A Poll in Connection with the U.S. National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive
May 8, 2007 by Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor
Filed under breastfeeding, poll
This Saturday, May 12, 2007, residents of all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands can help “Stamp Out Hunger” by participating in the National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive. Simply set out non-perishable food items next to your mailbox for your letter carrier to pick up when the mail is delivered that day. Since the food drive started in 1993, over three-quarters of a billion pounds of food have been collected for community food banks and pantries.
I’m happy to participate in this food drive. It makes me wonder though whether people with unused cans of artificial baby milk should donate those cans. Is it better to throw away the milk freebies you got at the hospital or in the mail, and not support the use of artificial baby milk? Or is it wasteful to throw away that very expensive artificial baby milk that is so desperately needed in some families? What do you think? Please vote in the poll and feel free to leave a comment as well.
While we threw away all the sample formula before we even got home from the hospital, we happily kept the black bag that the Similac samples came in, and still use it as a small diaper bag (we ripped off the Similac bear tag, of course).
I think it is very wasteful to throw them away. Giving them to a food drive or someone who is already bottle feeding is definitely the best choice. Many people choose not to breastfeed or are unable to breastfeed, for whatever reason. To throw formula away just because you don’t approve is just spiteful and harmful to the babies, whose parents will have less money to spend on clothing or toys or food for the family because they didn’t have donated formula to feed their child.
Give them away. As long as you don’t accost someone who is happily breastfeeding and say, “Here, use this instead,” I think that is the best choice.
Actually, I sell the free formula I receive on an auction site. As a SAHM we can use even the little bit of extra cash. If I didn’t sell it, then I would give it to my church preschool office to see if they could find someone to use it.
I knew this would be an interesting poll! Thanks for the responses!
I give the cans and coupons away to moms who are already bottlefeeding. I would also donate them if I didn’t have someone to give them to.
Throwing them away is wasteful. The time to talk to women about breastfeeding is before the baby is born (and right after). After they have made the choice to bottlefeed, give them the formula and coupons you don’t need. Every can you give away is one less can the parents will buy, so in a very small way you are reducing the formula companies’ profits.
Good point, Cairo Mama. I like the idea of reducing the companies’ profits!
I send coupons from one company to a friend who I know uses that brand of formula. It seemed wasteful to toss the other samples and coupons, so I called the county nurse and asked her where they were needed. She gave me some good ideas, and also told me that if the formula is expired, it can be donated to the humane society and used to feed the stray kittens. This would be a great option for those that feel a moral dilemma about what to do. Who doesn’t want to help kittens?
What a neat idea to give it to the humane society, Selena! Thanks for sharing that!
I gave them to my local American Red Cross woman’s shelter/homeless shelter. I even got a receipt for a tax deduction.