Note: This story was originally published by Voices for Healthy Kids.
Seattle is now in its fourth year of taxing distributors on the sale of sugary drinks, at just under two cents per ounce. This tax is then often passed onto consumers through a slight increase in sales price, and those pennies have added up to tens of millions of dollars.
The goal of the tax was to expand programming that increases access to healthy food and to support early youth health, development and readiness for school. As staff at Tilth Alliance, we have been able to see a direct, positive and lasting impact in the community.
Tilth Alliance is one of the many non-profit and community-based organizations that receives funding through the City of Seattle and sugary drink tax revenue. We invest the funding we receive into our nutrition programs so that all Seattleites, regardless of their income or resources, have access to healthy food. That’s important year-round, but as we close out the month of March – National Nutrition Month – we thought it important to share our success with others who may consider a sugary drink tax to support health and wellness programs in their own communities.
