Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda (and Winning)

525 Pages·2015·6.34 MB·English

by  Marion Nestle

Soda Politics

Soda Politics
Taking on Big Soda
(and Winning)

marion nestle
1
1
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© Marion Nestle 2015
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Nestle, Marion.
Soda politics : taking on big soda (and winning) / Marion Nestle.
p. ; cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-026343-0 (hardback : alk. paper)
I. Title. [DNLM: 1. Carbonated Beverages. 2. Consumer Advocacy.
3. Dietary Sucrose—adverse effects. 4. Food Industry.
5. Marketing. 6. Politics. WA 695]
TP630
663'.62—dc23
2015018561
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
Contents
Foreword by Mark Bittman ix
Abbreviations xi
Introduction 1
What Is Soda? Why Advocacy Is Needed
1 Sodas: Inside Those Containers 11
2 Soda Drinkers: Facts and Figures 23
3 The Sugar(s) Problem: More Facts and Figures 37
Sodas and Health
4 Dietary Advice: Sugars and Sugary Drinks 53
5 The Health Issues: Obesity, Diabetes, and More 64
6 Advocacy: Soda-Free Teeth 77
The Soda Industry and How It Works
7 Meet Big Soda: An Overview 89
vi Contents
8 Obesity: Big Soda’s Response 102
9 Marketing Sugary Drinks: Seven Basic Principles 115
Targeting Children
10 Starting Early: Marketing to Infants, Children, and Teens 133
11 Advocacy: Stopping Soda Marketing to Kids 143
12 Advocacy: Getting Sodas Out of Schools 155
13 Advocacy: Getting Kids Involved 171
Targeting Minorities and the Poor
14 M arketing to African and Hispanic Americans:
A Complicated Story 185
15 Selling to the Developing World 200
16 Advocacy: Excluding Sodas from SNAP 211
“Softball” Marketing Tactics: Recruiting Allies,
Co-opting Critics
17 Marketing Corporate Social Responsibility 231
18 Investing in Sponsorships and Community Partnerships 245
19 Supporting Worthy Causes: Health Professionals and Research 252
20 Recruiting Public Health Leaders: Working from Within 268
More “Softball” Tactics: Mitigating Environmental Damage
21 Advocacy: Defending the Environment 279
22 Advocacy: Protecting Public Water Resources 295
Contents vii
“Hardball” Tactics: Defending Turf, Attacking Critics
23 L obbying, the Revolving Door, Campaign Contributions,
and Lawsuits 315
24 Using Public Relations and Front Groups 328
Advocacy: Soda Caps, Taxes, and More
25 Advocacy: Capping Soda Portion Sizes 343
26 Advocacy: Taxing Sugary Drinks—Early Attempts 362
27 Advocacy: Taxing Sugary Drinks—Lessons Learned 372
28 Conclusion: Taking Action 387
Afterword by Neal Baer 404
Appendix 1: The Principal U.S. Groups Advocating for Healthier
Beverage Choices 407
Appendix 2: National, State, and Local Campaigns to Reduce Soda
Consumption: Selected U.S. Examples 409
Appendix 3: A Bibliographic Note on Sources 411
List of Tables 419
List of Figures 423
Acknowledgments 427
Notes 429
Index 485

Foreword
Mark Bittman
No one who knows the field would make a list of the five most important
people in the fight for good food in the United States over the last couple of
decades and leave off the name of Marion Nestle. This would probably be
true even if she had retired after publishing her groundbreaking and still
relevant work Food Politics. That book was a revelation to just about everyone
who read it, a brilliant description of how Big Food methodically manipulates
both individuals and our so-called representatives.
As those of us who rely on or simply follow her know well, she did not
stop there. At least two of the books she’s published in the last ten years have
been equally important. (You can judge which two; all of her books are
worth reading.)
With Soda Politics, Marion sharpens her focus to lay bare the rapacious
and despicable marketing practices used by the producers of soda (and, of
course, the other sugar-sweetened beverages that are equally harmful) to
push their worse-than-useless products on an increasingly obese country
and, indeed, world.
I’ll leave it to her to tell that story, which involves not only the twin
tragedies of obesity and diabetes but also sad stories of water use, land
grabs, and exploitation of the poor, undereducated, and illiterate, as well as
the targeting of children.
This last is ultra-important, because the “get ’em while they’re young”
strategy works: as anyone over the age of thirty knows, it’s hard to change
the style of eating you developed before you reached adolescence. And as
long as pushers of soda and other junk food have their way with kids, we