Soda addiction has long been a problem in our nation’s schools. Every day for years, many kids have lined up at vending machines to buy their 20-ounce bottles of sugar and carbonated water before they go off to study important subjects like history, math, and, yes, nutrition. Kids love soda, but they aren’t the only ones who are hooked. With few exceptions, it’s the schools that had such a hard time giving up soda. Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and other beverage companies have long had a multimillion-dollar grip on the country’s public schools. In exchange for installing soda machines on campus, schools have reaped huge amounts of money for athletic, music, and other programs they claim they couldn’t continue without the soda companies’ largesse.
At a time when school districts everywhere were strapped for cash, that kind of money was nearly impossible to resist. It bought band uniforms, football helmets, computers, and new books for the library. The companies, in turn, got a chance to build brand loyalty among young customers.
