Breastfeeding 1-2-3 » Nestle-boycott

Nestlé-Free Week October 26 – November 1

Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:41:32 +0000

We’re in the thick of Nestlé-Free Week — are you participating? At my house it’s Nestlé-Free Week for 52 weeks out of the year, but those who do not already boycott Nestlé might try to do so for just this one week and for their Halloween candy purchases in particular. This year for Halloween I chose to buy Smarties, those little pieces of pure processed sugar and food coloring. The poor Smarties company has to put on the homepage of its website: “Do not confuse our Smarties with Nestlé chocolate Smarties”! I wanted something without corn syrup and something not made by Nestlé, and Smarties were the best I could do in the two seconds I was willing to spend in the candy aisle with three children!

The week before I had been shopping for popsicles and could not find a single kind that did not have corn syrup or was not made by Nestlé (which in the ice cream/popsicle aisle masquerades as Edy’s and Dreyer’s and Häagen-Dazs among others.) It’s time for me to start making my own popsicles again! In the past I’ve used an ice cube tray and cut straws or popsicle sticks. Anyone have a suggestion for a good popsicle mold — a metal or BPA-free plastic one?

Why Boycott Nestlé?

For some history and reasoning behind the Nestlé boycott, see “Should You Boycott Nestlé?”

The #NestleFamily Controversy

Recently Nestlé invited a group of bloggers out to California to learn more about the company. In a whirlwind of #NestleFamily debate on Twitter, many breastfeeding advocates expressed disappointment that people were accepting a free trip and gifts from Nestlé in spite of the company’s history of unethical marketing practices. Some bloggers defended their decision as being open to a dialogue with the company. I would not have been interested in hearing what the company had to say at such a one-sided publicity event, but I have found Nestlé’s answers to some questions posed by Annie at PhD in Parenting to be fascinating and informative (well, Annie’s discussion is informative; Nestlé’s answers are a bunch of double-speak.)

Which Products are Nestlé Products?

Nestlé owns many brand names and it can be tricky to keep up with all of them. Check out this Nestlé product boycott list compiled by Amy at Crunchy Domestic Goddess.

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Join the May Protests against Nestlé

Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 03:52:51 +0000

Protests against Nestlé began in the 1970s and continue strong even now 30 years later as Nestlé continues to be one of the worst violators of the World Health Organization’s International Code of Marketing Breastmilk Substitutes. If you are wondering “Should you boycott Nestle?” read that article and then come back here for the details on the protests planned at Nestlé headquarters and on Facebook!

Baby Milk Action operates as a non-profit seeking to protect mothers and babies from irresponsible marketing of artificial baby milks. The group supports breastfeeding and safer formula feeding. Baby Milk Action plans to target Nestlé with a demonstration on Saturday May 16, 2009 at the Nestlé headquarters in Croydon in the United Kingdom. If you can’t make it there, organizers suggest you protest outside your local Body Shop (PDF). Body Shop was recently purchased by L’Oreal, of which Nestlé owns 28.8%. A third option is to join the virtual protest on Facebook.

The details for the protest at the headquarters:

Date: Saturday, May 16, 2009
Time: 11:00am – 12:00pm
Location: Nestle HQ, Croydon
Street: St. George’s House, Park Lane, Croydon, CR9 1NR, UK
City/Town: Croydon, United Kingdom

There is a Facebook page for the demonstration as well.

Do you boycott Nestlé? Do you plan to attend the protest at the headquarters, at a Body Shop, or on Facebook?

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Nestle-Free Week Celebrated October 4, 2008

Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 16:37:39 +0000

Are you participating in the Nestle-Free Week starting today, October 4, 2008? For more on the why and how of the Nestle Boycott and Nestle-Free Week in particular, visit Baby Milk Action’s Nestle-Free Week planning page.

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Dr. Jay Gordon Lambasts Bill Gates over Nestlé Investments

Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 17:51:18 +0000

Pediatrician Dr. Jay Gordon holds the distinction of being the first male physician to become an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) (here’s hoping many more physicians–male and female–have followed his lead). Obviously he’s passionate about infant care and breastfeeding. Perhaps that’s why he berates Bill Gates so harshly in his opinion piece “Bill Gates Invests in Companies Which Increase Infants’ Deaths” in The Huffington Post today.

While Dr. Gordon acknowledges all of the good Bill and Melinda Gates and their foundation have done, he criticizes them for their “blind investments.”

All experts agree that non-breastfed infants in the Third World die at a rate much higher than those which are exclusively breastfed.

The number of preventable deaths is somewhere between 50 and 75% of babies who die of diarrhea and other infections….

Gates invests in Nestlé. Nestlé has persisted in egregious violations of the World Health Organization’s Code for marketing infant formula. Over one million babies die worldwide because Nestlé and other multinationals promote artificial feeding (formula) to the detriment of efforts to inform mothers of the risks of not breastfeeding. International boycotts have only temporarily decreased Nestlé’s efforts.

Dr. Gordon chides Bill Gates for taking the low road and refusing to become socially responsible in how philanthropic funds are invested.

What do you think? Do you boycott Nestlé?

Thanks to the author of Genetics and Health for the tip about this story.

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