Articles in Uncategorized

By Marianne Szeto

I started my career in public health in 2007 as a fresh-faced newbie who wanted to make the world a better place. I was so fortunate to land a job at the San Francisco Department of Public Health, staffing the Shape Up SF Coalition. In this role and in partnership with many others, I helped implement outreach and awareness campaigns (Soda Free Summer, Rethink Your Drink, Drink Water Said the Otter, Choose Healthy Drinks, Open Truth), countless tabling events in the community, train-the-trainers, trainings on industry tactics, sugar science, and more. All this to soften the ground in hopes of a sustainable funding stream to prevent chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. And in 2016, that dream came true! SF voters passed the soda tax, and then the hard work began to show that soda taxes are effective tools to reduce consumption of liquid sugar and over time, can lead to a decrease in preventable diet-sensitive chronic diseases.

I was beyond thrilled to celebrate the 5-year anniversary of the soda tax, and especially to help plan the last event of the week-long celebration: a virtual policy panel with phenomenal speakers. The American Heart Association and Sugary Drinks Distributor Tax Advisory Committee co-hosted a panel of policy champions (Senator Scott Wiener), grassroots organizers (Lolis Ramirez), community (Vanessa Bohm) and physician (Dr. John Maa) advocates, researchers (Roberto Vargas), and public health professionals (Dr. Susan Philip) to look at the lessons learned and future of sugary drink policies. Expertly co-hosted by Abby Cabrera, Co-chair of the Sugary Drinks Distributor Tax Advisory Committee, and moderated by Blythe Young, Community Advocacy Director for the American Heart Association, the cross-cutting theme that emerged for me was about the strength and power in community. If you didn’t get a chance to watch the live webinar, here’s the recording. 

Panelists discussed the early days of the political campaign, the challenges that an underfunded and under-resourced campaign faced against a multi-million dollar industry, preemption, and critical steps to implementing the advisory committee, gathering community input to inform the recommendations of the committee, and the importance of educating the public about where the funds are going. (This is an area in which San Francisco can certainly improve!)

Key to San Francisco’s successful implementation of the soda tax is holding the community at the center of our work. And in San Francisco, we’re doing just that. As Dr. Philip shared in her high level overview of the evaluation findings from Raimi + Associates, the funds that are going into the community to fund programs, services, systems-level and structural changes are the same communities that are most targeted by the beverage industry, and most impacted by diet-sensitive chronic diseases. Even more powerful is the realization that these maps also overlap with the redlining maps.  Soda taxes are a tool to address health equity because the community has been invested in this process from the very beginning. (Check out the interactive maps and data dashboards by our evaluators, Raimi + Associates.)

So where do we go from here? What does the next 5 years of San Francisco’s soda tax look like? What advice did panelists have for jurisdictions considering a local soda tax now that the penalty provision has been lifted from the state level preemption? Here are some powerful messages from panelists:

• “Start with community” – It needs to come from the community, for the community. Starting from grass bottoms to grass tops will lead to a better chance of success. 
• Find your trusted community leaders to share their stories with policy leaders. 
• Strength in numbers. Chances are stronger when cities band together, especially in a shared media market. 
• “Democracy is not a spectator sport” – everyone should engage in opportunities to strengthen the soda tax. 

It all starts with wanting to make a difference. Investing in our community is investing in our community’s long-term health and wellness because the community is at the root of all this work.

Don’t just take it from me. Watch the recording to hear it directly from our panelists and prepared to be inspired. See the slides.

Watch on YouTube

By Avi Rose

As a new member of the Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) team, I was thrilled to apply my background in youth engagement to help put on a special youth event in celebration of the 5-year anniversary of the SF soda tax. 

Since the soda industry spends an exorbitant amount of money tailoring their marketing to young people, we thought it important to highlight the multiple ways the soda tax revenue benefits young people and counters these effects. Not only are young people themselves particularly attuned to these tactics, they are also powerful agents of change in their communities. So, it was a great honor to partner with the Sprout Out youth apprentices from Urban Sprouts internship program to plan and lead this lunchtime event at June Jordan High School for Equity in celebration of the 5-year anniversary of the San Francisco Soda Tax. 

To kick off the celebration, Dr. Susan Philip (SF Department of Public Health) addressed the students over the loud- speaker, welcoming them to the event and sharing a bit about the soda tax. Dr. Philip also identified some ways the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) directly benefits from the soda tax revenue, which includes the installation of hydration stations, upgraded kitchen infrastructure, school-based oral health screenings and sealants, student run programs like Sprout Out, and the implementation of SFUSD wellness policy. 

Once the bell rang, the students gathered in the garden to participate in engaging sugar education activities led by the Urban Sprouts youth apprentices. The student-led activity booths included:

• A sugar jar guessing game, where the students could visualize and guess how many sugar cubes (or teaspoons) of added sugar an average American consumes in a month- a whooping 527!
• A Sugar line up activity where the students had the chance to guess from highest to lowest, how many teaspoons of added sugar they thought were in some popular store-bought drinks
• A smoothie bike demonstration where the students could ride a bike and blend a banana date smoothie
• A water tasting station with water infused with fresh herbs from the garden

In addition to these student- lead booths, SFUSD student nutrition services (SNS) and Revolution Foods joined us to offer free lunch samples and the June Jordan wellness center shared some resources. Once the students visited all the booths, they were entered into a raffle for the chance to win a gift card. Ultimately, 3 students won a gift card from the raffle and one student won the sugar jar game with a guess of 550 sugar cubes! Overall, the event was a great success with smiling faces and around 50 students in attendance.  

It was a pleasure to see the June Jordan students so engaged in the activities and the Urban Sprout apprentices shine in their leadership roles.  In Principal Chui’s words, “It’s always uplifting to see visitors be uplifted by our own students. A beautiful and educational event for our school community! A special thank you to SFDPH and SFUSD SNS for facilitating an engaging event.“

Thank you to Urban Sprouts and June Jordan School for Equity for a fun event!  

Click here to view photos from the event.

By Melinda Martin

As I reflect on the work that I have contributed to the soda tax and its 5-year mark of its implementation in San Francisco, never would I have imagined that I would be involved in planning a medical grand rounds hosted by UCSF/Zuckerberg SF General and the Veterans Administration (usually tailored for clinical and health care professionals).  In any case, I was eager to hear of how I could support those who have paved the way for a successful partnership between community public health and academia.  Dr. Dean Schillinger reached out to the DPH Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) team that he would be hosting a medical grand rounds and wanted to focus on the work of SF’s soda tax journey, its impact on the community and the community public health and academia partnership. 

Dr. Grant Colfax, Director of SF Public Health Department, provided introductory remarks for the hybrid (in person and virtual) grand rounds.  He shared that although taxes are unpopular, the soda tax has been able to improve public health.  The soda tax revenue has been able to support all San Franciscans and specifically low-income communities and youth targeted by the beverage industry.  Dr. Colfax closed out his remarks sharing that when working in partnership with academia, public health, community is the “secret sauce” to the success in San Francisco. 

The dynamic panel of speakers Christina Goette (SF Department of Public Health), Roberto Vargas (UCSF), Dr. Dean Schillinger (UCSF) and Dr. Kristine Madsen (UC Berkeley) were all pioneers in laying the groundwork of the passing of the soda tax in 2016.  They each shared past and current work associated with soda tax and sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption.  Christina provided context and history of the passage of the tax in 2016 and shared evaluation findings from the work of the SF soda tax.  Roberto shared his work of Collective Impact around water equity, engaging UCSF researchers, faculty and staff for clinical-based advocacy, as well as the role and lessons of the Sugary Drinks Distributor Tax Advisory Committee. Dr. Schillinger shared research on the evidence of SSB tax effectiveness (associated with social norms, prices and purchases, cost effective analysis and health outcomes).  Dr. Kristine Madsen shared the successes and challenges of soda taxes in the U.S. and pre-emption.

Malia Cohen, CA State Controller closed out the grand rounds by sharing her previous work of the soda tax legislation journey in San Francisco.  She shared that the soda tax movement has received international attention, thus illustrating how soda tax public policy has become a worldwide phenomenon.  Lastly, she recognizes the accountability of the soda tax and how the revenue continues to go back to the community, to those who are adversely affected and targeted by the beverage industry.   

It was such an honor and privilege to support and learn from such wonderful community advocates who fought and triumphed in the good fight to ensure that communities are benefiting from the soda tax revenue and improving their health.  Can’t wait to celebrate the next five years!

Watch the Grand Rounds on YouTube

By Kim Wong

As my Department of Public Health Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Team colleagues share their reflections in light of the five year celebration of the SF Soda Tax, I recall that I was once a public health graduate student in NYC writing blog posts detailing my disappointment in the New York State Legislature for dropping Governor Paterson’s soda tax bill in 2010. Who knew that in 2023 I’d have my dream job on the opposite coast bringing together community in celebration of SF’s soda tax (and still blogging about soda taxes!)?

On a clear and crispy fall afternoon in the Bayview, we kicked off the celebrations at the Florence Fang Community Farm on Saturday, November 4th. The Florence Fang Community Farm, a one-acre farm and current soda tax grantee that grows nearly 15,000 lbs of fresh produce each year, provided the perfect backdrop for past and present soda tax grantees to come together and reflect on the impact of the community-based grants programs. Recognizing that the grants started just months before the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to then greatly limited in-person events, it felt especially healing and nourishing to connect with community while tasting delicious healthy foods, moving to music, and touching the land.

We were joined by California State Controller Malia Cohen, who was one of the co-sponsors of the 2014 and 2016 soda tax ballot measures when she was D10 Supervisor. The State Controller animatedly recounted the journey of passing the soda tax seamlessly connecting the process of garnering community support for the measure to the subsequent allocation of revenues back to the community. San Francisco Health Officer Dr. Susan Philip and SFDPH Community Health Equity & Promotion Co-Director Christina Goette gave remarks affirming SFDPH’s ongoing commitment to the work and highlighting how soda tax revenue is being invested directly into the neighborhoods most impacted by diet-sensitive chronic disease.

Emcees and current and former Sugary Drinks Distributor Tax Advisory Committee (SDDTAC) Chairs, Marna Armstead and Dr. Jonathan Butler welcomed community members to the farm to enjoy performances reflecting the rich cultural diversity of San Francisco including the Jiu Jin Shan Chinese Chorus; Danza Xitlalli, the oldest Aztec dance group in SF; and Mixed Persuasion, a youth Polynesian dance group specializing in Siva Samoa. Line dance and fitness instructor, Chocolate Platinum, got hearts pumping with soul line dance routines and Neo Veavea stretched everyone out with Hot Siva, a low-impact movement class set to Polynesian tunes. Faheem Carter, Bayview native and Farmer-In-Charge led tours of the Black Organic Farm and the farm provided free produce giveaways and honey bee education. Community Well, 18 Reasons, Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC) provided delicious samples of affordable, healthy, and delicious recipes. Games, sugary drinks education, resources, and giveaways were provided by Community Awareness Resource Entity (C.A.R.E.), CARECEN SF, All My Usos, Fa’atasi Youth Services, SF Department of Public Health, and the SDDT Children’s Oral Health Taskforces for District 10, Mission and Chinatown. Raimi & Associates, the evaluator for SF Soda Tax, presented evaluation findings on the impact of the soda tax thus far.

It was an honor and privilege to coordinate this joyous community event! I want to extend my deepest gratitude to the partner organizations, planning team members, and volunteers who helped make the event a success. Here’s to the next five years!

Click here to view photos from the event.

By Christina Goette

It’s the time of year when we reflect back and look ahead. Daily, I strive to keep gratitude at the forefront, recognizing that we live in the midst of pain and suffering, both here in SF and across the globe. For me, it makes it even more important to seize those opportunities for which to be grateful. Seeing magic in a clear drop of rain resting on a leaf or feeling joy when a stranger smiles and scoots over so you can sit down after a long day… these are the little moments that sustain me. On another level, my heart expands when I look back at what we have accomplished together in 15 years. For me it started in 2006, when a small team in DPH, led by Dr. Mark Ghaly, California’s current Secretary of Health and Human Services, developed the first nexus study to ascertain the impact of sugary drinks on health. In the community, with the Bay Area Nutrition and Physical Activity Collaborative, Shape Up SF embarked on the first Bay Area Regional Soda Free Summer campaign in 2008 – our first public foray into the world of sugary drinks. In the intervening decade and a half, we worked together to take on the mighty sugary drink industry. But who is “we”? “We” is community based organizations, scientists, community organizers, health parity advocates, policy makers, community members, researchers, city departments, parents, health advocacy organizations, students, political consultants, PTAs… to name a smattering of those who bonded over the fight for health. “We” is us, united for health.

Last month, we celebrated FIVE YEARS of the SF Soda Tax. San Francisco is one of only four jurisdictions in California to successfully take on the industry and pass a fee, so we celebrated! The Department of Public Health’s Healthy Eating Active Living team led a series of events to mark the occasion: Marianne Szeto led the overall effort and partnered with Blythe Young at the American Heart Association and co-lead of Shape Up SF’s Policy, Systems, Environments Action Team (PSEAT) on the policy panel. Kim Wong organized the kick off event with the Florence Fang Community Farm and many of our soda tax funded partners. Melinda Martin convened the Medical Grand Rounds at Zuckerberg General Hospital with Dr. Dean Schillenger and team. Avi Rose orchestrated our school-based event with our SFUSD partners, Urban Sprouts, and June Jordan School for Equity. I am immensely grateful for this incredible team: dedicated, collaborative and SO MUCH FUN to work with. And I want to extend my deep gratitude to all who organized and participated last month and over the past couple of decades. It may be cliched, but it’s definitely true: Teamwork makes the dream work! 

Keep reading the blog this week to get the highlights of these beautifully orchestrated events celebrating our success as a community committed to health equity. The HEAL Team will post a new blog post each day!

Click below to read the posts:

“Bringing together community in celebration: five years of soda tax success” by Kim Wong

“Results of a community-public health-academic partnership” by Melinda Martin

“Centering youth empowerment: a celebration of 5 Years of SF soda tax in partnership with Urban Sprouts and June Jordan School for Equity” by Avi Rose

“Policy panelists speak from the heart about the power of community” by Marianne Szeto