Our third organizing toolkit takes on one of the biggest drivers of chronic illness in our food system: Big Soda.
In our latest toolkit, Taking On Big Soda, we focus on sugar—especially sugary drinks—and the people-led initiatives taking on Big Soda and promoting public health. In part due to sugary drinks, preventable diet-related illnesses are on the rise in the United States and around the world. To reverse these trends means tackling the root cause of these illnesses. Spoiler alert: it’s not you and me and our lack of willpower to resist Coke or Doritos. No, the drivers of this crisis are the corporations pushing the processed foods and sugary drinks that undermine our health—and the lack of leadership among our elected officials to hold them accountable.
The solution? People power. One example is communities stepping up to pass sugary drinks taxes. In 2013, there were no US cities with a tax on soda. Today, despite serious and aggressive pushback from industry, nearly 9 million Americans—including residents of Seattle, Oakland, San Francisco, and Philadelphia—have measures in place to curb sugar consumption and invest revenues in community wellbeing thanks to successful soda tax campaigns.
While tackling corporate power, we also need to reclaim and rebuild community-based food systems that are not only healthier, but also socially just and ecologically sound as well as honor our cultures. In this toolkit, we offer resources (films, discussion guides, recipes, and more!) to help you learn more and spark conversations about how to give Big Soda the boot and grow healthy communities.
