Hooked on soda pop
posted in Childhood Obesity, General, Soda Pop, Sugar |When I was a kid the idea of a pop machine at school was unthinkable. Now, they’re in schools everywhere, and kids are getting fatter and fatter, and they’re becoming hooked on these drinks for life. But it’s not just the kids who are hooked on soda pop. It’s the schools themselves. Many of them made deals with the devil-taking large sums of money from Coke and Pepsi to allow the placement of the machines. In many school districts, the money has been a windfall, and now, as pressure mounts to remove soda pop machines from schools, they’re finding that their hands are tied. Many of them signed long term contracts, and if they remove the machines they’ll have to return hundreds of thousands of dollars to Coke, Pepsi, or one of the smaller companies.
Less than a year after the nation’s largest beverage companies pledged to remove high-calorie drinks and limit sugary beverages in all schools, districts across the country are finding that they may not be able to afford the switch because of contracts they signed several years ago with bottlers for the companies.
When Portland, Ore., recently wanted to remove diet soda and sports drinks from high school vending machines and cafeterias, school officials found that they would have to pay the local Coca-Cola bottling company $600,000 to do so. In Racine, Wis., officials decided not to remove high-calorie drinks from high schools earlier this year after they learned they would have to pay the local Pepsi bottler $200,000.
A majority of schools have exclusive marketing agreements with bottling companies — almost 75 percent of high schools, 65 percent of middle schools, and 30 percent of elementary schools.
