A few months back, Veev sent me and many other bloggers some bottles of their Veev Frute organic alcoholic beverages. As beverages, they were great. Each bottle contains premade margarita, lemonade, or cosmopolitan cocktails; chill the bottle, serve over ice, and you’re set. They aren’t super sweet, and they are easy to cut with soda if you want something lighter.
Where I get confused is the idea of organic alcohol made with acai, the fruit of countless Facebook ads. What are we trying to do with something like this?
On one level, all alcohol is organic. Think back to high-school chemistry: if it has carbon, it is organic. Ethanol – beverage alcohol – is C2H6O, and those two carbon atoms make it organic by one definition.
On another level is the U.S. Department of Agriculture definition of organic agriculture as a production management system that promoted biodiversity and limits the use of off-farm pesticides and fertilizers.
The sticky point is what we’re trying to do when we buy organic food. There is evidence that alcohol is good for many people, but it has also destroyed lives. We know that. Adding acai doesn’t change that. Making the product free of pesticides doesn’t change that, either.
If you want the benefits of acai, or any fruits or vegetables, eating them in less processed forms is better than eating them in highly processed versions. By the time you get to distilled ethanol, you’re talking about something that is highly processed. Vodka doesn’t have much in common with potatoes.
The real advantage of organic anything is that pesticides aren’t used in growing. That’s better for the soil and the water, the health of those who live and work on the farm, and for future productivity. If you buy Veev Frute for the health benefits, you probably need to do some rethinking. If you buy it because it’s an easy way to serve cocktails at a party and it’s good to promote sustainable agriculture, then that’s all right.
