Social networks are an important influence on decision making for both innovation and cooperation. But what happens when a decision requires assessing both private benefits associated with innovation and the social benefits of cooperation? This research examines the role of social networks in sustainable agriculture by distinguishing between growers' information and cooperation networks, and analyzing which network structures have a more important influence on adoption behavior. The sustainable agriculture decisions of California winegrape growers provide a critical research site because the cooperation problems of environmental protection and regional reputation are particularly strong. Furthermore, many viticulture regions have local partnerships in place designed to change the structure of social networks and encourage the adoption of sustainable practices. The researchers will use a survey of winegrape growers in three regions of California (Lodi, Central Coast, and Napa) to analyze the effectiveness of local partnerships in reshaping social networks to facilitate sustainable practices.
The research contributes to "sustainability science," which is the application of scientific methods to analyze the often vague and debated concept sustainability. Sustainable agriculture promises to change agricultural practices in ways that enhance economic, environmental, and social welfare. This promise often goes unfulfilled, however, as the term sustainability is used to justify maintaining the status quo. This research provides empirical evidence about the social and institutional variables that will facilitate real changes in agricultural practices.
Sustainability is one of the major challenges and goals of modern agriculture. This project investigated the dynamics of local sustainable agriculture in the context of California viticulture. Several regions in California have created local sustainability partnerships designed to encourage growers to adopt sustainable practices, which in theory create synergy between social, environmental, and economic goals. The results of our project suggest that local partnerships are effective at accelerating the rate of sustainable practice adoption among California winegrape growers. Furthermore, farmers who participate in partnerships are more likely to be highly connected to social networks, and have more sophisticated ideas about sustainability. These findings suggest that local institutions, social networks, belief-systems, and practice adoption are co-evolving and synergistic variables. As a community attempts to acheive sustainability goals, these variables are mutually reinforcing and associated with the spread of cooperation and innovation. The project also identified several important barriers to acheiving the goals of sustainable agriculture. The perceived costs of sustainable practices are still the largest disincentive to adoption, so further agro-ecological and technical research is needed to make practices more cost-effective. As costs increase, fewer farmers invest the resources in learning about different practices. The partnerships were widely criticized for requiring too much paper work and reporting, which drains resources from productive management activities. The partnerships were also seen as less effective at meeting the social goals of sustainability, such as improving labor conditions. Hence an important future issue is how the ideas of sustainability are spread from farm management more broadly throughout different parts of the agricultural operations including labor. Finally, the third-party certification programs that are part of local partnerships are only having a minimum economic return. Unlike organic products, certified sustainable wine is not earning a consumer price premium. The market for sustainable wine needs further development before the strictly economic incentives of certification have a strong influence on grower behavior.
