RE: Formula factory

[Macha McDonald]

Well, today I approached the head of science department, armed with a photocopy of page 270 from G Palmers book, The politics of b/f.  It talks about the specific company in question (I didnt think about the code).  I decided to keep it simple because I didnt want to be fobbed off as a loony!  I said to him, "Re the inservice and factory tours, I dont think its a good idea to tour meiji.  There are terrible health and social risks associated with formula feeding.  Health professionals go out of their way to advocate b/f, and as scientists, I think we should too.  I believe that taking students to meiji could contribute to imbalanced decisions about future infant feeding choices."  He said "Yeah well we probably wouldnt be allowed in there anyway."  I gave him the bit of paper and left it at that.  If it comes up that they do decide to do a tour of meiji, I will approach him again with the WHO code and some other facts, and if that doesnt work I will try the principal or Dep of Edu, Emp and Training.  Sound like a good plan?  Even if I just get to have my say, I'll be happy.