Health Concerns

City Councilman Makes L.A. Feel Special With Our Own Little Soda Ban

Wait, there are soda machines in our parks?
Wait, there are soda machines in our parks? Photo: Q Family via Flickr

New kid on the City Council, Mitch Englander, is kinda making our dreams come true today, suggesting a small little soda ban of L.A.’s own. The anti-obesity crusader, president of the local Diabetes Association, is targeting sodas sold in park vending machines, suggesting they need to be uniformly replaced with water and fresh fruit juice. Of course, the guy’s a Republican, so don’t expect any money to be spent on—wait, what were those called again—oh yeah, drinking fountains, 20th-century conduits once used by citizens to acquire and consume water. Of his ban, Englander pleads, “The reality is kids are drinking these every day and we are always looking for ways to limit access,” drawing our attention to the fact that kids are suddenly shunning their Playstations en masse to hold raging sugar-benders in our public spaces.

The Council will now review his proposal, which has been lent a little heft from a doctor with the county Department of Public Health, who says it could dramatically reduce access to sugar.

No, this isn’t the sweeping, is-it-or-is-it-not-oppressive soda ban that New York mayor Michael Bloomberg is suggesting for the whole of Gotham. But we gotta say, it still feels pretty good to get in on the soda ban controversy, no matter the size of the splash.

L.A. City Councilman wants to ban sodas in park vending machines [DN]

Earlier: City of Richmond To Be The First to Vote on a Soda Tax [GS]

City Councilman Makes L.A. Feel Special With Our Own Little Soda Ban