Dear Folks,

I rarely worry you with all my worries about what we ingest. My family has all but silenced me on that. As my oldest son says when I talk about yet the next thing we cannot/should not eat: “Eating will kill you. Not eating will kill you faster.”

However, there are times to break the silence.

I think most of us would agree that our food system, if not broken, is badly in need of repair. We have paid the devil in the coin of health of self and soil for the blessings of volume now.

So while we have lots of food today, the quality of that food (never mind the quality of the soil that must grow our food tomorrow) has been severely compromised.

All that being said, I focus your attention on soft drinks, and particularly the caramel-colored ones. The triple threat of those sodas (sweeteners, containers and colors), along with the wasted calories we absorb imbibing it, the wasted dollars we spend on buying it, the emissions we give off transporting it, the energy we use bottling, tossing, even recycling the packaging, leads me to encourage you to rethink your soda-drinking habits.

Here is an article that tells you things about: the cans (BPA in there), the color (the caramel is carcinogenic) as well as the sweetener in the diet stuff.

So, when we can save money, be more environmentally friendly, reduce packaging and shipping, make ourselves healthier, perhaps live longer, all by doing just one thing, consuming less soda, it seems like a proper and compelling message to share.

Even the birds today seem to be calling for a fresh start.

Shabbat shalom.