Reader questions the need for a new stadium

Thank goodness they built that multi-million-dollar football stadium downtown at Chaminade Julienne High School. Much more fun to have a football stadium than to feed the hungry, take care of the poor, etc. (The problem with feeding the hungry is that you no sooner get them fed and they are hungry again.)

Sure, the stadium will only be used a few days of the year, but perhaps the homeless would be allowed to pitch tents there at night. Not actually on the field where they might damage it, but maybe around the edges.

I sure hope that the Chaminade folks and the Catholic authorities don’t end up feeling uncomfortable about this. It’s a Christian tradition to build huge churches and other facilities as monuments to themselves and pretend that they are somehow worshipping the Lord (who happens to be a very big football fan, except in Cincinnati).

A recent article (“What you need to know about sugar,” Sept. 13) ignores the fact that calories from beverages with sugar are no more unique than calories from food.

All calories count, regardless of the source. We know that maintaining a healthy weight requires balancing the calories from all we eat and drink with the calories we burn daily. To that end, education is the key to helping Americans achieve a balanced lifestyle.

Our industry is doing its part to make sure consumers have the information and beverage options they need to make the choices that are right for them and their families and to achieve balance in their lives.

In 2014, America’s leading beverage companies launched the Balance Calories Initiative with a goal to reduce beverage calories consumed per person nationally by 20 percent by 2025. We’ve put clear calorie information on all of our cans, bottles and packs, and are doing so on company-controlled equipment including vending machines and fountains, so consumers know exactly how many calories are in a beverage before they make a purchase.

These are meaningful efforts that will have real impact — here in Ohio and across America.