Comment by pfdietz
6 months ago
You're again engaging in the patronizing approach of removing any agency from those involved in these countries. Some mothers there would certainly benefit from access to formula, just as they do in your country. You remove this because you don't consider them able to make choices for themselves. It's the same horrid mindset of the colonialists, seeing the third worlders as primitives "just down from the trees".
I agree about the agency, except the game is rigged, once you stop breast feeding it's hard to start again. So a mother is sold on a way to feed a baby that can free her up to work and anyone can toss a bottle to the kid, but then water quality becomes problematic, and the baby is the most vulnerable. You can't fall back to breast feeding. And the formula is no doubt funded by third world debt arrangements. Nestle didn't have the foresight to think about water quality, and it resulted in a tragic outcome. Even though they also sell water, they could have been the hero and made twice as much money if they were in the loop (not sure if they were in the water business back then).