Ok...as I promised, here's the information I've pulled together concerning the Nestle Corporation -- note; it is quite likely that this will sound SO ABSURDLY EVIL that you'll think it's some odd, undocumented set of "conspiracy theory"-type material -- this is NOT the case, and there is quite a LOT of information out there concerning this, although little of it is from the U.S.A. (surprise, suprise)

Sometime in the late 60's to early '70's Nestle Corporation discovered an incredibly sly marketing technique to up the sales of their Baby Formula's. It involved bribng hospitals in 3rd world countries, and sending representative in to pose as Doctors and Nurses, offering free samples of their instant baby formula to brand new mothers. Not only offering, but insisting that it is healthier than breast milk, and normally getting them to quit breastfeeding WHILE still in the hospital. Of course, they are given as short term supply of this baby formula when they leave the hospital -- enough to last long enough for the women's breast to completely dry up due to un-use, meaning NOW these women would be dependant on a baby formula in order to feed their child, no longer being able to breast-feed themselves. This poses several problems, well-known to Nestle,1.) these women are uneducated, and unable to read directions on how to prepare such a formula, 2.) water supplies in 3rd world countries are dangerous, especially for children with and undeveloped immune system 3.) no one of average income can afford such a product in the quanitity needed, so they'd often skimp on how much they used 4.) since in such countries vaccinations rarely happen, the babies only read immunity defense would be through his mother's milk, so using formula significantly would weeken the children's immune systems, often fatally. Due to this, the babies suffer from extreme malnutrition and diarrhea, which makes them dehydrate, and die. Here's a direct quote to clear up my jibberish listed above; "The use of formula soon causes a mother's milk to dry up, rendering her incapable of nursing even if she wants to. Parents then must buy formula. Tragically, they are often unable to read the instructions, lack access to any sanitary water with which to mix it, or overdilute it in order to make is last longer. Prepared improperly, formula milk lacks the nutrition babies require. Even under the best of circumstances, formula milk lacks immunological protection that breast milk provides." Statistics show that in 1990 alone over one million babies died due to Baby Bottle Disease (the term used when children get diarhea and dehydrate due to being fed formula instead of their mother's mild). In fact, other stats show that, on average, over 1.5 million babies die each each due to this problem. Also, statitics show that in such third world countries where this sort of marketing technique has been used, breast-feeding has declined by almost 60%! Well, an international boycott (known to nearly everyone in the world, but Americans!) of Nestle ended in '84 when they stated that they intended to end such dubious practices, but was reinstated in '89 when it was discovered that they were, in fact, still maintaining this marketing technique! The Action for Corporate Accountability found that these practices were still occuring in over 41 developing countries in Mark of 1996. Actually, in the early '80 the United Nations voted to impose an "embargo" of sorts on the Nestle Corp., and the only country that didn't vote "yes" was the U.S.A., which is understandable, since Nestle is one of the largest companies in the U.S.! Why have we never seen anything about this on the news? For that very reason -- News is paid for by advertising, and if you say something too bad about your sponsors, they pull their ads, and you lose money -- well, take a look below at the companies owned by the Nestle Corp, and you'll see what kind of $$ we're talking about;

Nescafe, Nestea, Chase & Sandborn, Hills Brothers, Coffeemate, Movenpick, MJB, Taster's Choice, Encore, Club, Carnation, Libby's juices, Calistoga, Goodhost. Laura Secord, Chunky Goobers, Coffee Crisp, Aero, Baci, Quality Street, Nestle Beich fundraising chocolate, Kit Kat, Smarties, After Eight, Baby Ruth, Bit O Honey, Butterfinger, Alpine White Chocolate, Crunch, Raisinats, Black Magic, Turtles, Mirage. Laura Secord, Crunch, Drumstick, Mr Big, Haagen Dazs ice-cream bars. Perrier, Vittel, Poland Spring. Stouffers, Lean Cuisine, Buitoni, Contadina, Crosse & Blackwell, Maggi, MJB. C L'Oreal, Warner, Alcon. Beringer, Chateau Souverain, Los Hermanos, Nappa Ridge.

I was so appalled at the idea of a U.S. based company being willing to knowingly kill for $$, that I'm boycotting every product of the above list, and writing the Nestle Corp to let them know about it. Life has no price tag. I hope you all will consider the above, and even research this some for yourself if you think I might have my facts off. Also, here are some websites of organizations invovled in the boycott -- they have, though biased, much good information, and fairly current updates.

http://www.gn.apc.org/babymilk/boycott.html http://www.nursingmother.com/advocacy/advocacy_boycott.html http://www.tuppambr.demon.co.uk/bma.htm http://www.anatomy.su.oz.au/danny/BFAG/

I pray that it is well with your soul,
I love you all,
amen and Amen,