Global warming poses a real and serious threat to California’s wine industry, but vineyards throughout the state—and other agricultural lands—can also take steps to blunt the pace of climate change.

It is increasingly clear, says Ted Lemon (right) , co-owner of Littorai Wines in Sebastopol, that the dominant business model in American agriculture, needs to change.

Monoculture farming has not succeeded in feeding the world. Lemon observes, so a new approach is clearly needed.

The Littorai Winery is an informal demonstration site for the practical application of principals of agroecology. The Wine Institute of California has also intiated a proactive program in support of sustainable vineyard practicies, which you can read about here.

The winner of the latest “Clo the Cow” billboard slogan contest drew from Dirty Harry to get a happy diary.

Clo the Cow will be featured on the billboard with the winning slogan, of course, but Clover-Stornetta president Marcus Benedetti says the cartoon cow is more than just a pretty face.

Daniel Judd celebrates his contest victory, sharing a high five with Clo the Cow as girlfriend Andrea Duszynski looks on.

Daily Acts, a Petaluma-based dedicated to sustainability and transformation, works, its founder says, by exercising “the freedom to act without having all the answers.”

As the impacts from Daily Acts ripple outward from the North Bay,  founder and Executive Director Trathen Beckman says they are looking for new ways, and new partners, to help expand their influence.

From conservation to graywater reuse to designing and installing permaculture landscapes, many Daily Acts projects now are focused in one way or another on water. Which, when you think about it, is only natural.

  This was the postcard invitation to the fundraising (and networking) breakfast on Thursday, Nov. 5. Part of the program was a informational video about the organization, created by local filmmaker Eve Goldberg. You can also see it here:

There’s one simple thing an individual can do to greatly reduce their carbon footprint:  eat less meat.

Another current trend in the efforts to counter industrial agriculture is grass fed beef and cage free poultry. That may result in healthier and tastier animals, but Hope Bohanec (right)  is not persuaded that it’s a practical response to the need to feed the planet.

Beyond reducing the creation of greenhouse gases, Bohanec can envision a scenario in which land now devoted to animal husbandry in one form or another could be converted back to oxygen-generating forests.

The following links will take you to the studies referenced by Bohanec in the report above:

United Nation's Food and Agriculture Committee 2006 study Livestock's Long
Shadow.
University of Chicago report comparing switching to vegan diet with switching to a hybrid car.
Carnegie Mellon University found that the average American would do more for
the planet by going vegetarian one day per week than by switching to a
completely local diet.

Hope Bohanec  has been active in Animal Rights for over 20 years, organizing successful campaigns with Sonoma People for Animal Rights (SPAR) throughout the '90s. In 2002, she founded Vegan Voices, focusing on education and outreach for farm animals. Hope was the Sonoma County Coordinator for Proposition 2 and soon after that victory, fused Vegan Voices into the new Farm Animal Protection Project (FAPP). She has now offered her organizational talents to In Defense of Animals (IDA) as their Grassroots Campaigns Director, One of their projects, World Go Vegan week is later this month, Oct. 25-31.