Soda Pop Ploy

by David Toscana

We Mexicans are among the most avid consumers of soft drinks. We swig a half-liter per person every day — thanks in part to the multinational beverage companies’ distribution, advertising and pricing strategies, but also because soft drinks, while not exactly nutritious, are at least (usually) free of germs.

In Mexico it is never easy to find water that is safe for drinking, and this is true in both the city and the countryside. Summers are long and hot. And a plate of spicy food usually requires copious amounts of liquid.

That’s why soft drinks are a part of the Mexican way of life (and also why Mexicans are among the world’s top consumers of bottled water). To attack soda without offering healthy alternatives — like a safe, reliable supply of drinking water — amounts to saying, à la Marie Antoinette, “Let them drink wine.”

So, sugar isn’t so good for you. But it is part of that universe in which inertia dominates reason. We all know that we should read more, but we watch TV; we should do more exercise, but we end up on the couch; we should contaminate the environment less, but we use the car to go everywhere. source

Toscana is a Mexican novelist and the author of The Last Reader.