Why Kids are Collateral Damage in the War for Your Wine Dollar (and What You Can Do About It)

(images: tastephx.com, defendamerica.mil, green-talk.com)

For those of you plying along at home, I'm a new dad - of only a few remarkable days. As you might imagine, you could change my handle to "1DiaperDude" and it would be an apt description, since I'm far more involved in baby-related activities at the moment than I am in vino sampling.

As a new parent, I now find myself asking questions that, in my previous life (BC - Before Children), I would never have considered:

This kid is *adorable* - is she actually mine?

How much talk about poop is too much talk about poop?

Do any criminal sex offenders live in our neighborhood?

What's the best way to threaten my daughter's future teenage suitors when they eventually come to the house to take her on a date, without risking incarceration? Display a "wall of weapons"?

Because I'm a wine geek, I've also been asking another question:

How can I (eventually) introduce my family to responsible wine consumption?

As I pondered that last question, I came to realize something. It's something that struck me as very important (and maybe, I dare say after having a few glasses of vino tonight as I type this, a touch profound):

Our children are the "collateral damage" in the marketing fight for your wine dollar...

1) On the one hand, state-run liquor distribution monopolies (such as the PLCB) are exploiting our fear of keeping our children safe.

These wine distro. monopolies protect their big profits by fighting legislation that would open their state wine sales to the free market.

How do they muster support for that legislation? They scare it out of you, by telling you that your children will get their hands on alcohol illegally if states governments permit wine and other alcoholic beverages to be sold via the Internet and direct-shipped to your door.

On the surface it seems a simple choice - protect your kids., right?

But what the wine monopolies don't tell you is that their data are based on seriously flawed studies. They're betting that a) you're too dumb to scratch under the surface and get the real facts on their studies, b) you're not a smart enough parent to teach your children responsible behavior around alcohol, and c) you won;t bother because your kids will become scheming, irresponsible teens anyway.

If I was dolling out grades, that approach would get, at best, a D minus. It's the politics of fear vs. the politics of free trade - and our kids, unable to adequately defend themselves, are caught in the crossfire.

2) On the other hand, for the most part our U.S. society does little (or nothing) to introduce kids to the notion of responsible, healthy alcohol / wine consumption. Instead, we allow that introduction to take place via movies and TV, where our children get to see seriously unhealthy over-consumption portrayed as the height of coolness, synonymous "real" partying and fun.

What can we do about it? The role of parenting is essential:

1) "Teach Your Children Well" - As parents, we need to insure that we spend enough time in our children's lives. Part of that QT (eventually) is to help them understand wine's healthy place at the dinner table, in our society at large, and in world history.

We also have to make sure that our kids don't view alcohol over-consumption as something "cool" (so cool that they automatically associate it as being essential to having a good time).

2) "Teach Your Parents Well" - As parents, we need to encourage each other, and encourage the dialog of abuse prevention (instead of treatment). Why hasn't this dialog made more headway into traditional media and social programs? I've no idea - though I suspect it may have something to do with the fact that both cases mentioned above line the pockets of somebody.

Try searching on Google for family and alcohol, and you'll see what I mean - you will get results that deal with treating alcohol abuse problems in the family after they are already problems; you won't find much on responsible prevention.

One of the few places where you can find this dialog taking place is in the wine blogging community. Commendably, many wine bloggers have tried to tackle this topic, Dr. Debs and The Pour among them.

You can support the positive dialog by supporting the wine blogging community. Donate to your favorite blogs, spread the word by giving them a digg, join the Open Wine Consortium, and join the fight against wine distro. scare-tactics by writing to your state governments to let them know how you feel about their questionable practices.

3) Set an example by drinking responsibly, and not abusing alcohol in front of your children. Well... duh...!

Nobody said being a dad would be easy. Being a dad has made me even more determined to fight against wine distribution monopolies. And it's given even more respect for the value that the global blogging community can provide.

Cheers!