Accomplished journalist Ann Dowsett Johnston ran into trouble with alcohol in mid-life, when she moved to Montreal to accept a high powered fundraising job at McGill University. As she recovered from her drinking problem, she began to observe and think hard about how, what she calls, our “alcogenic culture” glamourizes and sells alcohol to women, and how women in particular are sensitive to the physical effects of drinking and the societal pressures that lead many into trouble with booze. That interest led to an Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy and 14 part series of articles on women and drinking in The Toronto Star, and has culminated in her just published book Drink: The Intimate Relationship Between Alcohol and Women.
Since Good Food Revolution may well be as guilty as any media outlet of glamourizing alcohol and drinking, I sought out Dowsett Johnston for the video interview below, shot at HarperCollins Canada’s Toronto HQ. In it, she talks about her own struggle with drink, the particular manifestations of problem drinking that affect women, and also the general warning signs that drinking has become a problem for anyone.
Can’t see the video? Click here.
Malcolm Jolley is a founding editor of Good Food Revolution and Executive Director of Good Food Media, the company that publishes it. Follow him at twitter.com/malcolmjolley
