Wine has been a commercial product for 3,000 years. Paradoxically, many of the cultural ideas we have about wine today actually come from its commercial history.
Australia wants better access to European markets but isn’t prepared to give up using the names of popular products including parmesan and prosecco as part of the latest trade talks.
The government and some producers are pushing to industrialize the sugar cane-based spirit to boost its popularity around the world, while small farmers fear losing their livelihoods.
Ireland recently passed legislation to introduce clearer alcohol labels to warn about the risks of liver disease and fatal cancers from drinking alcohol. Australia should do the same.
Despite wine’s centrality to the everyday life of the Romans, the ancient sources continuously attest it was a problematic drink when consumed by women.
Alcohol and drug addiction impacts families as well as the people afflicted. Some First Nations-led centres involve families in their patients’s treatment, with beneficial outcomes.
Some commercial products and practices are directly linked to avoidable ill health, planetary damage, and social and health inequity. Large transnational corporations are especially to blame.
A historian highlights the role of Frances Willard, who helped found the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, one of the major social movements of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Professor, Director of Research and Statistical Support Service and Program Leader for Substance Use and Mental Health, Centre for Health Services Research, The University of Queensland