Dr. Ashley Wolfe, Vice Chair of the California Medical Association’s Council on Legislation, says, “Consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks is the single largest contributor to the obesity epidemic driving new cases of diabetes.” The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that one third of those born in 2000 (and up to half of all Latinos) will develop diabetes in their lifetime. Sooner or later the question will be, “Who should pay for the coming explosion in health care costs?”

Health officials are increasingly identifying soda and sugary drinks as the largest source of added sugar in the American diet. Senator Monning says the health risks are comparable to tobacco. “The health data is conclusive, it’s not speculative,” he said.

The US department of Health and Human Services, through the CDC’s, has authorized funds for local advertising campaigns to educate the public to reconsider their beverage choices. In Sonoma County California, for instance, billboards are focusing on the issue to raise public awareness. One billboard reads, “You wouldn’t eat 12 packs of sugar, why are you drinking them?”

Comparing tobacco to sugary drinks, the Surgeon General’s warning on cigarettes was just the beginning. After it was clear the warning had a limited effect on reducing cigarette smoking and that the cost of cigarette-related health issues were born by businesses, rate payers and taxpayers, there was widespread support for an increased tax on cigarettes.

The US CDC’s estimate that smoking-caused health costs total almost $10.50 a pack. Since 2002, 47 states, DC, and several U.S. territories have increased their cigarette tax rates 110 times! Today, some states have combined cigarette taxes well over $5 per pack. The increased taxes have been justified by the medical costs. Interestingly, there has been a reduction in smoking that is in direct relationship to the increases in prices, not necessarily the warnings. So once again, if you want to effect change, put a buck on it!

When former New York Mayor Bloomberg tried to ban the sale of large sugary drinks, he was ridiculed as interfering with people’s right to choose whatever they wanted. His ban was overturned by the courts, but, notably, New York has the highest cigarette tax rate in the country. New Yorkers may want free choice but they have demonstrated that they don’t want to pay for someone else’s self-inflicted medical bills. They also have demonstrated that high taxes on products known to drive up health care costs reduce consumption of those products when warnings fail. Will New York be taxing sugary drinks next?

If, as Senator Monning says, “The tobacco analogy is a good one,” and the ad campaigns and mandatory product warnings don’t significantly reduce the consumption of sugary drinks, will the same rational that justified the massive increases in tobacco taxes justify a sugar tax? Is saving money more important to US consumers than saving their health?

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post Is a Sugar Tax Coming? appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

When we speak to colleges of entrepreneurship, students often ask us, “How do you handle problems?” Well, we don’t have all the answers but we do have a proven formula for successfully staying afloat. Here are seven tips we use to solve any problem.

1 Relax! That’s right, chill. Getting all excited and freaked out can actually blind you to the solution. You need a calm demeanor to allow your eyes and ears to communicate with your brain and give it some time to think about the problem from all angles.

2 Blast off! Take the 10,000-foot view. Don’t just look at what you think the problem is, look at the bigger picture. You may be surprised to discover relationships that can give you clues to the solution. You may even discover solutions you couldn’t see when you were up close and personal with the problem.

3 Take Inventory! Just like when you run aground on a remote island, see what you’ve got in the boat, explore the island, and find out what you can use. Your resources may not be evident at first, so spend some time looking at everything you can utilize, including goods, friends, suppliers, and customers. Don’t forget your own people as they are often the source of solutions you would have never thought of.

4 Have Fun! Yes, make a game out of it. Assume there is a solution and the challenge is to put the pieces together like a big puzzle. Make sure to identify as many pieces as possible, and keep looking for more. Ask for help. Make a list. See how the pieces relate to each other.

5 Be Elegant! Many times the solution is a simple one that solves more than one problem. So get all your other problems out there on the table as well. The elegant solution is sometimes the best statement of the problem. So constantly restate the problem from different perspectives.

6 Find Allies! Who else is affected by the problem and stands to gain by its solution? Identify your allies. Then discuss your problem with them. You might be surprised to find out that they will be more likely to make accommodations on your behalf when they see how they will benefit. Look for the Win-Win solution!

7 Let it Simmer! The best solutions pop up when you least expect them. Even when you are not actively searching for a solution, “the little grey cells,” as Agatha Christie’s famous detective Hercule Poirot says, “are working all the time; they see everything.” So give them a lot to look at. Then take a break, get away from it all and let it simmer.

These are the steps we have found that consistently result in the best, and many times out-of-the-box solutions. Think of problems as challenges. They are mysteries and puzzles that you, your people, and your allies get to solve. Know that the answers are there. Discover the clues and wait for the elegant solution to reveal itself. And remember to have fun!

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post Problem Solving Barefoot Spirit Style appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.