Waubonsee Community College

Soda politics, taking on big soda (and winning), Marion Nestle

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 429-483) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Soda politics

bibliography

907657597

Marion Nestle

taking on big soda (and winning)

How did products containing absurdly inexpensive ingredients become multibillion dollar industries and international brand icons, while also having a devastating impact on public health? In Soda Politics, Dr. Marion Nestle answers this question by detailing all of the ways that the soft drink industry works overtime to make drinking soda as common and accepted as drinking water, for adults and children. Dr. Nestle shows how sodas are principally miracles of advertising; Coca-Cola and PepsiCo spend billions of dollars each year to promote their sale to children, minorities, and low-income populations, in developing as well as industrialized nations. And once they have stimulated that demand, they leave no stone unturned to protect profits. That includes lobbying to prevent any measures that would discourage soda sales, strategically donating money to health organizations and researchers who can make the science about sodas appear confusing, and engaging in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities to create goodwill and silence critics. Soda Politics follows the money trail wherever it leads, revealing how hard Big Soda works to sell as much of their products as possible to an increasingly obese world

Foreword / Mark Bittman -- What is soda?: Why advocacy is needed -- Sodas and health -- The soda industry and how it works -- Targeting children -- Targeting minorities and the poor -- "Softball" marketing tactics: Recruiting allies, co-opting critics -- More "softball" tactics: Mitigating environmental damage -- "Hardball" tactics: Defending turf, attacking critics -- Advocacy: Soda caps, taxes, and more -- Appendix 1: The principal U.S. groups advocating for healthier beverage choices -- Appendix 2: National, state, and local campaigns to reduce soda consumption: Selected U.S. examples -- Appendix 3: A bibliographic note on sources