Vodka Belt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Vodka Belt is an informal term for the territory covered by countries where vodka is historically the most popular alcoholic beverage.
The term appears as early as in 1964 in a Time magazine article about hard drinking in Poland.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Definition
Being an informal term, the "vodka belt" has no established definition. In some contexts, the "vodka belt" is restricted to the countries of the European Union:[2]
An extended definition also include the East Slavic states [4], traditionally known for high volumes of production and consumption of vodka.
The EU countries of Vodka Belt produce over 70% of the EU's vodka.[2]
[edit] Culture
In his book about the Soviet Union[4], Alex de Jonge elaborates on his concept of "geoalcoholics". In particular, he explains Russian peculiarities by their belonging to the vodka belt and the absence of the beer belt in the Soviet Union.
Other than the prevalent hard liquor, the vodka belt is also characteristic of higher occurrence binge drinking pattern compared to the rest of Europe.[5]
The Polish Beer-Lovers' Party (which in 1991 won 16 seats in the Sejm) was founded on the notion of fighting alcoholism by a cultural abandonment of vodka for beer.
[edit] Agricultural policy
The term has been generating much buzz since 2006 in relating to the vodka war[6] within the European Union about the standardisation of vodka: the Vodka Belt countries insist that only spirits produced from grains and potato must be allowed to be branded as "vodka", according to the long established traditions of its production, a brand protection similar to the "protected designation of origin". [7] [2] [8] The "Schnellhardt compromise", proposed by Horst Schnellhardt, suggests that vodkas from other than cereals, potatoes and molasses, should be labeled to say "Vodka produced from..."[6]
[edit] See also
- Beer belt, in Europe, the countries with germanic peoples
- Wine belt, in Europe, the countries with romanic peoples
[edit] References
- ^ "Roll Out the Bottle", Time Magazine March, 06, 1964
- ^ a b c Alexander Stubb, The European Vodka Wars, a December 2006 Blue Wings article
- ^ "Krakow Beverages" at krakow-info.com
- ^ a b Alex de Jonge, "Stalin and the Shaping of the Soviet Union", Collins, (1986), ISBN 0688047300, the relevant excerpt online
- ^ "Alcohol Alert Digest", Institute of Alcohol Studies, UK
- ^ a b Vodka war: "MEPs serve up a compromise cocktail", a Europarliament news article
- ^ "EU Farm Chief Warns of Legal Action in Vodka Row", a 25/10/2006 Reuters article
- ^ "A spirited war: The search for the real vodka", International Herald Tribune, November 23, 2006
