Food stamps are used throughout the United States to help families in need. They are wasted on soda which does unnecessary damage to the body.
                 Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Paterson want to cut obesity rates. They asked the United States Department of Agriculture to ban the use of food stamps for purchasing soda. The new ban will be part of a project to see if cutting sugary drinks from the diet will reduce obesity.
                Since 1964, food stamps have been used to buy the food needed to live and to promote a nutritious life. Sugary drinks are not needed in the diet. Just because soda tastes good doesn›t make it good for you. You won›t die without it. Not everything can be bought with food stamps. Liquor and cigarettes are barred by the federal government. Alcohol is not needed to survive so why isn’t soda banned too?
                 Almost one sixth of a teenager’s calories comes from soda and 40 percent of New York teens are obese as stated in an article New York Times on Oct. 7, 2010. This does not mean that families are not able to buy soda; they just have to use their own money and not the taxpayer’s. If you truly are short on money, then government funding should not be wasted on empty calorie drinks that have no nutritional value.
    According to <www.healingdaily.com>, the pH of soda is acidic, 2.8 on the pH scale. It contains phosphoric acid, which leaches calcium from bones and can be detrimental to one’s health.
                Imagine eating 10 packs of sugar a day. A 12 ounce can of soda is equivalent to that much and contains 120 calories. Soda causes more harm to the body for what it is worth. As stated by the Daily News in an article on Oct. 8, 2010, children who drink that single can everyday have a 60 percent higher chance of being obese than a person who does not.
               Obesity related health problems cost about $8,000,000,000 state-wide every year, according to the New York Times. This ban will not just create a healthier life style but also reduce the amount of money spent on medical care. It is about time that the government takes small but efficient measures to reduce soda from the diet. Americans are known to be fat and lazy, but we are taking steps to change that stereotype.