At lunchtime, hundreds of Berkeley High School students rush off campus, leaving behind healthy meals served in the cafeteria. Many of them head to Bongo Burger, Top Dog and other joints selling high-fat, high-sugar alternatives.
Six miles away at Oakland High School, the cafeteria is mobbed. There are not enough seats for everyone, so some students eat lunch outside on picnic tables while others eat in classrooms. No one goes off campus to pick up food from Wingstop or the AMPM convenience store. Continue reading →
A soda tax failed at the ballot at two California cities last November. Before that, a statewide soda tax failed two years ago. But advocates and legislators are trying again. A bill that would require a penny-per-ounce tax on any sugary beverage is back in front of legislators and, so far, has passed out of two Senate committees.
The bill by Sen. Bill Monning (D-Carmel) has two explicit goals: to “discourage excessive consumption” by increasing the price of sugary drinks and to create a Children’s Health Promotion Fund. Continue reading →
Richmond voters may have crushed an effort to pass a soda tax last fall, but that’s not stopping one lawmaker from trying to tax sodas statewide.
State Senator Bill Monning tried to pass a statewide soda tax two years ago that failed, but with Democrats expected to hang on to supermajorities in both houses, Monning thinks this time is different. Continue reading →
Just over three months since voters in two California cities — Richmond and El Monte — flatly turned down soda taxes on the ba, a new Field Poll released Thursday found a majority of California voters say they would support a soda tax if the funds raised were devoted to children’s health. While only 40 percent of voters said they favor a sugar-sweetened beverage tax, that number jumped to 68 percent if the proceeds will benefit school nutrition and physical activity programs. Continue reading →
The East Bay Express chose one heckuva startling headline for its article examining the fight over Measure N — Richmond’s penny-per-ounce tax on soda and sugar sweetened beverages that was defeated last November. “Race Baiting in Richmond” alleges that big business used race to fracture Richmond’s progressive community in its ultimately successful campaign to defeat the tax. Continue reading →
Soda tax advocates are taking a lesson from tobacco taxes. The first cigarette taxes proposed years ago failed, but ultimately became accepted by voters and legislators. The beverage industry can “tell the tide is turning” says one advocate. Source: Kqed In Tuesday’s election, Richmond voters may have flatly rejected a move to make sodas more … Continue reading →
Richmond’s Measure N, which would have added a penny-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks, was defeated two-to-one. Source: Kqed It seems Californians are not ready to tax sugary drinks as a way of reducing obesity. Two measures — one in Richmond, and one near Los Angeles — both failed at the polls last night. Supporters of … Continue reading →
At last week’s American Public Health Association annual meeting, a team of researchers from across the country released their findings showing a soda tax would lead to a modest decline in diabetes cases across California. Source: Kqed A tax on soda would carry the greatest health benefits for black and Latino Californians, who face the … Continue reading →
My KQED colleague Mina Kim produced a great piece examining whether higher soda prices leads to weight loss — and the health benefits that come with it. She profiled a 17-year-old football player from Tracy — Jorge Cota, who at 5’11″ weighed 321 pounds. He had high blood pressure and may have had heart and kidney problems. That was a year ago.
While Cota since has made many diet changes, the first thing he did was cut out his drink of choice, Dr. Pepper. He had been drinking two or three cans or bottles a day.
The Affordable Care Act includes a provision which requires many restaurants and vending machines to display calories. The soda industry has been under fire for its role in increasing obesity rates. Voters in Richmond are considering a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages and last month’s New York City banned sales of sugary drinks larger than 16 … Continue reading →
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