Document Type

Honors Thesis

Publication Date

Spring 2019

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 Guild[1], 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.

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