Heard It Through the Grapevine... Winery Owners Explain the Role of Sustainability in Maine's Emerging Industry

The University of Maine DigitalCommons@UMaine Honors College Spring 2019 Heard it Through the Grapevine... Winery Owners Explain the Role of Sustainability in Maine's Emerging Industry Michaela Murray University of Maine Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/honors Part of the Environmental Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Murray, Michaela, "Heard it Through the Grapevine... Winery Owners Explain the Role of Sustainability in Maine's Emerging Industry" (2019). Honors College. 497. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/honors/497 This Honors Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors College by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE… WINERY OWNERS EXPLAIN THE ROLE OF SUSTAINABILITY IN MAINE’S EMERGING INDUSTRY by Michaela A. Murray A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for a Degree with Honors (Ecology and Environmental Science) The Honors College University of Maine May 2019 Advisory Committee: Mark Haggerty, Rezendes Preceptor for Civic Engagement in the Honors College, Advisor Mike Anderson, Owner of Winterport Winery John Jemison, Extension Professor of Soil and Water Quality Julia McGuire, Lecturer in Biology Stephanie Welcomer, Professor of Management © 2019 Michaela Murray All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT With increased awareness of humanity’s profound impact on the climate, interest in the notion of sustainability has expanded across all disciplines. The inherent link between food and climate has specifically motivated consideration of sustainability within agricultural and food production sectors. The global wine industry has long acknowledged the social, environmental, and economic sustainability concerns (e.g. triple-bottom-line) of their industry. Beginning in 1992 with The Lodi Winegrape Commission in California, several wine regions including France, Australia and South Africa have developed workbooks and policies for sustainable wine production. The budding wine industry in the state of Maine has yet to explore the concept of sustainability as it relates to their operations. In this project, I worked with a community partner, the Maine Winery Guild1, to conduct 10 interviews of wineries across the state. I asked questions to understand how sustainability is being defined and enacted, and what obstacles pertaining to sustainability are being faced. This research can be used by the Guild and other relevant stakeholders to target industry development efforts in a manner that will help the Maine wine industry to overcome challenges in order to grow and compete with other sustainability-conscious wine regions. 1 http://www.mainewineryguild.com/ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I owe a great deal of thanks to a number of individuals who have made the thesis writing experience as valuable as it has been. First and foremost, Dr. Mark Haggerty, my advisor throughout this project. Mark never once hesitated to jump head first with me into the completely new world of Maine wine. I thank him for his unwavering patience, invaluable advice, and for continuously encouraging me to pursue my interests and think for myself. I could not have made it through the challenging process of writing a thesis without the support of my best friends: Laura Paye, Emma Hutchinson, and Cassie Steele. From venting my frustrations to seeking editorial advice, these three have been nothing but helpful to me. As much as we are all ready to graduate, I will miss the endless hours spent writing, editing, and gossiping in the library. Next, to all the members of my thesis committee–Stephanie Welcomer, John Jemison, Julia McGuire, and Mike Anderson. Thank you for your continued investment in my intellectual journey throughout college. Your guidance and support has been irreplaceable. Thank you to the Honors College. Not only has this college provided students with the unique ability to design and carry out independent research, it’s faculty have supported me personally as an undergraduate fellow in the Honors College Sustainable Food System Research Collaborative (SFSRC). They have provided me with a clear understanding of my career interests and have afforded me with monumental skills. I can iv say with great certainty that I would not be the student and person that I am today without having partaken in the Honors College experience. I’d like to give special acknowledgement to the University of Maine Center for Undergraduate Research (CUGR) for their funding of my project and dozens of other students across campus. I feel so thankful to attend a University that encourages student research. And last, but certainly not least, to my family. Despite being scattered all over this country (and at this point, the world), I have never experienced a lack of love and support during my college career. Thank you for always encouraging me to do my best, pursue my passions, and make the most out of life. v TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................ 1 CHAPTER TWO ........................................................................................................... 4 SUSTAINABILITY & THE TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE .............................................................. 4 SUSTAINABILITY IN THE WINE INDUSTRY ...................................................................... 9 CHAPTER THREE..................................................................................................... 18 CHAPTER FOUR ....................................................................................................... 20 DESIGNING THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS & INTERVIEW QUESTIONNAIRE ....................... 20 INTERVIEW METHODS................................................................................................. 22 DATA ANALYSIS METHODS ........................................................................................ 23 CHAPTER FIVE ......................................................................................................... 25 SUSTAINABILITY CONCEPTUALIZATIONS ..................................................................... 25 SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICES ....................................................................................... 28 SUSTAINABILITY BARRIERS ........................................................................................ 34 SUSTAINABILITY MOTIVATIONS .................................................................................. 40 CHAPTER SIX ............................................................................................................ 43 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 54 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................. 57 AUTHOR’S BIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................... 72 vi LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1: 3 PILLARS OF SUSTAINABILITY ........................................................ 6 FIGURE 2: SUSTAINABILITY CONCEPTUALIZATIONS .................................. 26 FIGURE 3: ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICES ................................... 30 FIGURE 4: SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICES .......................................... 31 FIGURE 5: ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICES ...................... 33 FIGURE 6: ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGES .............................. 35 FIGURE 7: SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGES ..................................... 37 FIGURE 8: ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGES ................. 39 FIGURE 9: SUSTAINABILITY MOTIVATIONS .................................................... 41 vii CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION The notion of ‘sustainability’ is a fairly new construct. First defined by the United Nations in 1987, “sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Brundtland, 1987). The practice of sustainability has since been incorporated into business decision making, with organizations taking economic, social, and environmental dimensions into consideration (e.g. triple-bottom-line). The growing concern about climate change and it’s impacts on agricultural landscapes and food security has specifically galvanized parts of the food and beverage sector to examine their practices in order to transition to more sustainable business models. One of the many agricultural industries partaking in such a shift is the global wine industry. Beginning in 1992, the Lodi Winegrape Commission in California initiated an investigation of existing viticulture and winemaking techniques with respect to sustainability. The outcome of their research was the California Code of Sustainable Winegrowing Practices, a workbook containing voluntary practices that better contribute to vineyard and winery sustainability. Several other wine regions have followed suit; there now exists the Long Island Sustainable Winegrowing program in New York, the Wine Sustainable Policy in New Zealand, South Africa’s Integrated Production of Wine Scheme, France’s Vignerons en Developpement Durable group (translated to “Winemakers in Sustainable Development”) and many more. Consistent with the triple-bottom-line approach,

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