The disturbing (and extremely sobering) story behind the anti-alcohol movement

I am scared about the future of wine. Does that sound a little dramatic? Maybe, but the sweeping statement put out last year by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that “no level of alcohol consumption is safe when it comes to human health” isn’t good for its future.

Let me be clear: there’s no doubt that heavy consumption of alcohol is bad for you. It starkly increases your risks of developing a raft of diseases and will most likely lead to premature death. This isn’t even including the impact that it can have on the lives around you, as well as wider society, due (in part) to the grievous strain it puts on our healthcare services.

There absolutely needs to be greater support for people who have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol – stigmas need to be removed, access to help made readily available and education about safe alcohol usage ingrained in future generations.

But the extreme impact isn’t reflective of the majority of wine drinkers. So why, then, is a policy being pushed internationally that doesn’t reflect the majority? And why are we just blithely accepting it?

I wanted to understand more about the lobbying involved in the WHO’s unequivocal message; one name has repeatedly come up – Movendi International. Have you heard of them? No, I hadn’t either, but a quick look into their history left me stunned.

Movendi International are the newly rebranded IOGT, or International Organisation of Good Templars. Yes, one of the oldest temperance societies in the world is now the largest international non-governmental organisation in the field of temperance – and they have a huge influence.

They describe themselves as “the premier global interlocutor for evidence-based policy measures and community-based interventions to prevent and reduce harm caused by alcohol and other drugs”.

Movendi are cited, alongside other anti-alcohol organisations, (Global Alcohol Policy Alliance, and the Non-Communicable Diseases Alliance) as key partners in the launch of the 2018 WHO Safer initiative. This initiative formed the backbone of the WHO’s policy stance, culminating in the official statement released in January 2023.

Movendi regularly tries to label the alcohol industry “Big Alcohol” – a nonsense term that wine lovers should be standing up to.

The average vineyard size in the European Union is 1.4 hectares – equivalent to just over three football pitches. The majority of wine comes from small producers who are working tirelessly on the land to provide a modest income for themselves and their families. It is a process that has taken place for millennia and is steeped in tradition. That doesn’t sound very capital B “Big” to me.

There are many claims about Big Alcohol from Movendi, including that the alcohol industry “tries to convey the message that non-users don’t genuinely matter and are not part of the social fabric”; and that “non-users are less healthy, according to Big Alcohol”. In my opinion, this is scaremongering and lazy moralising at its absolute worst – and certainly no basis for the kind of grave stance taken by WHO.

The wine industry needs to start actively standing up to this idea of “Big Alcohol” – activist researchers need rigorous analysis, good science needs to be emphasised and we need to strengthen the conversation about enjoying wine in moderation, particularly with food.

I have to remain optimistic that a product that has been a part of our social fabric for so long will be able to withstand these attacks from “Big Temperance” – and that we remain able to choose and enjoy (in moderation) the glory of wine for a long time to come.

Rosamund Hall (DipWSET) is a freelance writer, presenter and columnist specialising in wine and spirits as well as lifestyle, travel and parenting