So I arrived in South Africa thursday evening and stayed the night in johannesburg after meeting Bombiti at the airport. Bombiti is the head of research at ZZ2. ZZ2 works quite differently than farms in the US. The company owns about 5 farms in the limpopo region, where I am based and more farms all over south africa. Each farm has its own manager but everything is funded by ZZ2 and ZZ2 ships directly to market. Their main product is tomatos, but they also grow avocados, onions, and a few other crops. What I am going to be working on here is helping them to develop an extension program and office so that they can help stabilize local farmers and the region. This week I am going to be learning more just about ZZ2 and natuurboedery, which means “nature farming” and then next week I am going to meet with local farmers and figure out some of the issues they face and need help with. It should be pretty exciting ! The area I am in is beautiful as well. I am surrounded by mountains and a mix of farmlands and natural area. The place I am staying is a small lodge owned by ZZ2 and I have my own hut (but nice one with a kitchen/bath/bedroom). I haven’t gotten a chance to take many good pictures yet but later posts should include some! South Africa is a bit of a mix of african/european/american cultures and there are always quite a few languages going on. Usually, Afrikaans, the language of the dutch descendants here, english, which seems to be the language everyone uses to communicate between races and different native backgrounds, and then native african languages. Outside of the farm where people know me, I have people addressing me a lot in Afrikaans because I look a lot like an afrikaaner. But usually once they see the confused face on me they start speaking english haha. Anyways it is time to start planning so I have to go. Till next time!
In Pursuit of French Dessert… and an Understanding of French Agriculture
I’m not sure I will have access to internet next week, so here is another post…Bonjour all once again from my France adventure! This past weekend we went to the large Saturday market here in Montpellier so all the pictures throughout this post will hopefully depict how fantastic the food is here and reinforce how important food quality is to the French.
Today we met with Lucie Siriex, a research professor of Marketing and Consumer Behavior here at SupAgro University, to discuss environmental and ethical consumer concerns. I loved how she pointed out that the information we are learning is to not make us activists, but to widen our view about food systems. It seems that a lot of the food press today focuses on informing consumers what they should eat (organic, local etc) almost to a point that it is overwhelming and contradictory in many cases. Due to this, it was interesting to see data on how consumers interpret this overload of scientific and marketing information. 
The first question Lucie addressed was how to measure consumer ethical and environmental concerns. This can be studied by analyzing a consumer’s willingness to pay for a certain type of product, by direct questions, and by attitude and behavior scales. I really see value in experimental studies conducted by Siriex that actually give people money to spend and allow the consumer to buy whatever product they desire, because it is one thing to be idealistic and say that you are extremely concerned about food miles, but when you see a significant price increase between the local and conventional products, it is hard for many to act on their ideals.
The second part of the presentation focused on explaining why consumers have certain ethical and environmental concerns. She uses a means-end chain theory to link product attributes to personal values to enhance understanding behind consumer motivations. For example, a consumer might not purchase organic products due to less pesticides because of their environmental impact, but more so, because the consumer values their family’s health. I would love to see research on this topic comparing the United States consumer values against what Siriex found as prevalent French values. Apparently, the French value the fact that their food tastes good, value food as enjoyment, are focused on health as a value, value when food evokes good memories, and have a respect for tradition.
Consumers saw the fact that they do not need organic food to be able to enjoy their food. For example, in Siriex’s finding, consumers expressed that there really was not a need for organic wine because they already associated wine as “natural.” As demonstrated by an organic and fair trade chocolate tasting and bidding experiment , even though there is a interaction between taste and label, consumers definitely need to have quality before they are willing to pay more.
I think values in the U.S. are not as focused on quality, but more on price and convenience factors, and not as centered on food as enjoyment , or as food as tradition other than on holidays. I’m continually finding here, depicted by the actual research statistics and the fact that everyone understandably makes the journey to the Saturday early morning market, that the French as a culture, definitely have a connection with their food like no other.
In Pursuit of French Dessert… and an Understanding of French Agriculture
I am now in prime wine country located a little out of the city of Montpellier, in an area known as Pic Saint-Loup. This area is part of Languedoc, which the circle of land surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, and the landscape is referred to as the garrigue. All the grape vines are very short in my opinion compared to what little experience I have with grapes here United States from Horticulture 101, but I am told this shortness of the plants is to prevent breakage from the intense winds. Our first stop was the Chateau de Lascaux, a 45 hectare vineyard that produces about 200 thousand bottles of wine each year. Lascaux means a limestone, stony soil and Pic refers to the hilly nature of the land which we were able to drive up and around on at the second winery l’Hortus.
The landscape is absolutely gorgeous and is an important way to add value to the product, as the imagery surrounding the vineyards is crucial in constructing the consumer’s perception of the wine. As pointed out by David Preston in a 2008 paper in The Journal of Wine Research, 40% more money is retained when the product is purchased on site.
The owner of Chateau de Lascaux, Jean-Benoit Cavalier discussed the terroir of his vineyards by showing us soil samples(below), and detailing how it is important to use cultivation processes that work with your unique type of land. After spending this past fall semester taking soil science at Cornell, and focusing on the soils of upstate NY, it was definite culture shock to be introduced to this soil. 
Anyway, mostly red grapes are grown-Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvedre, but there are also some Vermentino, Roussanne, and Marsanne. The barrels pictured below are oak of course. It was astounding for me to comprehend how old the operation is- the Chateau structure is from the 11th century. Below is a picture of an old press used in the winemaking process.
My favorite aspect of this tour, in addition to the gorgeous view that resulted from a perilous climb to the top of the Pic, was how the owner expressed his family’s dream to be able to return to a sustainable operation of producing both wine and sheep. Today, it is economically unfeasible to produce sheep for this region, and the growth of vegetation clearly mirrors this problem. His desire and the economic complications are very similar to the paper “Managing sustainable farmed landscape through ‘alternative’ food networks” that discusses the Adopt- A Sheep program, and how it is perhaps hard to revert back to traditional/ sustainable methods in today’s modern world-clearly this is problematic in the U.S. as well, but so far in France, everyone seems more proactive and willing to seek out the lost connection to food…
I’m off to connect with macaroons,but will discuss next time the researcher’s point of view, as we meet next with professor Lucie Siriex to learn about the new dynamics of consumers’ preferences.
Dessert!
Today we went out to the field with the Conservation Biologist to examine some perspective wildlife habitat sites as part of the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) administered by the USDA-(NRCS) Natural Resource Conservation Service. The goals of the program are to promote the restoration of declining native fish and wildlife habitats and protect at-risk species. Private agricultural land may meet the requirements set by the NRCS and be eligible for cost-share funds to offset the owner’s cost of developing or improving their land to support fish and wildlife populations.
Potential Grassland Site
We went out to inspect the grassland sites to determine if they were suitable for meeting the primary goals of the program. We examined the existing native grasses that were present at the site and made recommendations to the land owner as to how he or she might develop or improve the quality and quantity of the cool and warm weather native grasses.
Evaluating the Site
It was also a great time to avail myself of the vast knowledge of the biologist and get a quick class in plant identification. We identified a number of invasive species of plants that could easily dominate these sites if not properly managed and we offered management recommendations to the land owner for controlling these problems.
Outdoor Classroom
It was another good day in the field as I continue to expand my knowledge of the world of water and soil conservation.
Pounding Rocks in the Noonday Heat
After a couple of days of filling out new employee paperwork at the Ithaca Field Office of the USDA-NRCS in Ithaca, New York, it’s out to the field to inspect a rotational grazing plan being implemented by a Tompkins County farmer. The 113 acre former dairy farm boards dairy heifers and young stock from surrounding dairy farms. Rotational grazing goes by many different names such as grass-based farming, management intensive grazing or prescribed grazing. The names are different but the concept is the same. Larger pasture land is divided up into smaller, more manageable paddocks. This is often accomplished by the use of temporary fencing. Each paddock is grazed by the animals for a determined time, and then allowed to rest and recover as the animals are moved into another paddock. Trained grazing specialists work with farms to develop plans, recommend seedings, along with fencing and water systems.
We went out as part of the (CBWI) Chesapeake Bay Water Initiative to inspect the system that the farmer was installing and confirm that it meets all the NRCS standards required for shared funding for the project. The CBWI’s main focus is the conservation and protection of the surrounding land and water that feed the Susquehanna River and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay. The farmer had many environmental concerns and was experiencing difficulties installing outer perimeter fence post due to subsurface rock. The Upper Susquehanna Coalition recently acquired a fence post driver equipped with an auger. While on site inspecting the project, we were able to assist in installing some the more difficult fence posts on the project.
It was a great learning experience and a chance for collaboration with adjoining county agencies.
Pruning & Positioning
Soon after the fall harvest months, vineyard managers begin preparing for the next growing season. When I first started helping out at Long Point Winery, we were out in the vineyards in our Carhartts in 20 degree weather trudging through the snow. January, February, and March are when the vines need to be pruned. It’s at this time that the vines are still dormant and easier to manage. Pruning is a simple but necessary process of selecting the healthiest or best positioned canes and removing the rest. Because Long Point Winery’s vineyards utilize a vertical shoot positioning system, we only left 3 or 4 canes per vine.
After pruning is finished the vines need to be tied to the trellis system. We do this to maximize the vine’s sunlight and air reception, thus lessening disease pressure and improving the overall health of the vine. This process of tying the vines down is also known as ‘wrapping’, and ideally you want your vines to be tied before the buds begin breaking open.
Tying vines
More tying
3 acres of Riesling
This spring we experienced an early bud break from a stretch of warmer days in mid-March. Because of this we had to hurry to catch up with the vines and get them tied. But as you can see from the pictures, the vines not only opened up but had quite a few shoots by the time we finished tying. On a side note, it should be interesting to see how this year’s early bud break will influence the vintage of the wines they will produce.
More soon.
Ryan
In Pursuit of French Dessert… and an Understanding of French Agriculture
Bonjour! Greetings from the gorgeous south of France! I am currently in the city of Montpellier studying at SupAgro University, an International Center for Higher Education in Agricultural Sciences. The plan is to immerse myself here for two weeks in value-added agriculture, known here as valeur differentes,through agro-tourism, and then spend the remainder of my summer at an olive farm called the Domaine de l’Oulivie. This is a definite hands-on learning experience as I will have a chance to meet individuals from the government position, from the research stance, and get a chance to meet and work with the producers themselves.
So far, I am a week into this adventure and I’ve decided I am definitely in love with this area and its food. A friend from home dared me to attempt at least two new foods. I have had pickled seaweed and pork pate so far, in addition to numerous cheeses, some delicious and some rather rancid in my opinion, but French desserts have totally become my obsession.
Anyway, as this is more of an academic blog rather than my personal food blog, or at least is supposed to be…I will discuss our first adventure, which was a meeting with Jean-Francois Pouget, Director of marketing and communication of Herault tourisme.
Apparently after the French Revolution, a strong central government movement formed Departments, but this was later modernized to a system of Regions and Departments within France that are engaged in what appears to be a continual struggle somewhat like our Federal vs. State power issue (Thank you Food Law for a fabulous background of this!) In France, from a political standpoint, agriculture and tourism is covered by both the Department and the Region, and today we learned about the association within/of the Department that deals specifically with Herault tourisme. This concept is embodied in the fact that the French society has changed-going from traditional farmers to the point where people live in towns and cities and only 3% remain as farmers. Herault tourismeis a way to capitalize on the movement to reconnect with food. French people have a desire to visit the countryside on their weekends off, and instead of going to the beach, they want to have an experience with their food and the people that produce it in the natural setting. This desire happens to be fantastic for the farmers from a value added sense because now they not only produce a product, but are able to market their way of life by visits and tours. The Department helps by providing funds to farmers and advice on marketing, while making political decisions and regulations from statistics on how to best preserve the countryside despite development for economic purposes. This is a really interesting concept cited in one of our readings as “re-embedding”, or blending ecological concepts into economic rationalities (Marsden 2004). Overall, the Herault tourisme Association/Department’s role reminded me in some parts of Cornell Cooperative Extension as their door is open for any farmer, but it also assumes some EPA-like power, and of course seems to have much more funding. 
It is completely possible for me to see why tourism is able to entwine itself with agriculture so well here because this area was literally built by wine. The beautiful buildings in the middle of the city-many built in the 8th century were financially feasible because of the wine production. This trend has persisted ever since then, below is a picture of a villa built from the riches from the wine trade in the 19th century. It sits in the middle of the Department buildings,pictured to the right, and serves to depict the history of the deep roots and development of the country.
We are scheduled to tour two wineries in the Pic Saint Loup region next (providing we survive the drive…did I mention it’s impossible to find a car here that doesn’t have a least one major dent and several scrapes?) Until next time- a bientot!