Holly Torres
essay2

Home

essay1 | essay2 | essay3 | essay4 | essay5 | essay6

Growth of Grapes

Holly Torres

Professor Royal

English 1A

17 September 2003

 

            It is nearly impossible to pass through Sonoma County today without seeing a vineyard.  While the land of many towns is changing from farmland to housing developments, Sonoma County's route has been from apple orchards to vineyards.  The past decade's change in landscape shows dramatic evolvement in Sonoma County's economy and culture.  The wineries drive in many tourists from countries throughout the world which contributes to growth in the local economy.  Also, the vineyards supply careers and wages for many Sonoma County people.  The vineyards of Sonoma County connect people with nature and society while directly affecting the local economy and its culture.  Sonoma County's grapes contribute to more than just wine.

            Sonoma County is a land full of open space.  Although much of the county consists of rivers, lakes, forests, and farmlands, there remains a large amount of fertile land to be used otherwise.  In the past, much of this land was often used for apple orchards.  However, a recent trend in the past decade has been to uproot apple orchards only to replace them with vineyards.  Many people have come to see how profitable the wine industry is.  Instead of open land or apple orchards, today it would not been uncommon to see a small vineyard in someone's backyard.  Therefore it is not surprising that Sonoma County has come to be known as "The Wine Country".  It is true that man starts the growth of grapevines but at times they seem to be independent in nature.  In the fall, for example, the leaves change color just as the trees that grow completely independent of man.  The vines also go through certain unpredictable weather occurrences.  In Guerneville, for example, the Russian River floods often affect the Korbel winery.  A good harvest is not always guaranteed; therefore, the company's benefits must outweigh the costs.  This may quite possibly be correlated with the fact that the wine industry hires mostly cheap labor.

            The wineries of Sonoma County provide numerous job opportunities.  First, the vineyards give many Hispanic immigrants work that they may not otherwise have.  The wineries cut their costs of production by hiring illegal immigrants for cheap labor.  However, this income most likely provides immigrants with a sense of stability in their lives.  Although it is unfortunate that the immigrants receive such low wages it was ultimately their decision to come to the United States.  Their income is considered low in this country but in their home country these wages may be an increased income.  Many immigrants have come to this country in hopes of a better life or to live a dream.  Perhaps for one person this may simply mean to learn to speak English.  Since this work allows the employees to interact with those outside of their own culture, Mexican immigrants may have an opportunity to learn more English from contact with native English speakers.  While the majority of employees at vineyards are Hispanic immigrants, many wineries offer additional possibilities.  Other jobs offered by wineries are deli workers, serving wine during wine tasting times, packaging, and sending and receiving.  Sonoma County's reputation as a wine country brings in many tourists.  Workers may encounter people from different countries every day.  Therefore, winery employees experience much chance contact and spontaneity in their work.    Numerous wineries offer banquet halls for weddings or other events.  Not only do these events provide much more career opportunities but also this incorporates social events into the daily life of workers and the landscape.

            When looking at the effects that a vineyard has on its surroundings, economics is an important aspect.  Wineries have a very strong effect on Sonoma County's economy.  When looking at economics the resource market consists of all natural, human, and manufactured goods that go into the production of goods and services.   The product market is the place where goods and services produced are bought and sold.  Korbel, a large winery of Sonoma County, buys labor from the resource market in the economic system.  Also from the resource market comes its source for a product, the vineyards. Korbel then sells its wine in the product market to the consumers, who in turn sell their labor back to the businesses through the resource market.  This circular flow in the wine industry works in the opposite direction in financial terms.  Employees of the wineries receive their wages and income from the resources market.  Many employees choose to directly contribute to the wine industry's revenue by purchasing wine products.  Therefore, these consumption expenditures go directly back to the product market in the economic system.  The businesses then take this revenue to pay for the costs of production.  For a winery these costs include labor, capital, and other specific production costs.  Through this circular flow model of the economic system it is seen that production costs are cut because most wineries hire immigrants as a source of cheap labor.  Therefore, the vineyards of Sonoma County truly do affect the local economy a great deal.  The vineyards produce a system in which many people are both directly and indirectly connected with one another.

            Sonoma County's grapevines contribute to the local economy, society, people, culture, and certain features of nature.  All of these topics are directly as well as indirectly related to one another.  The vineyards not only connect nature to people in a direct sense, but also indirectly.  Society is affected from a business aspect as well as a cultural aspect.  The vineyards exemplify the cultural changes Sonoma County is experiencing and has experienced in the past decade.  Revenue and profit are becoming more important in Sonoma County's economy, as with most other regions of the world.  The wineries increase their profits by hiring cheap labor forces.  Immigrants may not view their income in the same manner as the businesses, however.  The great amount of job openings with vineyards contributes to the growing amount of vineyards in the county.  In order for an economy to grow more jobs need to be created which is exactly what is happening here.  Although people that have been living in Sonoma County for years may claim to miss the apple orchards of the past, this change represents a growth of the local economy.  The business decision for many locals to move to vineyards from apple orchards was a wise one for this industry connects the widespread community of Sonoma County.