After a failed 2012 campaign to limit soda portions in New York City, former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg donated $83,000 to the Yes on Measure D campaign, which aims to tax companies that distribute sugary drinks in Berkeley.
The generous donation becomes the third significant contribution to the soda tax advocates who have already received $23,000 from the American Heart Association and $15,000 from the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
Josh Daniels, the co-chair of the Yes on Measure D campaign, expressed his delight with Bloomberg’s sizable donation: “In the last couple of weeks we have not only seen the press coverage of what the beverage association has been spending, but also the fact that we continue to be very successful. That’s why these advocates, including Bloomberg, see us as this tipping point. We will be the first city in the country to do this and they want to make sure that our victory is solidified.”
The Berkeleyside reported that Bloomberg, aside from his unsuccessful attempt to limit portion sizes while he was Mayor, devoted himself to other efforts to curtail soda consumption, including supporting Mexico in its national campaign for a soda tax.
Bloomberg’s efforts in New York appeared at one point to have paid off when he won the approval of the New York City Board of Health to implement soda size restrictions. However, the beverage industry challenged the new law and the New York State Court of Appeals ruled in their favor saying that only legislative bodies, like the New York City Council, and not entities like the Health Board, had the power to make such laws.
Yet, the “we want to control your diet” advocates of the left are more committed than ever to make sure you pay a price for enjoying your favorite sugary beverage. Martin Bourque, executive director of Berkeley’s Ecology Center asserted, “We have learned much from our allies who fought Big Soda in Richmond and Mexico. The American Beverage Association is trying to crush all of us who are proactively fighting the diabetes epidemic. But we’re in it for the long haul. Sooner or later, the tide is going to turn.”
As Michael Savage–who interviewed with Breitbart News Saturday last week– reminds us in his book, The Skeptical Nutritionist: “If you can control a person’s diet, you can control everything they do.” He insists that the movement is “not about health per say, this is about social control through food control.”
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