Breast Really is Best: The Nestlé Boycott

Many women’s choice to breastfeed or not depends greatly upon current fads, convenience, or the guidance or support they did or did not receive in the beginning.  This is generally the case in America and other developed countries, anyway. And our babies almost always survive on either formula or breast-milk. However, babies in third-world countries aren’t so lucky.

According to the World Health Organization Authority (WHO), 1.5 million babies die every year as a result of inappropriate feeding.  The main cause for this devastating number is that these babies are not adequately breastfed, which is usually due to the aggressive marketing of companies like the Nestlé corporation. No matter what country you live in and what kind of food and water you have access to, it’s been proven time and again that artificial formulas do not even compare to the healthy components found in human breast-milk, but I’ll leave that topic for another soap-box session.

Today, I just want to talk about the serious problems Third World countries face when it comes to companies promoting artificial infant feeding…the Nestlé Corporation being one of the worst offenders. Get this, to promote their product they provide mothers in poor countries with free formula for the first week of their baby’s life. A week is long enough for the mother’s own milk to come in and dry up. Once mom’s milk is all dried up, the baby is “hooked” on formula, because mom's milk supply can never be replenished and there are no other options. Despite the consequences, Nestlé knows this is what will happen and does it on purpose to ensure they'll have a new customer and more money coming in for the next year. Unfortunately, the company doesn’t bother to inform the mother that this happens and that she will be forced to continue buying their product, if she wants her child to survive. If there are warning labels, they are written in a language she can’t read (if she can read at all). The cost of formula for one baby can easily be 40 percent of a family’s total income.  The formula is usually sold in powder form, and so to make stretch and last longer, these mothers often dilute it with more and more water. And, as we all know, this water is far from pure and sterilization is often unavailable. Also, the antibiotics we easily have access to here in the United States may not be accessible to them at all, which results in sick babies who often die. That’s if mothers can even afford the formula past the first free week. As you can see, Nestlé is responsible for millions of sick, starving and dead babies, who otherwise would have been perfectly healthy and strong.

If only these women weren’t bombarded with aggressive product promotion. If only Nestlé would stop exploiting and destroying these women's lives to make an extra buck. If only someone had told these women they themselves already had the ability to create the best possible and most perfect cocktail of immunoglobulins, antibodies, vitamins, and nutrients AND it’s free!

Regardless of the 1.5 million babies that may die this year because of artificial infant feeding, Nestlé continues to push its product. This is why I’ve decided to boycott Nestlé. And this is why you should too. Here’s a link to all their products: http://www.nestleusa.com/PubOurBrands/Brands.aspx