Neo Prohibition Movement
Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2024 7:38 am
Not specific to Portuguese wines and Ports, per se. It does encompass them in a broad brush, as it does for wines all over the world. A but long, but a reasonably detailed look into the neo-prohibition movement that is going on around the world. The article has some good factual information that the news is choosing not to report about, imagine that.
https://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2024/09 ... Newsletter...
Neutrality lacks the fear factor that drives clickability, so that part of the message has been muted thus far.
Consumption of alcohol is way down worldwide, from 5.7 liters per person in 2010 to 5.5 liters in 2019. That 4.5 percent reduction is significant, but is not on track to meet WHO's stated goals of slashing intake by 20 percent by 2030.
Excessive alcohol use is clearly a menace to health and society, but abstinence and even extreme moderation – especially as the use of cannabis and other drugs ascends, and the consequences of social isolation are seen – could hold equally dire consequences for economic health and human culture as we know (knew?) it.
"I don't know what it says about our cultural moment that a historic communal beverage like wine is being actively discouraged, just as cannabis gets legalized and widely accepted," MacNeil muses.
What is says though surely doesn't flatter our intelligence or boost our health.