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> There have been all kinds of problems caused in the past by food aid, such as women being given just enough baby formula for their baby that their own natural
by phaemon 11y ago
> There have been all kinds of problems caused in the past by food aid, such as women being given just enough baby formula for their baby that their own natural milk production dried up, then the free aid stopped.
That's not what happened. It was Nestle actively encouraging hospitals to recommend baby formula, by bribing doctors and providing the formula for free. Then, when the mothers left the hospital, they were pretty much forced into buying formula, and those who couldn't afford it basically had their babies starve to death.
In other words, it was Nestle literally killing babies in search of profit. There was no "food aid" element to this at all.
- Mz 11y agoThank you. I knew that, I just see little difference between this deadly marketing ploy and the outcomes of a lot of things that do more strictly merit the label of food aid. But perhaps the detail that this specific incident was a twisted marketing ploy will help others more readily comprehend how and why well meaning food aid can have unintended negative consequences -- in short, how they can have a dark side.