Working the System

I don't understand why Congress is allowed to take gifts and regulatory officials are not. It seems to be that no one should be allowed to take gifts. Congress is very influential too, alongside regulatory officials and it just seems like a weird system to me. It's a little unnerving to see how easy it was to influence an official, I am unsure how representative Mr. Espy's case is of all officials, I feel like she could have just focused on this one because it was particularly unsettling.

I don't know how I feel about the check-offs. I don't know what the author expects these companies to do though, they are businesses who obviously want to promote their products and our economic is capitalistic so what else could a business be expected to do? I suppose it would be better if government and business were separated more, I just don't know how that would come about, especially in times like these when the economy is hard and the government might have to help out businesses. It is weird to me that different commodities feel the need to compete with each other, like beef vs dairy, since they are really different and could both be construed as part of a varied, healthy diet. Its just such a conflict of interest between food industry and the USDA, I cannot even begin to fathom how to reconcile it.

I do agree with the underlying premises regarding breastfeeding as superior to infant formula. I definitely disagree with heavy formula advertising, especially in developing countries where it is vital that babies receive the immunological and health benefits of breast milk. There is just too much to worry about in developing nations with using formula. I do think the quote Nestle uses about "deliberate infanticide" is completely over the top though. I get pretty appalled when I see formula adds suggesting that its as good as breastmilk and then say in really tiny print that breastmilk is best. It's pretty unsettling how much effort Nestle went to to try to convince people that a fact that is so clearly wrong is right. However, I do not agree with the idea that some people posited in one of my classes that their should be no formula advertised or given out. Some women simply just cannot afford the implements or have the time to spend breastfeeding for 6 mos to a year like advised. Especially poor women. Yes it is true that everyone can usually breastfeed but that doesn't mean that its a very viable option for them, and formula is better than nothing. Its wrong in my opinion to chastise a mother too much about not breastfeeding, especially because if she is having trouble with it and the baby is not thriving, stress about it can make the feeding even harder. So I think formula does have its place, but not in developing countries.