Big
soda February 1, 2014 -- Today I attended a rally organized by San Francisco District 10 Supervisor Cohen to urge a tax on sweetened drinks here in our enlightened City. Overcoming opposition from a huge and well-heeled industry (billions of dollars worldwide each year) we're working to pass a $0.02/oz city surcharge on sweetened drinks (sodas, juices, sports drinks, etc.) As usual, we're ahead of the curve! We have an epidemic of obesity and diabetes. Sweetened foods are a direct cause. Especially for kids, increasing the prices of sweetened drinks would discourage their consumption. Part of the reason why these foods and drinks are cheap is the Federal subsidy of corn farming. The sweeteners in sodas and processed foods are made from corn. If we can't stop the subsidy, let's neutralize it with a tax. And if we can't do it nationally, let's do it locally. This can generate $30 million annually to fund physical education and nutrition programs for San Francisco children. Stop Big Soda! Go San Francisco! |
|
Dan Keller's Nursing, Health Policy & Healthcare Technology Blog
Nursing Informatics · Clinical Perspectives · Healthcare Systems
"The United States alone [among wealthy countries] treats health care as a commodity to be distributed according to the ability to pay rather than a social service to be distributed according to medical need." — JAMA (2003), 290, 798