San Francisco Soda Ban
July 27, 2010 – 12:40 pmHere’s an interesting thing: San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order in April that bans calorically-sweetened sodas from all vending machines on city property. It’s part of his effort to “combat obesity and improve San Franciscans’ health, similar to a national effort being championed by first lady Michelle Obama,” says an SFGate.com article.
Wow. That’s putting your money where your mouth is. I’m kindof in awe. Newsom has pretty much removed high-fructose corn syrup from government vending in this city.
However, while it’s certainly a health-promoting move, the directive still allows diet (artificially-sweetened) sodas to comprise no more than 25% of the items offered in any machine. (To be fair, the directive states that there should be “ample choices” of water, and dairy and non-dairy milks, and that juices must be 100% fruit or vegetable juice with no added sweeteners.) Diet sodas are bad. Aspartame (and Nutrasweet, Splenda, Equal) is bad. And studies show that these sweeteners don’t actually fight obesity – studies show that consumption of artificially sweetened beverages actually increases your chances of gaining weight; plus, they alter your brain chemistry and the body’s natural ability to regulate calorie intake, making you more prone to overeating Don’t believe me? — check out here and here. Or, you could read this well-referenced article. Plus, the proof is in the (jiggling) pudding: Americans consume more artificial sweeteners than ever, and they’re fatter than ever; all the major health and medical organizations agree about this. So artificial sweeteners aren’t the answer to our obesity problem.
Want to know what is? get ready, it’s pretty revolutionary: WATER. Yeah, just drink water. The purest, cleanest you can find. If you were my client and you came into my office and told me you drink diet soda regularly, I’d say: STOP. Drink water, or herbal tea, or decaf tea, or squeeze some lemon into your water. Folks, if I learned anything in my graduate nutrition program, it’s that we can’t be healthy if we don’t drink water. And if you must have a sweetened beverage, please use pure stevia, or a small amount of honey or cane sugar (unless you are insulin-resistant or have diabetes). ( I’m writing this as I sip on a homemade mocha made with decaf coffee, coconut milk, stevia, and cocoa powder…..mmmm.)
Kudos to you, Mayor Newsom, for doing something, anything, to combat obesity. It’s certainly more than the Feds are doing, even as obesity costs the US around $150 billion dollars annually, according to the CDC. But to be truly health-promoting, we need to acknowledge that diet sodas are just as destructive as regular ones, and should be limited just as strictly.
6 Responses to “San Francisco Soda Ban”
Here’s something my friend Katie said:
“Hmm? That is interesting. We should call him Mother Mayor and we should all pretend we’re minors and can’t make decisions for ourselves. This kind of thing is a double edge sword in my opinion. It’s nice to want to keep people healthy -… I am all about organic and Anti-crap in our food, but to dictate what people can or cannot drink on PUBLIC property is just too Big Brother for me.”
I hear that. But, remember: He’s not “dictating what people can or can’t drink” on city property. He’s merely changing what the city itself offers in its vending machines. If you want a Dr. Pepper, you can go to Burger King and get one and drink it anywhere you want.
By vegeater on Jul 27, 2010
Amazing! I’m jealous of your city.
By Aurelia on Jul 27, 2010
I see what he’s trying to do and I can even admire the Mother Mayor for doing so, however, it’s survival of the fittest in my opinion. Why punish the fit girl who might want a Dr. Pepper from the city vending machine twice a year when Burger King is closed?
I truly love this blog!
By Katie on Jul 27, 2010
And, here’s another thought: in my opinion, Newsom is stopping doing a very important thing — allowing the government to subsidize soda. I don’t think that the government should tell us what types of food/beverages we are allowed to consume. But I do think that the government should not subsidize products that promote ill-health and ultimately raise its/our healthcare costs.
In my opinion, what Newsom is trying to do is save the city money on long-term healthcare costs for city employees who work on city property by not subsidizing (i.e. conveniently providing its employees with) products that we know promote obesity. Obesity raises healthcare costs. He is not banning sodas from government buildings or making soda illegal. He’s just not subsidizing soda. Hopefully that will ultimately translate into saved taxpayer dollars. It’s quite an old-school conservative move if you think about it. I bet Ron Paul would approve.
By vegeater on Jul 27, 2010
Just Say No to government subsidies. These include:
1) Corn Subsidies
2) Beef Subsidies
Would we even have hfcs without corn subsidies? Probably not. Would we have $2, Antibiotic ridden, feed lot raised, multi-cow patty, Big Macs without beef AND corn subsidies? No.
By Lyle on Jul 27, 2010
I think the move by Newsom is difficult to evaluate. If he’s going to eliminate the connivence of getting a soda, what does that really do to promote health? Personally, i don’t think it doesn’t do much good to remove soda but not candy, chocolate bars, or any of the other snack food that’s bad for you, and in the vending machine right next to the sodas. I also would like to see a more encouraging approach from the mayor that rewards and/or encourages the demonstration of a healthy life-style of our city’s employees.
no-ele-friday: maybe on fridays he could turn the power to all city-elevators off (joke).
By ieatveg on Jul 28, 2010