<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Patti Rundall</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:prundall@babymilkaction.org">prundall@babymilkaction.org</a>></span><div style="word-wrap:break-word">
<div><br><br><div><b>MEXICO's CRUSADE AGAINST HUNGER  <br></b><br><br>In Mexico, El Poder del Consumidor organised a series of excellent meetings with Senators, Parliamentarians  and the media to raise awareness about Conflicts of Interest. <br>
<br>IBFAN colleagues were about to congratulate Rosario Robles, Secretary for Development,  on including breastfeeding protection in the newly formed Crusade Against Hunger, when we found out about partnership deals  with Nestlé and Pepsi. These were announced and signed  before any consultation with  NGOs or scientists.  We later found out more details:  <br>
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<li><b>Nestlé  </b>would run a programme called Mi Dulce Negocio Nestle (My Sweet Business) creating a network of 15,000 women to give  nutrition 'education' in the poorest areas of Mexico while selling deserts and other Nestle products.  </li>
<li><b>Pepsi </b>would provide/sell  fortified milks for pregnant and lactating mothers (products that we know undermine women's confidence, and have been used by other companies such as Fonterra to pave the way for the introduction of formulas for babies. )</li>
<li><b>Disney </b>would  do "education' with the Red Cross,  </li><li><b>Walmart, 7Eleven </b>and others - would be involved in other projects.   (In the Press release you will see that Alvaro Urreta Fernandez, President of the Union of Producers and small merchants, Mexico City,  said: <i>“The uncontrolled growth of these multinational corporation has a negative economic and social impact, harming small producers of fruits and vegetables, encouraging an increase in the consumption of junk foods. We have seen that the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables is dramatically decreasing due to the presence of these companies. We urgently need international support to denounce this situation.  Instead of  allowing multinationals to be partners in this Crusade against Hunger,  we need the Mexican Government to support small producers and peasants.” </i><br>
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<div style="word-wrap:break-word"><div><blockquote style="margin:0px 0px 0px 40px;border-style:none;padding:0px"><div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"></div></blockquote></div><div><span style="text-align:left">These  partnerships,  in our view, are likely to have a disastrous  impact -  for many reasons including: </span></div>
<div><ul><li><b style="text-align:left">Breastfeeding and child survival</b><span style="text-align:left"> (breastfeeding rates are already  really low in Mexico), </span></li><li><span style="text-align:left"><b>Obesity levels</b> Mexico already has one of the world's levels of</span><span style="text-align:left"> </span><span style="text-align:left">obesity and NCDs.  </span></li>
<li><span style="text-align:left"><b>Mexico's traditional eating patterns and ecosystem.</b> </span><span style="text-align:left">UNESCO</span><span style="text-align:left"> has declared Mexico  as having an </span><span style="text-align:left"><b>Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity</b></span><span style="text-align:left"><b>,</b> with</span><span style="text-align:left"> </span><span style="text-align:left">one of the richest varieties of traditional foods and cultures.  ( </span><span style="text-align:left">Nestle already own  application to own the patent for the method of extracting a component of the Fennel Flower and already has many patents on breastmilk components. <a href="http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/nestle-stop-patenting-human-milk-components/" target="_blank">Click Here</a>.)</span></li>
</ul></div></div></div></blockquote></div></div></div></blockquote></div></div></div></blockquote></div></div></div></div></blockquote></div></div><div><br></div><br>It seems obvious why corporations would want to own as much of Mexico  as possible, and why the  Crusade gives them  the perfect philanthropic cover -  tackling hunger.  There is international concern about this.<br>
<br>We got a lot of excellent coverage so far (a lot in Spanish but  a rather good piece in the British Medical Journal  and a piece in the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy  in English.<br><br><a href="http://info.babymilkaction.org/pressrelease/pressrelease09apr130" target="_blank">http://info.babymilkaction.org/pressrelease/pressrelease09apr130</a><br>
<a href="http://info.babymilkaction.org/MexicoMedia" target="_blank">http://info.babymilkaction.org/MexicoMedia</a><br><a href="http://info.babymilkaction.org/LLLPetitionRobles" target="_blank">http://info.babymilkaction.org/LLLPetitionRobles</a><br>
<a href="http://info.babymilkaction.org/Fennelwater" target="_blank">http://info.babymilkaction.org/Fennelwater</a><br> <br><br><br></div></div></div></div><br>