Pierce Morgan looked at me with very intrigued eyes and asked,
“Is there any reason I should go to that much trouble for a single bottle of vinegar?”
This was like a bonus question. So I answered comfortably.
“You’d be happy to see more organic farms in California too, wouldn’t you, Mr. Pierce? And I’m not asking for any extraordinary preferential treatment. I’m perfectly willing to accept a thorough certification process. What I want is that, since it’ll be hard if there are a lot of requests for revisions because we don’t know the administrative procedures well... if we can get consulting in that area and proceed efficiently, I think immigrant farms like ours could become competitive enough.”
At my answer, he looked surprised.
“You don’t talk like a student.”
“Hahaha! Thank you for saying so.”
“All right. But as you said, I can only help with the administrative procedures. I can’t shorten the certification process.”
“I know. The legally mandated period is thirty-six months.”
There was something called a legal transition period. Only after thirty-six consecutive months had passed since the last use of prohibited substances could crops harvested from that land bear the USDA Organic mark, and that period could not be shortened.
“... You know that too? Then wouldn’t you have plenty of time to prepare?”
“What do you mean? We have to apply as soon as possible if we want the wine three years from now to carry the organic mark.”
“That’s true, but most people don’t tend to hurry over something that far off.”
“It’s a Korean trait. We can’t stand taking things slowly.”
He nodded, then stared quietly into my eyes and asked,
“Let me ask you one thing. Why are you trying to farm organically? It’ll be difficult and bothersome. Just because it makes more money?”
Organic certification was, in truth, depending on how you thought about it, either not much at all or a very big deal.
From a farmer’s perspective, the advantage of going organic was that you could receive a higher unit price, but the disadvantage was equally clear. It was exhausting. There were many things to consider, many things to pay attention to, and it took a greater toll on the body.
Why had Silver Oak Farm used pesticides after receiving organic certification? Because it was convenient and easy to manage.
In the end, putting all of that in reverse, it meant that to farm organically, you had to know a lot and put up with a lot of hassle, but if you endured it, you could make more profit.
“It’s not because I have some grand ideal. When you raise a child, it’s not as if you raise them while resolving that you must make them into a great person. I just think this is the right way. It’s a matter of not wanting to harm the land and the trees.”
He chewed over my words for a while, then nodded.
“...... I see. All right. Leave your farm’s address and I’ll contact you.”
“Thank you.”
I quickly wrote the farm’s address on the memo paper he held out, then stood and said,
“Last year, the crop wasn’t good, so we made vinegar, but this year’s Cabernet Sauvignon will be excellent. It’ll produce an amazing wine. And we’ll be entering Table Grape too.”
His eyes gleamed.
“Are you perhaps giving me information on purpose?”
“Hahaha, I’m just mentioning it. I won’t be surprised if I see you at Table Grape later.”
“I won’t be surprised if I see you then either.”
After they said their goodbyes and the immigrant student from Korea left the office, Pierce handed a note to Elisa Chen, the agricultural outreach and support coordinator.
“Could you check up on this farm? I’m told the farm went bankrupt and the Korean immigrant who just left took it over.”
“What should I look into?”
“Why the previous farm went bankrupt, what the current condition of the farm is, that sort of thing...”
“Understood. But... huh? This farm...”
Pierce asked her as she frowned.
“What is it?”
“Not far from this farm is Silver Oak.”
“Ah, the place that had its organic certification revoked this time?”
“That’s right. When their organic certification was revoked, I heard some student inferred pesticide use from dead bees at an almond farm... surely...?”
“That student?”
Pierce blinked, then burst into laughter.
“Haha... If that’s true, it would be quite a coincidence. One loses its organic certification, and the neighboring farm is trying to apply for organic certification. Since it’ll take Silver Oak three years to get certified organic again, next time the two of them might receive organic certification at the same time.”
“I doubt they’re on good terms. Farms not far apart, growing the same variety...”
Unlike her, who seemed worried, Pierce did not stop smiling.
“Doesn’t that make it even more interesting?”
“It seems you’ve taken quite an interest.”
“He’s an odd one. No, not odd—special?”
“In what way?”
“First of all, there are almost no kids who are that sincere about agriculture... and he knew more than most undergraduates here at UC Davis.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. She knew very well what the students here were like.
“On top of that, a high school student about to go to college may look close to an adult on the outside, but to adults who’ve actually spent a lot of time in society, they’re no different from children. The knowledge learned in school and the knowledge actually used out in society have nothing to do with each other.”
“That’s true. That’s why everyone is so confident before they enter society.”
“But that kid is different. Specialized knowledge? No, should I call it agricultural knowledge? Not only does he have that sort of knowledge, he understands how society works.”
“To that extent?”
“Today, too, he came to ask me for help regarding organic certification, but almost no one knows how the process actually proceeds before applying for organic certification, do they?”
“That’s right. We usually have to explain everything.”
“With that student, there was nothing for me to explain. Not only that, he understood how the public sector moves organically, and I found it fascinating that a high school student who hasn’t even entered college yet knew all that. And it’s not as if he was making excessive demands. He knew exactly enough to ask only for what I could reasonably do. Honestly, it’s the first time I’ve seen someone like him.”
“I can see why you’d be interested.”
“I may end up seeing him here all the time next year.”
“I suppose so.”
Pierce Morgan began to feel genuinely curious about the Cabernet Sauvignon that student would harvest. So he went into his room and once again fingered the official document lying on his desk.
The official document read as follows.
“Selection of Pilot Sites for the Regional Organic Transition Demonstration Project (ROTDP).”
---
A few days later, at school.
“Brian! I made it. Want to take a look?”
During lunch, Rachel opened her laptop and called me over. Wondering if it was already finished, I went to her, and Armando couldn’t hold back his curiosity and followed along.
“I want to see too, me too!”
I went behind Rachel and looked at the laptop screen. On a yellowish background, there was a pretty image of grapes, with grapevines winding around the border.
“Ooh, it’s nice.”
“It’s pretty.”
As soon as we saw it, both Armando and I let out exclamations of admiration.
“Really?”
“Yeah. It’s really good.”
“Did you decide on the name?”
“Yeah. Redwood Reserve Vinegar. What do you think?”
“Oh, it feels luxurious. Use a neat font like this.”
She typed the name I’d given her into the laptop using one of the fonts. Once the product name was added, it looked even more convincing.
“You’re not just going to put only that on it, right?”
“Of course not. I decided on the text like this. On the very first line, EST. 2003 – Napa Valley, California.”
“If we make the font small, about this size should work, right?”
“Good. And under the product name, write Premium Handcrafted Grape Vinegar in small letters. Then next to the main logo, write, ‘Crafted from carefully selected Napa Valley grapes and aged to perfection, our vinegar offers a harmony of rich aroma and bright acidity. Ideal for fine cuisine, dressings, and marinades.’”
“Ooh~ that’s nice.”
I was very satisfied with the completed label design.
“Great!”
After we each high-fived, I said,
“Email me the image. I’ll be sure to put your name on the label too.”
“Of course. Haa... what a shame. If we could just stamp an organic certification mark right here, we could get at least fifty percent more per unit...”
And that was only the minimum. If it ended up in a top-tier shopping center like South Coast Plaza, it could even double. There was a reason we wanted organic certification.
Just then,
“Hmph! Someone like you is going to get organic certification?”
I wondered where that familiar voice of condemnation was coming from, and sure enough, Elaina was standing there with her arms crossed, glaring as if she wanted to eat me alive.
“Yeah. I actually went and asked about it already. I even submitted the application documents, and they’re coming to inspect the farm.”
“Shouldn’t your farm be worried about whether it can grow proper grapes before worrying about organic?”
“Thanks for worrying all the way down to pest control on our farm, but they’re growing very, very well, you know? Oh, right, your farm has to apply for organic certification again. Did you do it yet? If you haven’t, hurry up and contact them. It’d be nice if the inspector coming to our farm could stop by Silver Oak next door while they’re at it.”
“You don’t know how strict organic certification is, do you? Starting now, you can’t use anything even remotely like pesticide for three years. Do you think you can handle that?”
Elaina, who didn’t attend the Agriscience Club, knew nothing about my abilities. If she had seen my performance at the almond farm, she couldn’t possibly not know... Huh?
“You must not be close with Chloe these days.”
“What?”
Elaina’s eyes wavered for an instant.
“If you were close with Chloe, no one could doubt whether I’m good at organic farming. You haven’t heard anything, have you?”
“......”
“It’s okay. There isn’t much of high school left, so even if you get ostracized, it’ll only be for a few months. I’ll be cheering you on. Instead, please stop bothering me. As you can see, I’m very busy. Even if I make this measly vinegar, it’s cheap compared to wine, so don’t get too jealous.”
Elaina’s face flushed red as she fumed, then disappeared. Watching that, Armando tilted his head.
“Why did she pick a pointless fight instead of just not talking to you? It’s not like she can win even one exchange.”
“She probably gets so angry every time she sees my face that she can’t stand it. I ran into her at a seminar before, and she said she lost two hundred thousand dollars.”
“Two hundred thousand dollars? Gasp! No wonder she curses you!”
“...... How did you arrive at that conclusion?”
“You’re really incredible! If I screwed someone out of two hundred thousand dollars, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. I might get shot.”
“......”
A sudden chill began to run through my body.