friendly-certified acres published in the February 2014 issue of Wines & Vines was current as of 2012.