Berkeley will vote on Measure D, the so-called Soda Tax, in November. Photo: Vox Efx Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who fought unsuccessfully to establish a cap on the size of soda portions sold in that city, has donated $85,000 to the Yes on Measure D campaign. His contribution – the largest the […]
Healthy Child Initiative
Posted inCity
Beverage companies spend $1.675 million to defeat Berkeley soda tax
The No on Measure D campaign on Oct. 8 covered the Ashby BART station with signs — on the floor, on the walls, and next to the ticket machines. BART workers accidentally took down some of the signs Wednesday night, but they will be reinstalled. Photo: Marian Mabel Any traveler who walked into the Ashby […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: Yes on D campaign must stop bubbling over
Just like there are two sides to every coin, there are two sides to every campaign. KTVU’s story on Berkeley’s Measure D, which first aired last week, was an unsettling look at some childish and unfortunate behavior by those pushing hardest to pass the soda tax here. Signs have been planted on lawns around town […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: The goal is health: Measure D brings us closer
The going was tough in the late 1990s when a passionate and diverse group of Berkeley citizen-activists wrote the first school food policy in the nation. Through conflict and compromise, they worked long and hard to get the policy passed and supported by the Board of Education. Yet, nothing much changed until a middle schooler […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: Measure D: D is for distraction
Children in Berkeley are at risk for diabetes due to the lack of clean air in our allegedly “green” city. In West Berkeley, the most diverse and low-income area in town, children have an alarming rate of asthma. Once the lungs are affected, it is a challenge to then exercise. Obesity, according to the Center […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: How Big Soda tried to buy my political soul
I am a strong supporter of Measure D, the sugary beverage tax, but recently I was recruited to help the No on D campaign. In exchange for my participation, I received $100 and a behind-the-scenes look at what the single largest political contribution in Berkeley’s history is paying for. This is how it happened: at […]
Posted inCity
Campaign donations reach record levels in Berkeley; beverage companies donate $1.4M to defeat soda tax
Dustan Batton (left) and Josh Daniels (right) argue the merits of Measure D, a proposed tax on sugary beverages, at an election event Oct. 6. Batton is a lobbyist for the No on D campaign, and Daniels is co-chair of the Yes on D campaign. Photo: Mark Coplan The beverage industry in recent days contributed […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: We trust officials to spend soda tax money wisely
In “Beverage companies donate $800,000 to fight soda tax,” an article published on Berkeleyside on Sept. 22, 2014, I laughed when I read ‘No on D’ spokesperson Roger Salazar’s explanation as to why an unprecedented $800,000 from the Washington, D.C.-based American Beverage Association (ABA) is required to fight a local Berkeley political campaign. His reasoning? […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: Why a liberal mother of 2 is voting no on Measure D
I begin with this confession: I don’t drink soda and I never have. My boys, ages 9 and 12, don’t drink soda, either. In fact, I’ve never even let them try it, because I didn’t want them to like it. If either of them has tried it, he didn’t tell me about it, or there […]
Posted inCity, Nosh
Beverage companies donate $800K to fight soda tax
The political arm of the American Beverage Association donated $500,000 on Sept. 16 to fight a proposed tax on sugary beverages in Berkeley.
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: All of us in Berkeley should say yes to Measure D
I am writing to thank Erica Etelson for her op-ed in Berkeleyside on Sept. 8 in support of Measure D, titled “Soda kills – we need to vote ‘yes’ on Measure D.” It was well-written, passionate, timely, and on point. We face an urgent and preventable health crisis and action is needed now! Nationally, one […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: Robert Reich: ‘If a soda tax can’t pass in the most progressive city in America, it can’t pass anywhere’
I was phoned the other night in middle of dinner by an earnest young man named Spencer, who said he was doing a survey. Rather than hang up I agreed to answer his questions. He asked me if I knew a soda tax would be on the ballot in Berkeley in November. When I said […]
