Organic Gives Back - CCOF

Education & PromotionNapa Valley GrapegrowersOrganic WinegrowingConferenceThis year, CCOF again participated inthe Napa Valley Grapegrowers OrganicWinegrowing Conference held at Frog’sLeap Winery in Rutherford, CA on July23. Elizabeth Whitlow, CCOF’s NorthCoast Regional Service Representative,spoke on the process of becoming certifiedorganic and the pitfalls to avoid. Inaddition, Jody Biergel, CCOF Directorof Handler Certification, gave a presentationon the regulations revolvingaround organic wine labeling. Of theconference participants, a third werealready certified organic wine grapegrowers and wineries, another thirdwere in transition to organic and theremaining third were looking to learnElizabeth Whitlowmore about what is involved in organiccertification. “This is an excellent,informative event for all those interestedin learning about organic wine,grapegrowing, winemaking and newtechniques in pest management includingthe innovative vineyard equipmentnow available. We are very happy to beinvolved in the event” states Biergel.Eco-winegrowing in theNorth CoastCCOF also participated in “GrowingEven Greener: Eco-winegrowing inCalifornia’s North Coast Region” inAugust in Hopland, California. Thetwo day conference, hosted by UCCooperative Extension, the MendocinoWinegrape & Wine Commission andCalifornia Sustainable WinegrowingAlliance, was created to help grapegrowers learn about green trends andinnovations, and to further increasequality and market advantage throughsustainable, organic and biodynamicpractices in vineyards and wineries.Elizabeth Whitlow, CCOF’s NorthCoast Regional Service Representative,discussed organic wine labeling alongwith a panel of CCOF certified winemakers:Benziger, Mendocino WineCo. and Bonterra Vineyards. Otherinspiring topics at this event includeda discussion by Paul Dolan on ‘greenopportunities’; water conservation anddry farming in winegrapes, increasingresilience and biodiversity invineyards, carbon sequestration andinnovative pest management practices.The Organic SummitCCOF staff members attended theOrganic Summit conference inStevenson, Washington in June todiscuss the future of organic, emergingregulatory issues and market trends.Conference attendees were greeted bya video message from USDA DeputySecretary Kathleen Merrigan. Merrigancontinues to voice her commitment toorganic and shared her goal to integrateorganic into every agency within theUSDA. Her comments marked anhistoric day for the organic sector.Certification Staff TrainingToursCCOF Certification Staff members tookpart in a number of tours of CCOF certifiedprocessing facilities over the pastyear. The tours allow our staff to keepup-to-date on various steps and proceduresin organic processing and providea more comprehensive background foranswering questions from our certifiedmembers. We would like to thankFresno Cooperative Raisin Growers,Tomatek Processing, Fetzer Winery,Marich Confectionary, and StrausCreamery for taking the time to providetours through their facilities. If CCOFmembers are interested in hosting toursplease email marketing@ccof.org.Continued on page 1916 CCOF Certified Organic Magazine—Fall 2009