Drinking Culture Germany vs Canada

The other day I posted about the fact that cooperative members of one of Switzerland's largest supermarket chain get to vote on alcohol sale in the stores, yes or no. I'd like to point out that this voting only concerns this particular grocery store chain. You may buy beer, wine and liquor in all the other stores as you please.

I got an interesting comment from my dear friend Debbie I'd like to share and comment on.

Interesting to learn the ins and outs of Swiss drinking culture, Tamara. I was born in a country (Germany) where alcohol consumption is a normal part of daily life and it can be purchased absolutely everywhere. IMO, this may lessen the attractiveness of drinking for young people, as "forbidden fruit" is always more tempting. (Look at the U.S., for example, where the drinking age is 21.) On the flipside, I'm sure many fall victim to alcohol addiction. As I recall, though, the emphasis growing up was always on moderation. Getting drunk was considered very bad form. 

In Canada, our drinking age is lower than the U.S., (18 or 19, depending on the province). Here in Ontario, you can purchase domestic wine in grocery stores, but all other alcohol must be bought in designated liquor and beer stores. Quebec allows the sale of liquor in convenience and grocery stores.

My personal opinion is that it is the job of parents to educate their children on the proper use of alcohol, not restrict its sale to the public. When visiting San Diego, I always found it wonderfully convenient to be able to purchase alcohol in the grocery store and wish they did it here. Mind you, I'm not a parent or an alcoholic, but I do regularly consume wine and liquor (in moderation). Beer, not so much, hahaha! Does that make me a weird German/Canadian? ☺

First of all, yes, on paper a German/Canadian who doesn't like beer does sound weird, but only due to the fact that both nationalities typically worship their beer. 

Let's take (Southern) Germany. You can't walk very far without coming across a Biergarten, a beer garden. It's basically a park where people go to drink.

Kidding aside, the term beer garden originated from the serving of beer by the brewer from a beer cellar without the "mug right" required for the operation of a tavern. Serving beer from cellars was first officially permitted in 1812 in the Isar district, and later in Upper Bavaria. This origin shapes the existing appearance of a traditional beer garden in Bavaria, where guests sit under shade trees and are allowed to bring their own food.

In a broader sense, the term "beer garden" is also used for other outdoor gastronomic establishments called Wirtsgarten or Gastgarten in Bavaria and Austria.

You can't mention Bavaria without talking about the Oktoberfest. 

Photo by Brett Sayles

I blogged about it a couple of years ago, and the post includes the recipe and instructions for soft pretzels. This fall fair is kicked off by the mayor of Munich tapping the first beer barrel with a hammer, exclaiming "o'zapft is!" Which means the keg is tapped, let the festivities begin. Here's the English Wikipedia article if you'd like to learn more about it.

Germans are also soccer aficionados. Whether you cheer on your team at the stadium or at home in front of the TV, you will always do so while drinking beer. 

Photo by Bernd Dittrich on Unsplash

More than 5,000 different beers are produced in over 1,350 German breweries. In 2018, around 7.8 billion liters were consumed in Germany, or about 94 liters per inhabitant. Let that sink in, that's 25 gallons. People in Finland (who are the world's top coffee drinkers) will consume 12kg (26lb) of coffee.

Now, Canadians, I can't say as much about their beer culture, except that there is a term for the long weekend around Victoria Day, which may fall on May 24, but happens to be today this year, and and it's "two-four". 

Why? It's considered standard to purchase a case of 24 beers before heading to the outdoors to party.

Now on to the serious part. 

Parents are supposed to teach their children proper alcohol use (versus restricting public sale).

Agreed. 

Unfortunately experience shows that it doesn't work well in many cases for various reasons.

While you will need diplomas, permissions and certifications for basically every life situation (for driving a car, for pursuing a profession, heck even for using lye to make your pretzels) you're free to have as many babies and raise your children as you please. 

No wonder so many parents fail, and I'm not saying they don't try hard. Interestingly many parents start drinking because parenting is so hard. And their kids will witness and process it in one way or another. 

Children from alcohol-exposed families have an increased risk of developing alcohol dependence themselves later on. Depending on the study you'll find, the risk is up to six times higher compared to children from unaffected families.

We have two families in our immediate area, in both cases the Mom left the family when the children were very young. One was solely alcohol-related, the other one was also doing hard drugs. The latter I have personally met when she was still with the family. Her younger baby was born around the same time as Colin, and in the first year our paths crossed all the time. 

Then I went back to work part-time and wasn't out and about with the stroller as much. Fast forward a couple of years, and it's the first day of Kindergarten. Us parents got to stay for the introduction. When this little girl stated her name, my ears perked up. I was looking around me but couldn't see her mother.

Later I learned that her Dad had been there, and that he had been a single Dad for several years now due to his wife's struggling with addiction.

What???

Is it just me, or do you also have a certain idea of what an alcoholic or a drug addict supposedly looks like?  She did not look the part. At all. Maybe she was sober when we met, or maybe she masked well?

Have you seen the movie "when a man loves a woman"? Did Alice Green, played by Meg Ryan, fit the profile?

I guess what I want to say is that losing control about our lives and our drinking habits happens quicker and easier than we think.

When it came to drinking, my late Grandpa used to say "mässig, aber regelmässig" which translates to moderately, but regularly. 

And just like his recommendation to take vitamin supplements, I usually manage to show restraint and order Prosecco by the glass. One glass, that is. And since I drive Colin to hockey practice three nights a week, my bubbly habit is restricted to the weekend. Also I made a vow when I had my very first apartment, to never drink when I'm home alone.

Do you have any rules yourself?

Happy Victoria Day!