Soda Politics
8 Goals
Learn how you can kick soda out of your home, school, and community.
Sodas are astonishing products. Little more than flavored sugar-water, these drinks cost practically nothing to produce or buy, yet have turned their makers--principally Coca-Cola and PepsiCo--into a multibillion-dollar industry with global recognition, distribution, and political power. Billed as "refreshing," "tasty," "crisp," and "the real thing," sodas also happen to be so well established to contribute to poor dental hygiene, higher calorie intake, obesity, and type-2 diabetes that the first line of defense against any of these conditions is to simply stop drinking them. Habitually drinking large volumes of soda not only harms individual health, but also burdens societies with runaway healthcare costs.
Goal 1 Expel Soda From Schools
Photo Credit: The Bigger Picture featuring Alonzo Henderson, Obasi Davis, and Aman Jackson
Take action to support this goal:
Encourage youth to act out
Photo Credit: Chefs Move To Schools
Take action to support this goal:
Hack the school cafeteria
Photo Credit: Flickr/North Charleston
Take action to support this goal:
Raise school snacks up to new standards
Photo Credit: Paul Richards/AFP/Getty Images
Take action to support this goal:
Give school vending machines an extreme make-over
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Help Kids Drink Up
Photo Credit: The Bigger Picture
Take action to support this goal:
Kick the can off of campus
Photo Credit: flickr/Zac Attack
Take action to support this goal:
Fight soda marketing in schools
Goal 2 Build a Friends & Family Plan
Photo Credit: Flickr/Sharron & Nikki McCutcheon
Take action to support this goal:
Get your kid to make healthy choices
Photo Credit: Shape UP SF
Take action to support this goal:
Rethink your drink in 3 easy steps
Photo Credit: The Horizon Foundation
Take action to support this goal:
Know your family’s beverage score
Photo Credit: flickr/Shardayyy Photography
Take action to support this goal:
Read between the lines
Photo Credit: Flickr/Peter & Joyce Grace
Take action to support this goal:
Take a family vacation from sugar
Photo Credit: Marisol
Take action to support this goal:
Teach “Soda-speak”
Photo Credit: Shape Up SF Sugar Science Training
Take action to support this goal:
Protest with your wallet
Take action to support this goal:
Defeat the sweets at your 9-5
Goal 3 Fight Junk Food Marketing
Photo Credit: flickr/Daniel Latorre
Take action to support this goal:
When you see something, say something
Photo Credit: Louisville Pure Tap
Take action to support this goal:
Produce a local pro-water campaign
Photo Credit: First 5 Contra Costa
Take action to support this goal:
Run your own local marketing campaign
Photo Credit: MomsRising
Take action to support this goal:
Join MomsRising Good Food Force
Photo Credit: Flickr/Mike Mozart
Take action to support this goal:
Protect kids from soda-hawking celebs
Photo Credit: Food Day
Take action to support this goal:
Become a culture jammer
Photo Credit: First 5 Contra Costa
Take action to support this goal:
Combat storefront signage marketing soda
Goal 4 Organize Local Events
Photo Credit: Astrid Riecken/For The Washington Post
Take action to support this goal:
Invite a former soda exec to speak
Take action to support this goal:
Curate a sugar-filled film festival
Photo Credit: Flickr/Brisbane City Council
Take action to support this goal:
Organize a kid's summit
Photo Credit: The Bigger Picture
Take action to support this goal:
Organize a “Rev Your Bev” day
Photo Credit: Philip Greenberg
Take action to support this goal:
Celebrate Food Day
Goal 5 Disrupt Your Kid's Classroom
Photo Credit: flickr/USDA
Take action to support this goal:
Bring healthy food education into the classroom
Take action to support this goal:
Help educators teach about type 2 diabetes
Photo Credit: FoodFight
Take action to support this goal:
Help teachers become wellness role models
Photo Credit: Henry Hargreaves
Take action to support this goal:
Give a science teacher an acidic lesson plan
Goal 6 Provide for Healthcare Providers
Take action to support this goal:
Discharge soda from the hospital
Photo Credit: flickr/Conor Lawless
Take action to support this goal:
Be your dentist’s foot soldier
Photo Credit: Associated Press
Take action to support this goal:
Support dieticians with integrity
Photo Credit: First 5 Contra Costa
Take action to support this goal:
Give a virtual care package to a kid's doctor or dentist
Photo Credit: HBO/Weight of the Nation
Take action to support this goal:
Bring peer-to-peer education to Latino communities
Goal 7 Act Up Locally
Photo Credit: Open Truth Campaign
Take action to support this goal:
Start a local labeling campaign
Photo Credit: flickr/Fibonacci Blue
Take action to support this goal:
Become a local Rapid Responder
Photo Credit: Soda Free Summer Campaign
Take action to support this goal:
Start a Local Education Campaign
Take action to support this goal:
Dump the junk from local kid's meals
Photo Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Take action to support this goal:
Restrict city-funded soda sales
Photo Credit: Robert Galbraith/Reuters
Take action to support this goal:
Price soda out of your community
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Take action to support this goal:
Kick the can out of your community
Goal 8 Wage War on Obesity
Take action to support this goal:
Become a Let's Move! community
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Take action to support this goal:
Fight obesity in your place of worship
Take action to support this goal:
Fight Latino childhood obesity
Photo Credit: Randall Michelson
Take action to support this goal:
Work for national-level policy change
Photo Credit: flickr/Tony Alter
Take action to support this goal:
Apply to be a "PreventObesity.net Leader"
Photo Credit: flickr/USDA