September 2016

Water use and profit in the vineyards, state declares another drought year

California will have another year of drought. We continue to devastate our watersheds by cutting down trees that refresh our dwindling aquifers. And all for a few more acres of wine grapes. From the northern coastal forest, think Dogwood and now German south to Napa and Walt Ranch and boutique resorts to Angwin, supervisors and …

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Farmworkers seek basic rights in wine industry

The Wine industry lobbied our electeds to vote against farmworker equal overtime pay. Hall has held fundraisers for assemblyman Bill Dodd who voted against equal overtime pay, twice. The costs of labor and production  continue to be externalized onto farmworkers and onto the environment, onto future generations and  the community at large. “This article is …

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“Birds for the booms”

The “green deserts” keep taking their toll…….nothing lives but the vines. COMMENTS FROM THE ARTICLE: Shepherd Bliss Birds are far more important to nature’s balance than the invasive wine grape. “Silent Spring” was the book by scientist Rachel Carson, l962, who initiated the modern environmental movement. It was about the tragic loss of birds. Sonoma …

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Napa Valley wine tourism: ‘How do we safeguard a place without loving it to death?’

http://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/events/5973816-181/napa-wine-tourism-growth?artslide=0 PUBLIC COMMENTS TO ARTICLE: Shepherd Bliss • 2 days ago As an organic food farmer in Sebastopol, Sonoma County, I am alarmed by the Napafication of our county by the bloated wine industry. Napa County vinters like “bad apple” Paul Hobbs and Joe Wagner are colonizing our county. According to the group Go Local, …

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Sonoma magazine lacking sensitivity for farm workers?

To the Editor- An issue of the magazine, “Sonoma” recently appeared in my mailbox. I find it reprehensible that next to the adds for multi-million dollar homes, expensive wines, vacations, jewelry and designer clothing, there are photos of grape pickers.Catherine Barnett, the editor of Sonoma Magazine who is also the Executive Editor of this newspaper, …

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