Ebook: Soda politics: taking on big soda (and winning)

Foreword / Mark Bittman -- What is soda? Why advocacy is needed. Sodas: what's inside those containers ; Soda drinkers: facts and figures ; The sugar(s) problem: more facts and figures -- Sodas and health. Dietary advice: sugars and sugary drinks ; The health issues: obesity, diabetes, and more ; Advocacy: soda-free teeth -- The soda industry and how it works. Meet Big Soda: an overview ; Obesity: Big Soda's response ; Marketing sugary drinks: seven basic principles -- Targeting children. Starting early: marketing to infants, children, and teens ; Advocacy: stopping soda marketing to kids ; Advocacy: getting sodas out of schools ; Advocacy: getting kids involved -- Targeting minorities and the poor. Marketing to African and Hispanic Americans: a complicated story ; Selling to the developing world ; Advocacy: excluding sodas from SNAP -- "Softball" marketing tactics: recruiting allies, co-opting critics. Marketing corporate social responsibility ; Investing in sponsorships and community partnerships ; Supporting worthy causes: health professionals and research ; Recruiting public health leaders: working from within -- More "softball" tactics: mitigating environmental damage. Advocacy: defending the environment ; Advocacy: protecting public water resources -- "Hardball" tactics: defending turf, attacking critics. Lobbying, the revolving door, campaign contributions, and lawsuits ; Using public relations and front groups -- Advocacy: soda caps, taxes, and more. Advocacy: capping soda portion sizes ; Advocacy: taxing sugary drinks--early attempts ; Advocacy: taxing sugary drinks--lessons learned ; Conclusion: Taking action -- Afterword / Neal Baer -- Appendix 1. The principal U.S. groups advocating for healthier beverage choices -- Appendix 2. National, state, and local campaigns to reduce soda consumption: selected U.S. examples.;How did products containing absurdly inexpensive ingredients become multibillion dollar industries and international brand icons, while also having a devastating impact on public health? In Soda Politics, Dr. Marion Nestle answers this question by detailing all of the ways that the soft drink industry works overtime to make drinking soda as common and accepted as drinking water, for adults and children. Dr. Nestle shows how sodas are principally miracles of advertising; Coca-Cola and PepsiCo spend billions of dollars each year to promote their sale to children, minorities, and low-income populations, in developing as well as industrialized nations. And once they have stimulated that demand, they leave no stone unturned to protect profits. That includes lobbying to prevent any measures that would discourage soda sales, strategically donating money to health organizations and researchers who can make the science about sodas appear confusing, and engaging in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities to create goodwill and silence critics. Soda Politics follows the money trail wherever it leads, revealing how hard Big Soda works to sell as much of their products as possible to an increasingly obese world.--From publisher description.