In a few years, people will look back at the era of drinking Coke in the same way as people look back at drilling holes through the head to cure headaches. The stuff is addictive end extremely harmful, especially to kids. Of course it tastes sweet, which is the attraction, and contains caffeine, which is the addiction, hence its popularity.
But that’s all changing. Most health conscious people don’t touch the stuff, and the word is spreading through schools. Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver became more than just a hunky TV star when he took on school dinners, showing some kids for the first time what a real vegetable looks like. Why are we surprised when kids can recognise Ronald McDonald, who’s punted on TV every day, but not a sweetcorn, when the diet of most kids consists of food on the go, and bright coloured flavoured things designed to attract their attention while standing in supermarket queues waiting to pay. Well, he’s doing good work in the UK making people aware.
Now, in Poland, Coke is pulling all of its soft drinks (is that like soft drugs) out of schools, replacing them with bottled water and juice. They did so in response to public pressure about child obesity and health. Well done Poland!
The benefits of good nutrition are so well documented, it’s inexcusable that society sits back and lets massively wealthy so-called food companies with huge marketing budgets dictate what’s eaten. At the same time, individuals should be taking responsibility, and it’s quite easy for everyone to inform themselves. One trend of modern society is just this, that individuals are realising that the trust they have in external insititutions has been misplaced, and are reclaiming their own power. So Coke’s move in Poland is just the beginning.