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Margot Sanger-Katz reports in the NYT that soda consumption is experiencing a serious and sustained decline as sales of full-calorie soda in the United States have plummeted by more than 25 percent over the past twenty years. Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they are actively trying to avoid the drinks that have been a mainstay of American culture and bottled water is now on track to overtake soda as the largest beverage category in two years. The changing patterns of soda drinking appear to come thanks, in part, to a loud campaign to eradicate sodas. School cafeterias and vending machines no longer contain regular sodas. Many workplaces and government offices have similarly prohibited their sale.
For many public health advocates, soda has become the new tobacco — a toxic product to be banned, taxed and stigmatized. "There will always be soda, but I think the era of it being acceptable for kids to drink soda all day long is passing, slowly," says Marion Nestle. "In some socioeconomic groups, it's over." Soda represents nearly 25% of the U.S. beverage market and its massive scale have guaranteed profit margins for decades. Historically, beverage preferences are set in adolescence, the first time that most people begin choosing and buying a favorite brand. But the declines in soda drinking appear to be sharpest among young Americans. "Kids these days are growing up with all of these other options, and there are some parents who say, 'I really want my kids to drink juice or a bottled water,' " says Gary A. Hemphill. "If kids grow up without carbonated soft drinks, the likelihood that they are going to grow up and, when they are 35, start drinking is very low."
(Score: 3, Informative) by Reziac on Monday October 05 2015, @04:04AM
The original minimal fines for littering pretty much got rid of the problem right off. When I was a kid, it was normal to toss trash out of car windows, and every ditch was full of garbage. Along came the $10 fine somewhere in the 1960s, and the problem vanished overnight. The only remaining "litterers" were those surreptitiously disposing of a large quantity of trash (funny how that evolved concurrent with municipal dumps ending "free trash" days)... so the fines were escalated. The problem shrank again. But legislators always feel that burning need to prove that they're "doing something" ...so the fines have continued to escalate.
I watched the fines crawl from $10 to $50 to $100 to $500, and last I looked in California the fine was $1000.
In Oregon, it's $6,250. For littering. (Tried to find one of the signs, but, effing changes to google maps...)
For comparison, in CA the fine for assault is $1000, and for assault on a police officer, $5000.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.