The server training battle; needed or just anti-alcohol?

Cheers, Nov-Dec, 2004 by John Doyle

Serve only one drink an hour. Cut customers off after two drinks. And remember: beer, wine, and spirits cause unparalleled social problems. These nightmare messages are being taught right now at a California server training program called Project PATH.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. Project PATH is just one example of the growing movement to turn your servers into a legion of neo-prohibitionists.

Project PATH is funded by the government of Orange County and certified by a group called the California Coordinating Council on Responsible Beverage Service (CCCRB). The only certifying body for server training in the state, CCCRB is controlled by dedicated neo-prohibitionists.

One CCCRB board member, Michael Sparks, was the first executive director of the notoriously anti-alcohol Marin Institute. He's also a consultant for a local chapter of the massive "Fighting Back" program, which aims for a "reduction in the overall use of or demand for alcohol." Another board member, George Vasquez, also works with Fighting Back.

SALES REDUCTION PLOY

These guys aren't interested in better-trained employees. They want to reduce your sales of adult beverages--waiter by waiter, customer by customer.

One group in the server training business produced the infamous ad linking a beer with a syringe to equate alcohol with heroin. Their server-training video--currently being used by Virginia, as well as programs in Michigan, Georgia, and Washington--shows a hysterical mother trying to wake up her daughter, who has died of alcohol poisoning. This outrageous video can be purchased at a Mothers Against Drunk Driving website.

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Programs run by neo-prohibitionists serve up distortion after distortion. They completely ignore the industry's extensive (and expensive) server training efforts, which are largely responsible for the dramatic reductions in drunk driving and underage drinking we have seen over the last two decades.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, drinking among high school seniors was 32% lower in 2003 than in 1982. And the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that teen drunk driving fatalities declined 61% over the past two decades.

While there is plenty to go around, the hospitality industry deserves a great deal of credit for these improvements. A recent survey by the Century Council found that "65% of underage youth who drink obtain alcohol from family and friends. Equally important, only 7% of youth report that they obtained alcohol from retailers who failed to check for identification." Even the infamously anti-alcohol National Academy of Sciences report of 2003 admitted that underage drinkers consistently rated on-premise establishments as one of the least likely places to obtain adult beverages.

ANTI-ALCOHOL MESSAGES

Yet somehow the National Academy of Sciences report still insists: "States should require all sellers and servers of alcohol to complete state-approved training as a condition of employment." What's wrong with the excellent server training programs run by industry? Simple. They're not anti-alcohol enough.

The neo-prohibitionist campaign for mandatory, state-approved server training is intended to open the door to anti-alcohol programs. It seeks to replace existing hospitality-industry programs with the kind of propaganda favored by MADD. This is already happening. One neo-prohibitionist server training program in Georgia is offering itself as a free alternative to industry-run programs.

The Georgia program--as well as Fighting Back, MADD, the Marin Institute, and many members of the National Academy of Sciences panel--is funded by the $8 billion Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The Daddy Warbucks of the neo-prohibitionist movement, RWJF has spent over $265 million to limit sales of adult beverages. It is now leading the campaign for mandatory, state-approved server training. One RWJF-funded program officer uses the "three Vs" to raise support for their brand of server training programs: "Violence, vandalism, and vomit."

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We cannot allow a "three Vs" message to infiltrate the nation's server training programs. If it does, you'll have servers asking: "Are you really sure you want that second beer?"

PROMOTE INDUSTRY INVESTMENTS

What is to be done? The key to pushing back against neo-prohibitionist training programs is to publicize the sincere and successful industry efforts that exist today. Legislators, opinion leaders, and the public generally need to be educated. We must speak with one voice, and proudly promote the positive impact of the industry's substantial investment in server training.

To that end, the American Beverage Institute has created the ABI Server Training Certification program. This program helps restaurants properly evaluate their server training efforts. ABI certified programs are recognized as among the best in the industry.

ABI certified programs teach responsible service, and the prevention of alcohol abuse, drunk driving, and service to minors. They also teach the simple yet increasingly unstated lesson that adult beverages are enjoyed responsibly by millions of Americans.