BEHIND the soda-tax debate is a much bigger (and more shameful) issue – our city’s embrace of pushing non-nutritious, sugar-drenched soda products disproportionately on poor black children.
One of the arguments put forth by the soda industry against additional taxes is that being forced to pay more for soda is somehow a “burden” to people living in low-income inner-city Philadelphia. It’s like saying anything other than keeping the price of crack down is unfair to poor Philadelphians because they have less money than others with which to buy it.
Here’s a news flash for elected officials, business leaders and community members who’ve rushed to the defense of soda sales: Soda has NO nutritional value. Soda has a negative effect on tooth enamel. The sugar in soda contributes to diabetes and obesity, which disproportionately affect poor black communities.
Yet people actually believe that, in these health-challenged communities, soda sales should be protected.
Employers are quick to point out that soda sales can make up 30 to 50 percent of the profits for neighborhood mom-and-pop stores and Latino bodegas.
Watching little black children walking to the corner store several times a day and exiting with a can of Pepsi and a bag of honey-barbecue cheese twirls is a time-honored tradition in many parts of inner-city black Philadelphia. I think it’s a tradition we in the black and Latino community need to reconsider.
Unsurprisingly, parents in many non-black, non-low-income communities in and around the city don’t even allow their youngsters to drink soda. I don’t hear Pepsi and Coca-Cola bottlers defending those children’s right to consume.
It’s time store owners help our children – all of them – grow healthier. When public perception finally turned against tobacco, farmers and manufacturers began diversifying into other industries. If Philadelphia’s store owners are so dependent on pushing unhealthy products on those residents who can least afford the health effects, they should invest in other products to sell.
I’m confident that these communities where the corner store is the only store accessible without public transportation will come to accept inexpensive, creatively packaged fruit juices or other beverages.
What else are they going to do? Quench their thirst with fluoride-infused tap water?
If elected officials, lobbyists and others want to protect soda sales, at least be honest about your motives, whatever they may be. But please don’t defend soda in the name of equity and fairness in the poor black community.
A recent visit exposed a different side of the coin: reasons kids would want to stay at Comly School. Comly’s new principal is using the arts to engage students in cross-curricular, innovative projects. This spring, 5th graders depicted the Brazilian rainforest in a 4-layered mural illustrating the ecosystem. 3rd graders created intricate cloth weavings, mimicking print traditions of India. Kindergarteners wrote and will perform Friday at 1pm songs based on Aesop’s Fables.