Interconnections

Far too much going today so this is going to be a quick splurge on a couple of publications that came in recently. Some stories close to us leap out.

Ethical Consumer (November/December) with a special feature on chocolate.

"In the UK we each consume 7 kg of chocolate every year" writes Nicola Scott and reviews a selection of brands, giving an ethiscore out of 20 to each.

There is Nestlé in pride of place - right at the bottom on zero.

There is special mention of Baby Milk Action's boycott call. Nestlé is also marked down for: poor environmental reporting, destruction of habitats and resources, animal testing, factory farming, abuses of human and worker's rights, irresponsible marketing, genetic engineering, interference in politics and anti-social finance. It does have top rating for no apparent links to nuclear power or armaments, but it is too weighed down with the rest to climb above zero.

Also the Breastfeeding Network newsletter from September:

A report on a paper produced by IBFAN and WABA called: "Towards Healthy Environments for Children: Frequently asked questions (FAQs) about breastfeeding in a contaminated environment", written by Penny van Esterik et al, reviewed by Barbara Farmer and available on the site we maintain for IBFAN.

An article about tea promoted from too early an age which had been reported through our UK monitoring website: "I filled out the form on the Baby Feeding Law Group website, (really easy if anyone else wants to do the same .. http://www.babyfeedinglawgroup.org.uk/) That gave me the clue that we might have a case under the UK Law, too.... The lady from Trading Standards phoned me the next morning after I had sent an email, and she will be taking it up".

And this news snippet:

"And Lisa thought you might be cheered by this extract from the most recent newsletter from her daughter's primary school: '...we are not collecting N***** 'boxtops for books' tokens as some parents have expressed concerns about N*****'s policies in the Third World.'"

What we send out into the world travels around and comes back to us.

True for us all.