International Nestle-free Week 2010: Join Us

Today marks the beginning of International Nestle-Free Week 2010. If you are not yet aware of the reasons why people boycott and protest Nestle, here is a summary from my post on why I protest Nestle's unethical business practices:

Nestlé is accused by experts of unethical business practices such as:

• Promoting infant formula with misleading and harmful strategies that violate the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and put both breastfed and formula fed babies at risk (see Baby Milk Action’s Briefing on Nestle Updated July 2010 and the Boycott Nestle – and other action to protect infant health blog);


• Using suppliers that violate human rights (e.g purchasing milk from Mugabe, buying cocoa from suppliers that use child slaves) and destroy the environment (e.g. palm oil from rainforest);


• Controlling and abusing of water sources in its bottled water operations (e.g. in United States and in Brazil);


• Promoting unhealthy food, especially for young children;


• Trade union busting activities and denying the rights of workers to collectively bargain;


• …and more (see Nestle Critics Portal and Corporate Watch: Nestle SA: Corporate Crimes).

Nestlé defends its unethical business practices and uses doublespeak, denials and deception in an attempt to cover up or justify those practices. When laws don’t exist or fail to hold Nestlé to account, it takes public action to force Nestlé to change. Public action can take on many forms, including boycotting Nestlé brands, helping to spread the word about Nestlé’s unethical business practices, and putting pressure on the government to pass legislation that would prevent Nestlé from doing things that put people, animals and the environment at risk.

If you are not already boycotting or avoiding Nestle, consider giving it a try during International Nestle-Free Week. If you are already boycotting or avoiding Nestle, then consider educating your friends and family about it.

Take Action

Here are some things you can do:

• Don't buy any Nestle products this week (and if that goes well, consider continuing).


• Write a blog post in support of International Nestle Free Week (please add your link below in the comments if you do and I'll link all the posts up here).


• Sign-up on facebook as a virtual attendee of International Nestle-Free Week and invite your friends to join too.


• Add a Nestle-free twibbon to your avatar on twitter and/or facebook.


• Tweet about the reasons why you are protesting Nestle by using the #noNestle hashtag.


• Send Nestle an e-mail about its latest infant formula marketing scam.

Blog Posts for International Nestle-free Week

Here are some of the posts written so far in support of International Nestle-free week:

• Boo Nestle - A whole blog dedicated to Nestle-free Halloween


• Nestle-free week gets off to a tweeting good start - Mike Brady from Baby Milk Action talks about our #noNestle twitter party held on Sunday, October 24, which was a huge success


• Breastfeeding or using formula, International Nestle-free week needs your support - Another post by Mike Brady from Baby Milk Action


• Activism Across Party Lines - SortaCrunchy talks about why both breastfeeding and formula feeding parents should support the boycott


• Boo Nestle Twitter Party Tonight - Crunchy Domestic Goddess promotes the twitter party and links to some key resources


• Kit Kat anyone? - Very Bored in Catalunya outlines a few of her reasons for boycotting Nestle.


• International Nestlé-Free Week 2010 or Boo Nestlé… - Brenna explains her reasons for boycotting Nestle and talks about some of the results the boycott has achieved so far.


• Nestle Boycott Form Letter - The Leaky B@@b writes a letter to Nestle (note: Baby Milk Action also has a form e-mail that people can send about the "Protect" logo)


• All You Need to Know About Nestle: Don't Buy It - Jessica from This is Worthwhile weighs in on her reasons for boycotting Nestle.


• Semana Internacional del Boicot a Nestlé - Read up on the Nestle boycott in Spanish on Amor Maternal.


• Signal Boost: International Nestle-Free Week: Over at Hoyden About Town, tigtog gives the campaign a signal boost and encourages others to join in.


• Nestle-Free Week: Grendel writes in support of the Nestle boycott at Cafe Grendel.


• Halloween Candy Dilemma for The Frugal Mom, Lactivist, Real Food Advocate and Environmentalist: Melodie from Breastfeeding Moms Unite gives us ethical Halloween inspiration.


• Say "boo" to Nestle this week: Lauren from Hobo Mama spreads the word about Nestle's unethical business practices.


• Thinking about our choices in Nestle-Free Week: Mama Eve writes a great post on thinking about our choices when it comes to food and which causes and brands we promote.


• Taking some of the scare out of Halloween: Dara Squires writes an article about Halloween and avoiding Nestle in the Western Star.


• Did you write one? Let me know and I'll add it here...

Comments

[Very Bored in Catalunya]

Brilliant post, I have also written my Anti-Nestlé post http://www.veryboredincatalunya.com/2010/10/kit-kat-anyone.html and have a McLinky set up for people to add their posts. Let's get this message out there!

[Questions for the #NoNestle Bo]

[...] Annie from Phd in Parenting. (Ton of stuff on her blog, just liked to the most recent.) [...]

[kelly @kellynaturally]

Working on a post for this now!

I'm so bummed to learn that Poland Springs is a Nestle company. We used to live very near the Poland Spring source in Maine... and I still drink their water here in NJ - simply because it just tastes good (and of course the convenience factor). Other than that, we don't use any Nestle products...
Will have to stop buying their water. Irked.

[International Nestlé-Free Week]

[...] out Boo Nestle, Baby Milk Action, and PhD in Parenting for more information, research, and actions to [...]

[Brenna]

Post one for the week: http://www.almostallthetruth.com/2010/10/international-nestle-free-week-2010-or-boo-nestle/

Thanks for all the work you do to spread awareness and encourage action!

[Jessica AKA The Leaky Boob]

I haven't had the chance to finish my post on why we boycott Nestlé but I did get a form letter up for those that would like a sample or something to just copy and paste to share with Nestlé their choice to boycott Nestlé products and why. http://leakyboob.blogspot.com/2010/10/nestle-boycott-form-letter.html.

[Questions for the #noNestle Bo]

[...] has been a lot of talk about the Nestle boycott as part of International Nestle-free Week and as a follow-on to last night’s #noNestle twitter party. A lot of people have been asking [...]

[Rachael]

Don't know if I'll be able to write a post this week, so I'm sharing links via my personal Facebook page, where I can reach folks who don't read blogs like yours. Thanks for the roundup!

[Jessica - This is Worthwhile]

I posted mine late last night. I'm so happy that I'm already Nestlé free. The last step for me has been to tell my friends about it and avoid the chocolate.

Here's the link: http://thisisworthwhile.blogspot.com/2010/10/all-you-need-to-know-about-nestle-dont.html

[Jessica - This is Worthwhile]

Ahh haha you were already on it. You're good!

[Family of Seven]

Good for you! Unfortunately though, unless you boycott every single food manufacturer out there, these practices will continue. I began learning about the dangers of food additives, preservatives and ingredients touted as being "healthy" not long ago, and was shocked to find that the ONLY companies not using these dangerous ingredients are the small family farms & organic producers.

[Halloween Candy Dilemma for Th]

[...] do, and decide to write a post about it, make sure you head to Annie’s blog and let her know. She’ll add it to a growing list of posts by bloggers who are doing the same thing for International Nestlé Free Week October [...]

[Melodie]

I just posted my #noNestle post. http://www.breastfeedingmomsunite.com/2010/10/halloween-candy-dilemma-for-the-frugal-mom-lactivist-real-food-advocate-and-environmentalist/ Thanks for all you do on this Annie.

[Suchada @ Mama Eve]

Here's my post: http://www.mamaeve.com/index.php/caring-for-baby-a-toddler/best-baby-food/201

Thanks for being #NoNestle central! I've learned a lot from the other posts.

[Lauren @ Hobo Mama]

Here's mine!
http://www.hobomama.com/2010/10/say-boo-to-nestle-this-week.html

[phdinparenting]

I think that is the longest URL ever, Melodie. :)

[Dara]

Sadly I don't have my own post up yet, but my column this week implored people to not use Nestle products
http://www.thewesternstar.com/Opinion/Columns/2010-10-27/article-1889473/Taking-some-of-the-scare-out-of-Halloween/1

[Thinking About Our Choices in]

[...] week is International Nestlé-Free Week, so it’s a good time for us to think about the choices we make for our families. Are we [...]

[kelly @kellynaturally]

Okay, it only took me a year... but I've created a No-Nestle post (I borrowed your graphic):

http://www.kellynaturally.com/post/No-Nestle-Halloween.aspx

[Here’s why I boycott Nes]

[...] to Annie from PHD in Parenting for this [...]