It’s been one year since Berkeley passed the groundbreaking soda tax. The efforts of that campaign is recognized in a new book Soda Politics by a national thought-leader on public health policies, Marion Nestle. She will be giving a free talk in Berkeley this Wednesday evening at the David Brower Center, make sure you get a seat by reserving tickets here.
Soda and other sugary drinks have long been known to be a leading factor in causing obesity, diabetes, dental disease, and other health problems that plague Americans, yet they remain multi-billion dollar companies with a global reach. In her new book Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda (and Winning), Marion Nestle outlines exactly how soda companies have gained such immense lobbying power in the food industry by targeting youth, the poor, and minority groups to sell their products. In the past few years, however, soda consumption in the U.S. has actually declined. In Soda Politics Nestle argues that this is the result of successful “good food” and health activism. She outlines these successful strategies (including taxes on sodas, removing sodas from schools and restricting marketing to children, excluding sodas from food stamps, and limiting the sizes of drinks sold), and calls for a greater investment by companies and communities in promoting sports and outdoor entertainment, healthy alternatives to sugary drinks, and more nutrition research.
Introduction by Marion Standish, Vice President, Enterprise Programs, The California Endowment. Following the talk, there will be a reception and book signing.
Sponsored by the Berkeley Food Institute, with the UC Nutrition Policy Institute, UC Berkeley School of Public Health, UC Berkeley Health*Matters Wellness Program, and Ecology Center.
Marion Nestle is Paulette Goddard Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health and Professor of Sociology at New York University. Her degrees include a PhD in molecular biology and an MPH in public health nutrition, both from the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on how science and society influence dietary advice and practice. Dr. Nestle is the author of many books on food politics and health, including Food Politics.
