Michael Bloomberg and David Paterson have requested the USDA allow them to bar the use of food stamps for the purchase of sugar-sweetened beverages. “Government should not be in the business of subsidizing poor health habits that end up costing taxpayers through higher Medicaid and Medicare costs,” said New York City’s human resources commissioner Robert Doar.
With 42 million Americans now receiving food stamps, that’s a lot of lost soda sales, which is why The American Beverage Association has said, “This is just another attempt by government to tell New Yorkers what they should eat and drink.” But the beverage industry, who successfully smashed efforts to pass a soda tax this year in Mississippi, New Mexico and New York state, will have a difficult time opposing Bloomberg and his nanny state fraternity this time.
As Slates’ William Saletan points out: “These arguments against subsidies and in defense of taxpayers’ rights are politically potent. But they’re even more potent when combined with the depiction of soda as a nutritionally empty indulgence.”
Richard Daines, Commissioner of Health for New York State, had this to say at a press conference: “Prohibiting the purchase of sugary beverages with food coupons is a step towards reducing government intervention and towards restoring respect for the generosity and honesty of taxpayers. .. It shows disrespect for taxpayers to say we should tax some people to take their money to .. pay for the purchase of unnecessary, un-nutritive snacks by others.”
The irony is that many commercial beverages on the market are not only “unnecessary and un-nutritive”, but also pose an intrinsic health risk in one form or another” even soy milk and bottled water. Virtually all the soy we consume has been genetically modified, and a potentially deadly toxin is being absorbed into bottled mineral water from their plastic containers” the longer the water is stored, the levels of poison increase.
Roughly eighty-five percent of the soy gown in the US is Roundup Ready, genetically modified soy. And soy derivatives, including oil, flour and lecithin, are found in the majority of processed foods sold in the US.
That being said, we agree with Bloomberg’s position this time. A University of Minnesota study found that those who consumed more than two sugary sodas a week had an 87 percent higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer than those who drank none.
And regular consumption of refined sugar and corn syrup has been linked to a host of illnesses including diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Americans consume about 250 to 300 more calories daily now than they did several decades ago, and nearly half this increase is accounted for by consumption of sugared beverages.
One UCLA study found adults who drink at least one soft drink a day are 27 percent more likely to be obese than those who don’t. The study also found that approximately half of children and teens in this country drink at least one soda daily.