War on Soda

"It would have amounted to a tax on the poor, said some. It would have had little effect anyway, noted others, because people would still have been allowed free refills. It was un-American, said others still, for was this not the country of freedom, more or less, of choice?"

Protestors of the ban marched outside City Hall last July.

         Last Tuesday marked the "giant-soda ban that almost was." New York City's Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's plan to limit the size of sugary soft drinks was deemed "arbitrary and capricious" by Justice Milton A. Tingling. The initiative was to ban sugared drinks over the size of sixteen ounces. Mayor Bloomberg's concern for his city was the increasing obesity rates and the fact that obesity can kill. People opposing Bloomberg quickly shot back saying it was against their civil liberties to tell them what they can and cannot put in their body. They also claimed that education is better than "dictating" what people should and should be eating and drinking. It is of significant interest that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (N.A.A.C.P.) backed big soft-drink companies, particularly Coca-Cola, because of their long-time relationship with civil rights groups and the tens of thousands of dollars donated by Coke to Project HELP, a health educational program developed by the N.A.A.C.P. Clearly, it always comes down to the money. The irony of this is that African-Americans and other minorities "would be among the key beneficiaries of a rule that would limit the sale of super-size, calorie-laden beverages."
          Obesity can be more prevalent in low-income areas due to the quality and quantity of affordable food people can get. Fast food is exactly what these people aim for because it fills their stomachs without emptying their wallets. In fact, "about 70 percent of black New Yorkers and 66 percent of Hispanic New Yorkers are obese or overweight, compared with 52 percent of white non-Hispanic residents." Would the giant soda ban help these numbers decrease? I, personally, do not think so because after drinking a "small" soft-drink, people just may not be satisfied. They would find a way to fill their desire for more. And as many know, when you consume sugar, you just want more and more sugar. In many other countries, our size small is their largest size! Everything is bigger in America, including the people.