Learning about Coca-Cola can be part of almost any class at school!

Students must make informed choices about how they spend their money at school. Before they decide to spend their allowance or lunch money to add to the considerable profits of this extremely large, multinational corporation, they should do a little research--

 

SCIENCE CLASSES

• Water mining in India

Water Profiteers. Corpwatch India, May 28, 02
http://www.corpwatchindia.org/issues/PID.jsp?articleid=1604

• Global warming and HFC packaging

Letter to Doug Daft, President and CEO. Greenpeace. June 1, 00.
http://www.greenpeace.org.au/archives/coke/gp010600.htm

• Beverage Container Waste

Coke Recycling Plan a Refreshing Idea. Atlanta Constitution (Editorial). April 19, 01
http://www.proxyinformation.com/cokenewsatlanta2002.htm

• Ecological damage in India

Coke, Pepsi Under Fire for Painting Rocks in India. National Geographic News. Aug. 27. 02
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0826_020827_mountainpop.html

HEALTH CLASSES

• Pesticide contamination of Coke products

Coke Soft Drinks Banned in Belgium. Associated Press. June 15, 99
http://www.seacoastonline.com/1999news/6_17odd.htm

European Warning over Coca-Cola. BBC News. June 16, 99
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/the_company_file/369684.stm

• Choking hazards/recall of Coke promotional items

Team Beans Announces Recall of ‘Bottle Cap Bear’ Key Chains. Consumer Safety Product Commission, Sept. 5, 02
http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHw000/333/8895/354726.html

• Lack of AIDS coverage for employees in Africa

ACT UP protests Coke’s ‘medical apartheid’. Southern Voice July 26, 02
http://www.southernvoice.com/atlanta/020726c.php3?pub=atl

• Health risks of ingredients:
• Genetically-Modified ingredients

Coca-Cola Faces Major Shareholder Protest Over GE Ingredients, San Francisco Chronicle, April 3, 00
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/04/03/BU91580.DTL

• Sugar and Tooth Decay

Missoula’s Health Board Rooting out Tooth Problem without Water Fluoridation. The Missoulian, April 12, 02
http://www.fluoridealert.org/news/mont/missoula2.htm

Pouring Rights: Schools Long-term Deals to Sell Soda Kick Kids’ Nutrition in the Teeth<,> Academy of General Dentistry, May 21, 2001
http://www.agd.org/consumer/media/may01/pouringrights.html

• Overweight/obesity health risks

Nutrition Policy Profiles: Soft Drinks Contracts in Schools. Prevention Institute for the Center for Health Improvement. N.D.
http://www.preventioninstitute.org/CHI_soda.html

CIVICS CLASSES: FREE SPEECH

• Students suspended for disloyalty to Coke

Teen Turns Coke Day Flat. Adbusters, Summer 1998
http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/commercialfree/toolbox/coke.html

Pepsi shirt incident gains world notice. Augusta Chronicle, Mar. 26, 98
http://www.augustachronicle.com/stories/032698/met_124-2581.shtml

SOCIAL STUDIES CLASSES: HUMAN AND CIVIL RIGHTS

• Link to murders of Coke union leaders in Colombia

Under The Gun: Execution-style killings have Colombia’s trade-union activists running scared. Time Magazine International Edition. Aug. 13, 01
http://www.laborrights.org/press/scared081301.htm

Murder in Columbia Lands Coca-Cola in Court Battle. Atlanta Journal and Constitution June 06, 02
http://www.laborrights.org/press/coke060602.htm

Unionist who filed law suit against Coca-Cola shot dead. News Agency New Columbia. Sept. 6, 02
http://www.anncol.com/september_eng/0609_UNIONIST_WHO_FILED_LAW_SUIT_AGAINST_COCA_COLA_SHOT_DEAD.htm

• Supporting the Nazis during WWII

The Coca-Cola Company under the Nazis
http://www.people.virginia.edu/~tsawyer/coca_cola/coke2.html

• Racial discrimination against employees

Coca-Cola to pay discrimination settlement. Associated Press. Nov. 17, 00
http://wildcat.arizona.edu/papers/94/63/01_91_m.html

• Supporting illegal military dictatorship in Nigeria

Coca-Cola Exploits Nigeria. The Phoenix, 1997.
http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/org/phoenix/1997/1997-04-25/coca-cola-exploits-niger.html

 

MATH CLASSES

• Problem 1: Compare revenue for ASB at your school vs. revenue for Coca-Cola

• Problem 2: Compare revenue from product sales with potential health costs, in dollars

 

GENERAL EDUCATION

The History of Coca-Cola
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/4269/history.html

Why I Said No to Coca-Cola. Rethinking Schools. Winter 99
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/Archives/14_02/coke142.htm