The Nestlé boycott

[denny]

I just got asked on IRC why I boycott Nestlé products.

It always amazes me that people haven't heard about the Nestle boycott - I knew about it for years before I joined it - so here's the Wikipedia page which explains it at least as well as I could: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestl%C3%A9_boycott

Nestlé has been accused by supporters of the boycott of unethical methods of promoting infant formula over breast-milk to poor mothers in third world countries. One major issue is the passing out of free powdered formula samples to soon-to-be and currently nursing mothers in the hospitals. After leaving the hospital, these mothers' breasts will have ceased to produce milk due to the substitution of formula feeding for breastfeeding. This forces the continued use of formula, but now at a cost of often 50% of the family's income, which contributes to malnutrition, and under worsened sanitary conditions with contaminated water, often leading to diarrhea. UNICEF alleges this situation results in the deaths of about 1.5 million babies each year.

(My bold. Sources are linked on the Wikipedia page)

To slightly complicate matters, I didn't actually join the boycott because of the baby milk thing, despite how crappy it all is. What really pissed me off was when this story broke in December 2002: Nestlé claims £3.7m from famine-hit Ethiopia.

The multinational coffee corporation, Nestlé, is demanding a $6m (£3.7m) payment from the government of the world's poorest state, Ethiopia, as the country struggles to combat its worst famine for nearly 20 years.

I'd been thinking about joining the boycott for years, but that pushed me over the edge into joining. Nestlé are the biggest food company in the world. Biggest. Ethopia is the world's poorest country (or was at that point). Poorest. The demand was so utterly immoral as to astound even myself. Yes, business is amoral... but there comes a point at which I expect a certain amount of basic humanity from the people who administrate a company, or I shop elsewhere. This incident was when Nestle crossed the line for me personally.

I don't enjoy being part of the boycott... Nestlé make more things that I like than I can actually count, but you can start by listing about half my favourite chocolate bars and about 9/10 of my favourite cereals. They are a huge company, and boycotting their products is not easy. Nevertheless, in my opinion they deserve to lose money, and I'm sufficiently convinced of this that I don't intend to give them any of mine.

Comments

[adjectivegail]

I knew the first bit, but I hadn't heard the second bit. That's disgusting.

[nisaba.livejournal.com]

I avoid Nestle as well, for all of the above reasons. It gets harder when you realise theat Nestle own about a gazillion other companies as well - like L'Oreal, who make the best nail polish I've ever used. There's a website that lists all of Nestle's other brands, but I haven;t got time to hunt it out now.

My one failing though has been Milo, because Milo is my childhood sanity comfort food (yes I know technically it's a drink. All I can say is, not the way I make it). I have it so rarely that I'm lucky to buy two tins in twelve months though, so I still allow myself that one. There's nothing else that helps when my psyche really needs it.

[fellcat.livejournal.com]

They are a huge company, and boycotting their products is not easy.

I am glad that you do so. I do so myself, except for a brief hiatus at college where all the chocolate available was Nestlé, which, in conjunction with a food allergy that forced me to eat salad for almost every lunch and dinner for three months, pretty much forced me to break the boycott temporarily.

I wish that someone else would make soft-caramel-in-chocolate though; Rolos are the one thing I miss.

[blaadyblah.livejournal.com]

Fruit pastilles. I can live without just about everything else, but that one really galls me. I miss my fruit pastilles. :o(

[fellcat.livejournal.com]

M&S do their own, which are larger and more limited in the range of flavours.

[missyasmina.livejournal.com]

I remember having read about it now that you mention it.
Never been apart of it though, but just as I was reading here I was having a cup of capechino, so I just had to check, and yes, it was Nestle`s.
Blargh..
I will look for another brand next time.

[grandwazooo.livejournal.com]

Have you decided if it is ethical to eat Nestle products purchased by a 3rd party and offered to you free of charge?


(there are still 6bn mouths to feed on a planet that can sustain 2bn - and in 10 years that 6bn will be 9bn. 1.5mil babies a year isnt enough, sorry - have an Aero!)

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

Well if they wanted to hand out contraceptives, I'd be all in favour... not much profit in that though.

[grandwazooo.livejournal.com]

you could air-drop enough condoms to give the whole african continent a rubbery carpet 6 inches deep and they still wouldnt use 'em - well a sufficently high proportion wouldn't anyway.

I say close the borders - no one goes in or out for the next 30 years - by then the population will have stabalized at a sustainable level.

*feels bubbles melt*

[fellcat.livejournal.com]

I say, educate about condoms instead of about infant formula, and then they might use them.

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but unless they can be conned into buying them then there's not much motive for commercially funded education...

[fellcat.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, of course, commercial interests and all that. I temporarily forgot that we were talking about a company.