Dry January isn't on my agenda. A month without booze is a convenient campaign dreamt up by public health authorities reluctant to spend real money helping the small number of people who have serious addiction problems.
The most underused word in the language these days is 'moderation' - instead, we have become fixated on abstinence, giving things up, inflicting the misery of deprivation on our bodies at a time of year when the weather is rubbish, television is full of repeats and we've spent our credit cards up to the limit.
January has become the Month of Misery and self-flagellation.
A group of women party out in Manchester city centre on 'Mad Friday' just before Christmas
Dry January was started six years ago, and this year around five million people in the UK will try it out.
A new report from Alcohol Change UK claims that last time around, 88 per cent saved money and over half lost weight. To which I say - ask the same people how they felt two months later. I guarantee those benefits will have been utterly forgotten.
The booze industry has partnered with government to co-fund Public Health campaigns promoting healthy drinking, but the grim truth is that a third of all booze bought is drunk by 4 per cent of the population.
That small number of extremely heavy drinkers account for over a quarter of the total revenue from alcohol. Instead of targeting the vast majority who drink in moderation, why isn't more money being spent on dealing with serious addiction?
If the booze industry was serious about our health, they would be printing lurid warnings on bottles, reducing the amount of alcohol in wine, and would be supporting the introduction of minimum pricing - linking retail cost to the amount of units per bottle. Instead, they cling to cheap offers, and fight to flood the market with bargain booze.
It suits the booze industry perfectly to promote 'Dry January'- because it's a small sop to the more palatable (and achievable) notion of a healthy lifestyle, consuming a bit of everything in moderation without going overboard.
But there's no denying that Dry January has a huge appeal - one in ten drinkers say they will commit to the challenge, but about 25 per cent fail to stay the course. Almost everyone then returns to their normal level of consumption - which is good news for the people producing alcohol.
If Dry January flowed over into February and March, then the drinks industry would be worried. If we drank all year around within the recommended healthy guidelines, it's been estimated that the drinks industry would lose around £13billion in a year. So Dry January - a short sharp bit of faux-abstinence, suits them perfectly.
A woman takes a rest on a bollard in Birmingham while partying into New Year's Day morning
In reality, giving up alcohol is already considered a non-issue by most of today's modern puritans.
Young people drink less than previous generations and binge drinking is on the way out.
Their new passion is veganism and Veganuary - a month without meat - is growing in popularity.
In 2017, 60 per cent of participants were under 35 and one poll suggests that more 16- 24 year olds will give up meat than abandon booze this January.
The pregnant Duchess of Sussex has given up alcohol and has persuaded Harry to join her. Now, she's reputed to have persuaded him to also give up caffeine and shun tea and coffee. Meghan already eats a mostly vegetarian diet and is typical of the new puritans, who go through life checking on the provenance of every product they consume. No evil carbs, gluten, dairy or meat for this army of holier than thou health obsessives.
Everything must be ethically sourced and come in environmentally friendly packaging if possible from the third world country or an organic co-operative. Even some of their dogs get meat-free food.
My favourite birthday card last week featured a woman sitting in a restaurant announcing 'I'm a lactose-intolerant vegan with gluten issues. What should I order?' The waitress replies; 'a taxi'.
The biggest argument put forward for giving up meat this January and turning vegan is 'saving the planet'. The concept of eating meat in moderation is not on the agenda in Militant Vegan Land. The new puritanism dictates we can't go through life drinking the odd milky coffee, eating butter or occasionally eating a delicious lamb stew or rare steak.
The power of social media and the huge number of vegan celebrities (from Stella McCartney to Ellie Goulding and Ariana Grande) who can't stop talking about their diets has seen the number of vegans rise by 700 per cent in two years - although they still only account for less than 8 per cent of the population. It's meant that veganism, like medical cannabis, is the business to invest in - according to Forbes magazine.
As a result, thousands of factories are springing up to manufacture products that mimic milk, cheese, butter, and meat, in a form acceptable to vegans.
As real fur and leather (often the by-products of the meat industry) are being deemed unacceptable by the new puritans in the fashion business, new processes are being devised to make realistic substitutes.
How is all this industrial expansion any better for the planet than the old way of eating a bit of everything? Are all these businesses being run on wind power or solar energy? And do bean-eating vegans really emit less toxic gas from their rear ends than cows?
Or is it all from the other end?
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https://hienalouca.com/2019/01/03/janet-street-porter-no-mystery-why-drink-industry-backs-dry-january/
Main photo article Dry January isn’t on my agenda. A month without booze is a convenient campaign dreamt up by public health authorities reluctant to spend real money helping the small number of people who have serious addiction problems.
The most underused word in the language these days is...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves Online news HienaLouca
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