A debate in NYC over soda policy

Heritage Radio Network has posted in full a debate Thursday night about the NYC soda policy proposals.

The debate had four participants:

• I spoke gently in favor of New York City's effort to experiment with moderate policies to change the environment in which sugar sweetened beverages are marketed and sold.  I suggested that the Board of Health's proposed limit on sweetened beverage container sizes was not as radical as it has been portrayed. My 2-minute opening statement begins at 17:25.
• Lisa Young, an author and adjunct professor at New York University, spoke strongly in favor of the proposal, using cups of various sizes as props to buttress her points.
• J. Justin Wilson trashed the proposal on libertarian and free-market grounds.  Wilson represents the Center for Consumer Freedom, an industry-funded organization that runs ads calling NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg a nutrition nanny.
• Joel Berg directs the New York City Coalition Against Hunger.  He appealed strongly for broader policies to address U.S. poverty and expressed his organization's intention to neither endorse nor oppose the beverage size limitation proposal.  Then, Berg livened the debate by launching into an enjoyably vivid and highly critical analysis of such paternalistic policies.

The event was organized by the Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD) and hosted by the New York City Food Policy Center at Hunter College.

Coca-Cola's "Cap the Tap" campaign

The MyPlate consumer education materials (.pdf) from the U.S. government wisely encourage folks to "drink water instead of sugary beverages."

The message from beverage companies is something else altogether.

Through its "Cap the Tap" campaign and related materials, Coca-Cola encourages restaurants to talk customers out of choosing tap water and instead to choose higher-profit items such as Coke, Minute Maid juice, Dasani bottled water, or an alcoholic drink. I read about this campaign recently in a hard-hitting post by Andy Bellatti at Civil Eats. A related link to Coca-Cola's CokeSolutions website appears to be broken now, but I found you can still read about the company's message for restaurants on Google Cache. [Note 11/18/2013: the basic link to CokeSolutions is working.  Bellatti points out by Twitter that the "Cap the Tap" graphic from that site is only available now in a Huffington Post screenshot.  Nice work.]

Bellatti also linked to this great, blunt, fascinating page by graphic designer Pen Williamson, with proposed posters that Coca-Cola could use to get restaurants to discourage healthy and inexpensive tap water as a beverage choice [Note: this sentence edited slightly Nov 15 afternoon]. The poster suggests, "provide tap water to guests upon request only."  I don't know if this poster or another similar poster was used in Coca-Cola's "Cap the Tap" campaign.

There is nothing the government can or should do to restrict this type of marketing to restaurants. Yet, I think it is terrible marketing from a nutrition standpoint, which gives us useful context as we interpret the public policy debate over the potential role of beverage companies as part of the solution to the nation's health and nutrition challenges.

A sip of Hibiscus

~ Give me Red ~

(A sip of Hibiscus !!) 

The local vegetable market filled with an array of colorful fresh 

vegetables and dew drenched fruits has its own magical charm. 

Vibrant greens, shiny yellow, lustrous reds, velvety purples, rich 

chrome..... nature's color palette seems to be unending. 

Lost in the colorful world of vegetables at the veggie market

 yesterday , my eyes came across a tiny basket of of beautiful red 

flowers - truly much more captivating than the aromatic ones that 

beautifully adorn a florist's shop. During the short span while I 

selected the unblemished ones n  paid, I tried to grasp the farmer's 

knowledge about these enchanting blooms . Called kundri or 

sun kukray in the local dialect , he told me these are perfect for 

making tangy chutneys ( dips).

All I knew was its local name and my tongue's verdict on its sour petals 

but that was not enough to search some fruitful result on Google. 

The calyx has some hibiscus like sticky stuff n I just typed in 

wild hibiscus - lo behold it opened up to a new world - so many 

pics, recipes , uses , cocktails, salads, syrups ah the list was endless.

With just a few flowers in hand I decided to play with this Wild hibiscus, 

Jamaican Sorrel or roselle. If it works with dried petals , it should

 work with fresh too and I headed to the kitchen.

Hibiscus tea with its sour taste is great to serve hot or cold . 

Just a pot of water , some sugar and a  star anise is all 
thats needed to brew up this concoction.

Remove the red petals from the flower n simmer in a pot of 

water with some sugar and star anise for 12- 15 mins .
Strain and  enjoy. 

 Cool  breeze and a cup of warm tea with a loved one is perfect morning 

retreat . 

Hibiscus Tea 

Ingredients 

1 cup fresh wild Hibiscus petals , 4 cups water, 4 tsp sugar ( adjust

 as per liking) , 1 star anise ( opt) , lemon slices for garnishing .

Method

Place water in a large saucepan , add in petals , sugar and star anise. 

simmer for 12- 13 mins till the water turns red. Strain , garnish 

with a slice of lime n serve. 

Iced Hibiscus tea 

We relished some of the hot tea while refrigerated rest to relish as a

 cool beverage. Some chilled hibiscus tea and  lots of ice is all thats needed 
to transform a hot tea to cool and refreshing Agua de Flor de Jamaica . 
 My family went gaga over this ruby red delight . 

The leaves of the Jamaican sorrel plant are also tart n

are widely used as a souring agent for preparing pickles n curries . I 

wish i could get some of those too :) :) 

Agua de Jamaica

Ingredients 

1 cup fresh wild Hibiscus petals , 4 cups water, 6 tsp sugar ( adjust

 as per liking) , 1 star anise ( opt) , lemon slices for garnishing .

Method

Place water in a large saucepan , add in petals , sugar n star anise. 

simmer for 12- 13 mins till the water turns red. Strain , chill and 

serve with ice or tonic / soda water.