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In the News: The Soda Tax Movement; Florida Couple Sues for Their Right to Garden; Iowa Senator Trying to Block Military Meatless Monday

The Soda Tax Movement

Last week, Philadelphia became the second city in the country to pass a tax on soda and other sugary drinks. The tax will charge distributing companies 1.5 cents for each ounce of supermarket-1229744__180sugar-sweetened beverages sold in the city, and will fund pre-k programs and public park services. The tax has many benefits – sugary drinks will be more expensive which will hopefully help reduce consumption, much needed money is funneled back to the city for improvement projects, and may be the beginning of a soda tax movement. Other cities such as Oakland, San Francisco, and Boulder are all expected to vote on their own soda tax. A small tax alone is not enough to vastly reduce soda consumption and improve public health, but it’s a step in the right direction to have distributors pay a small fee for their part in the obesity epidemic.

Florida Couple Sues for Their Right to Garden

A South Florida couple that had an organic vegetable garden in their front yard for almost two decades was forced to destroy it after the town threatened them with daily fines. Back in 2013, the town rezoned and decided that gardens were only allowed in the Shelton_Community_Gardenbackyard, so the couple sued the town for violating Florida’s constitution. Attorneys for the town stated that it’s not a violation of the couple’s rights, citing “uniformity and aesthetics” as valid government reasoning for the fines. The couple is represented by the Institute for Justice, who argued that the couple wasn’t using dangerous chemicals, never had a neighbor complain, and that the town was putting improper limits on their private property rights and violating the equal protection clause by singling out vegetables over other plants. Long story short, they want the right to grow vegetables on their own property, which seems like a no-brainer. There is no ruling yet, but we can’t wait to hear the outcome!

Iowa Senator Trying to Block Military Meatless Monday

Our military has listened to scientific data on reducing meat consumption, and is trying to implement a Meatless Monday initiative at its facilities. 2016 federal dietary guidelines state that American men actually eat two times the daily recommended protein amount, 674px-Loma_Linda_University_Vegetarian_Food_Pyramidand women are close behind at one and a half times. The Coast Guard has decided to reduce meat consumption by 10% by 2017, which is an exciting step we hope to hear other military branches are considering. Research shows that a plant-based diet is healthy, nutritionally complete, and has global benefits. Iowa senator Joni Ernst is trying to add on a provision to the military spending bill that would block Meatless Mondays, or any other program that would encourage military members to reduce their meat consumption, while requiring the military to provide enough meat to meet or exceed the recommended daily value. Iowa is the biggest producer of pork and second biggest producer of red meat, which leads us to believe that Senator Ernst has stronger ties to lobbyist groups than to citizen well-being. We applaud the military for taking steps to reducing it’s meat consumption, and urge everyone to reach out to Senator Ernst to help her understand the benefits of a plant-based diet, especially for our hardworking military members.

 

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