Karen Du
Arun Singh
David Paribello
Quinn Allen-Riley
Bingling Xu
Rutgers Business School
Jeana Wirtenberg
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Since the inception of Southwind Vineyard LLC, the goal of the organization has been to produce wine and grapes that never made contact with the harsh pesticides or sprays used to keep certain pests away. Instead, Southwind has been using sustainable and humane pesticide alternatives, such as Japanese beetle pheromone traps, to keep the vines healthy. Southwind hopes to be part of a larger trend of agricultural organizations that work harder to move away from harsh chemicals in produce when possible. Southwind also prides itself on the quality of the wines and grapes produced since they are not contaminated by the harsh and dangerous pesticides.
Southwind’s social innovation is incorporating sustainable insecticide and bird repellent alternatives into their farming of grapevines. Instead of solely using the traditional harsh insecticides, Southwind employs “Japanese beetle pheromone traps” as well which effectively reduce the Japanese beetle population in the vineyard. These traps release a specific sex pheromone and a floral scent to attract the adult beetles. This is a non-invasive approach to spraying pesticides onto the grapevines. In 2013, when Southwind incorporated Japanese beetle pheromone traps, the company successfully reduced pesticide use by 38%, according to their internal methods of measurement. This greatly reduces the amount of soil contamination in the vineyard as well which is both healthy for the environment and for the grapes produced.
The inspiration for Southwind first came out of necessity. The owner, Lorre Allen, wanted to optimize the use of her land, so she planted grapes on a unused horse pasture. Eight years later, Southwind Vineyard is thriving through its environmentally-sustainable form of growing grapes and producing wine. Southwind’s innovative beetle traps were inspired by a conversation with a colleague about the resilience of the beetles and the harsh chemicals needed to kill them. The conversation led to the idea of using hormone traps as a safe alternative, which Southwind quickly adopted and uses to this day.
The SDG targeted by Southwind Vineyard LLC is Good Health & Wellbeing because of their sustainable and humane pesticide alternative that keeps not only their vines healthy, but also keeps the people who drink their wine and eat their grapes healthy. The third Sustainable Development Goal of Healthy Living ensures increasing “life expectancy and reducing common killers associated with child and maternal mortality” (United Nations). Through our research, we found that children have always been more vulnerable to chemicals than adults, especially because their bodies are less able to cope with the harmful products found through pesticides or plants that have been affected by them (Pesticide Action Network). Additionally, because children naturally have faster metabolic rates, they tend to absorb a higher amount of pesticides than adults; at a time of growth and development, this is dangerous for several reasons (Eskenazi, 2007). A study of Yaqui children in Mexico showed that pesticides impair brain and nervous systems, social behaviors, and even simple motor motions like the ability to draw (Guillette, 2011).
The innovation’s benefit to the business includes the production of higher quality wines. This factor is one of Southwinds greatest prides since they are able to boast the eco-friendly and consumer-friendly wine that is carefully crafted. In addition, consumers tend to value this special aspect of the wines over other brands. The use of these natural pheromone traps over harmful pesticides is also a better choice for the employees that work in the fields as they will be less subject to exposure to the chemicals.
The societal benefit of utilizing pheromone traps to eliminate Japanese beetles from the vineyard includes the safety of both the producers and consumers. Traditional pesticides contain chemicals that are harmful to humans. Specifically, this creates a potentially dangerous work atmosphere for the employees who have to tend to the fields. With the use of the pheromone traps, the risk of exposure to such chemicals is greatly lessened. In addition, the environmental aspect is also taken into consideration with this innovation. The Japanese beetles are not harmed in any way with the pheromone traps since they simply lure them away from the vineyard through special aromas. Where traditional pesticides used to endanger the beetles could potentially disrupt the surrounding ecosystem as well, the innovative pheromone traps employed by Southwind are completely environmentally-sustainable.
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Southwind Vineyard is a family-based vineyard/winery located in South Jersey that prides itself on its organic wine and grapes as well as its safe approach to removing Japanese beetles from the fields.
