March Against Coca-Cola in Mehdiganj Credit: Amit Srivastava
An ad in Newsweek proclaims: “The world is changing. And so are we. Coca-Cola Enterprises was named #1 in the Food and Beverage sector in Newsweek’s Green Rankings.”
Coca-Cola has signed the Copenhagen Communiqué!
The ad goes on to say that the Coca-Cola Company is committed to reducing our environmental footprint.
I’m just floored when I read stuff like this because I’m thinking are there really people who believe this utter nonsense?
Yes, because propaganda works. Here’s an expert from my book Death by Supermarket:
In 1968, at age eighteen, I was swept into the mass exodus of the love generation overland from Europe through Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, to India and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). In the jungle in Ceylon I met my lifelong friend Jitka Gunaratna, then a Czechoslovakian expatriate, fishing with a safety pin and a shred of coconut. It was less than a year after the infamous Prague Spring and Jitka, who had been in Czechoslovakia during the Russian invasion, was still reeling from that horrible event. As we ate her fish, she cried when she reiterated the story to me.
Twenty-five years later, Jitka visited me in Santa Barbara, where I caught her in front of the TV watching a chemical company ad about caring for some bird. “You’re not crying, are you?” I asked her.
“Well, I see this advertisement on CNN International and I find it so touching,” she sniffed. “I always cry.”
“Jitka,” I said darkly, “aren’t you the little Czech girl who also cried when Russian tanks rolled over your fellow citizens in the Wenceslas Square in Prague in 1968, and cried again when that Communist regime decimated your country?”
“Uh-huh,” she admitted, smiling sheepishly as she wiped away a tear.
“You, of all people, should understand the meaning of propaganda.”
“But it’s so heartwarming,” she insisted. “Those birds.”
The truth is that sodas, particularly Coke (including Diet) are responsible for the epidemic rise in obesity and degenerative diseases such as cancer, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and heart disease.
Take obesity as an example. Say you’re a 5’4” tall woman, like me who weighs 128 pounds. What if I weighed 350 pounds? Wouldn’t my sheer size take up more room on the planet? What about when I drive in a car or fly in an airplane? Wouldn’t it take more fuel to transport me? It takes more calories/carbs to keep me weighing 350 pounds. The sugar that Coca-Cola is producing in farms across the globe takes up environment space, doesn’t it? What about my medical costs? Producing all the drugs and medical modalities that I’m going to need in the next twenty years (if I live that long) will spread my carbon footprint all over the place.
The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research published “Bubbling Over: Soda Consumption and It’s Link to Obesity in California.” This research reflects the rest of the country.
- Over 10.7 million Californians over the age of one drink at LEAST one soda a day.
- 41 percent of children 2-11 years old drink at least one soda or other sugary drink per day.
- Only 1 in 4 adults drink soda but those who indulge are 27 percent more likely to be overweight or obese.
- The average American consumes 22 teaspoons of added sugar per day versus the recommended 5 to 9 (I think that’s really a lot). 22 teaspoons of sugar per day is still 200-400 percent more than recommended.
- One 20-ounce soda contains 17 teaspoons of sugar.
- Nearly ½ of the added calorie growth in our food chain since 1970’s come from soda.
- Americans consume an average of 50 gallons of sugary soda per year (except me, who consumes none).
- Soda is the number one source of added sugar in our food chain.
- 2/3 of all HFCS goes into sodas.
- The average size of a soda increased from 6.5 ounces in the 1950’s to 16.2 ounces today (149 percent increase).
- Milk consumption has decreased by 33 percent in the last 30 years (I do not have the statistics on the decrease in raw milk but it’s way more than that unfortunately)
- Each additional daily serving of soda increases a kid’s risk for obesity by 6o percent and that is really shocking and disturbing.
- In the last 25 years, the obesity rate in CA rose from 8.9 percent to 24.3 percent. (1 in 4 Californians.)
- The cost of medical and health expenses to the state is estimated at $41 billion.
We are only looking at obesity here, and not at the epidemic rise of degenerative diseases. If you want to get picky, what about litter all over our streets? Have you ever noticed how much of it is fast food (i.e. Coke cans and cups)? The Coca-Cola Company has contributed to the stampeding of carbon footprint all over the planet, yet they are have received Newsweek’s highest green rating.
It’s all about money.
My blog is dedicated to my Life Mission: Living a happy and fulfilled life, caring about body, mind, and spirit. I hope you come back and read how you can define, explore, and live your Life Mission.
THE COCA-COLA COMPANY IS DELUSIONAL—BUT SO ARE MANY AMERICANS WHEN IT COMES TO COKE
March Against Coca-Cola in Mehdiganj Credit: Amit Srivastava
An ad in Newsweek proclaims: “The world is changing. And so are we. Coca-Cola Enterprises was named #1 in the Food and Beverage sector in Newsweek’s Green Rankings.”
Coca-Cola has signed the Copenhagen Communiqué!
The ad goes on to say that the Coca-Cola Company is committed to reducing our environmental footprint.
I’m just floored when I read stuff like this because I’m thinking are there really people who believe this utter nonsense?
Yes, because propaganda works. Here’s an expert from my book Death by Supermarket:
In 1968, at age eighteen, I was swept into the mass exodus of the love generation overland from Europe through Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, to India and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). In the jungle in Ceylon I met my lifelong friend Jitka Gunaratna, then a Czechoslovakian expatriate, fishing with a safety pin and a shred of coconut. It was less than a year after the infamous Prague Spring and Jitka, who had been in Czechoslovakia during the Russian invasion, was still reeling from that horrible event. As we ate her fish, she cried when she reiterated the story to me.
Twenty-five years later, Jitka visited me in Santa Barbara, where I caught her in front of the TV watching a chemical company ad about caring for some bird. “You’re not crying, are you?” I asked her.
“Well, I see this advertisement on CNN International and I find it so touching,” she sniffed. “I always cry.”
“Jitka,” I said darkly, “aren’t you the little Czech girl who also cried when Russian tanks rolled over your fellow citizens in the Wenceslas Square in Prague in 1968, and cried again when that Communist regime decimated your country?”
“Uh-huh,” she admitted, smiling sheepishly as she wiped away a tear.
“You, of all people, should understand the meaning of propaganda.”
“But it’s so heartwarming,” she insisted. “Those birds.”
The truth is that sodas, particularly Coke (including Diet) are responsible for the epidemic rise in obesity and degenerative diseases such as cancer, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and heart disease.
Take obesity as an example. Say you’re a 5’4” tall woman, like me who weighs 128 pounds. What if I weighed 350 pounds? Wouldn’t my sheer size take up more room on the planet? What about when I drive in a car or fly in an airplane? Wouldn’t it take more fuel to transport me? It takes more calories/carbs to keep me weighing 350 pounds. The sugar that Coca-Cola is producing in farms across the globe takes up environment space, doesn’t it? What about my medical costs? Producing all the drugs and medical modalities that I’m going to need in the next twenty years (if I live that long) will spread my carbon footprint all over the place.
The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research published “Bubbling Over: Soda Consumption and It’s Link to Obesity in California.” This research reflects the rest of the country.
We are only looking at obesity here, and not at the epidemic rise of degenerative diseases. If you want to get picky, what about litter all over our streets? Have you ever noticed how much of it is fast food (i.e. Coke cans and cups)? The Coca-Cola Company has contributed to the stampeding of carbon footprint all over the planet, yet they are have received Newsweek’s highest green rating.
It’s all about money.