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May 03, 2006
The end of soda sales in schools
The nation's largest beverage distributors have
agreed to halt nearly all soda sales to public schools.
This is a milestone step on the part of everyone involved in overcoming the "markets are perfect" argument (they're not) and instead focusing on the community's common well-being.
"This is really the beginning of a major effort
to modify childhood obesity at the level of the school systems," said
Robert H. Eckel, president of the American Heart Association.
Within 3 years, I bet we'll see a statistically significant drop in childhood obesity levels.
Update: McKinsey has a new study out that examines the pressure social issues can have on companies: "Sociopolitical trends will increasingly affect the strategic freedom of companies, which just can't ignore the rising tide of expectations resulting from these trends and the power and influence of the stakeholders who mobilize around them. For stakeholders, companies are, in many ways, already agents of social change and must become much more deliberate in understanding the way they affect society."
One point of reference for the report: obesity among kids as caused by environmental factors, like corporate marketing, i.e., sodas in schools.
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I just wanted to say that these companies make more money by selling water and juice than they do by selling soda.
They say "we're helping reduce obesity", but don't let that fool you. They are there for their shareholders profits.
(Don't get me wrong, I'm happy about this too, but I just think it's important to know the motivation for it.)
