and was ssssoooooo nervous as MN has taught me what a minefield this topic can be:
but happily it got big praises from the big cheese - think middle aged man.
and if you get to the bottom of my drivel you may want to also sign the petition here
Since having my daughter I have become something of a baby bore. One thing I now have become very interested in is the feeding methods of babies. And I?m scared to talk about what I will now because it is such a minefield as it is such an emotive topic with parents. But sorry if you will find this immensely boring, on the other hand.
Now, I will make this ahem, significant to some of our wider aims by linking it to:
Fair trade
Eat Healthy Initiative
And Live Simply
The Gov?t of the Philippines is attempting to introduce stricter legislation to regulate the marketing of Breast milk substitutes because 16,000 Filipino babies die every year from improper bottle feeding.
At the moment, the Pharmaceutical Association of the Philippines (PHAP) representing three main US formula companies ? all arms of Pharmaceutical Companies - which market formula heavily in the Philippines and other international pharmaceutical giants, are taking the government to court to prevent the government from enacting the new legislation.
UNICEF and the World Health Organization both strongly agree that aggressive marketing of formula lead to a decline in both initiation and duration of breastfeeding. In the Philippines it has dangerously declined and the government sees it very necessary to halt commercial promotion for bottle feeding. Babies must come before business. Currently, 31 percent of mothers do not breastfeed because they think they do not have enough milk and only 16 percent of babies are exclusively breastfed for 5 months. UNICEF and the WHO recommend that all babies, worldwide, are breastfed exclusively for 6 months.
Now the Pharmaceutical companies are fighting this legislation for several reasons: they lose out big time because breast milk is 1. free 2. sterile 3. made special to order 4. always available on tap 5. kind to the environment 6. comes in attractive containers.
None of which their products can claim to be.
But in my experience in Latin America the insidious marketing by rich multinationals are so attractive since just about everything from the industrialized countries can seem better than what you have when you live in under a tin roof and sleep in a hammock.
So for me, that is all part of fair trade.
In addition: the pharmaceutical companies lose out once more because breastfed do not get sick very often.