Food for Thought

May 28, 2013 By DorkyMum in Activism Tags: #foodforthought, Enough Food IF, Food for Thought, nutrition and literacy, Nutrition campaign, Save the Children 2 Comments

I love it when nice people do good things. Nothing makes me happier. So when I saw that several of my very favourite children’s writers are backing the latest campaign from Save the Children, it put a huge smile on my face.

More than 25 children’s writers and illustrators, including David Walliams, Oliver Jeffers, Michael Morpugo and Philip Pullman have come together to warn of a global literacy crisis, ahead of the G8 nutrition summit on June 8^th.

‘Eh?’ I can hear you saying. ‘What have literacy and nutrition got to do with each other?’

Well the answer to that is ‘quite a lot, actually’. Continue reading →

Take Action: Nestle and Danone

April 1, 2013 By DorkyMum in Activism Tags: Activism, breastfeeding, Breastfeeding campaign, breastmilk substitute companies, campaigning, Danone, Nestle, Nestle boycott, Power of the First Hour, Save the Children, Superfood for Babies 4 Comments

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about the launch of Save the Children’s campaign on breastfeeding, and their report Superfood for Babies, which details some of the barriers to breastfeeding in the developed world.

The focus of the campaign has now shifted to concentrate on one of those barriers in more details; the marketing tactics of multinational breastmilk substitute companies.

Despite 30 years of guidelines, there are continued reports of some breast milk substitute companies marketing their products in an unethical manner.

You can read Save the Children’s full briefing on Nestlé and Danone here, along with this article in the Guardian from Zoe Williams which details the situation in Indonesia, but I also wanted to pick out a couple of things from the report that really shocked me and highlight them in a post. Continue reading →

A Global Vigil

March 13, 2013 By DorkyMum in Activism Tags: Activism, campaigning, Childhood Under Fire, conflict, Global Vigil for Syria, Save the Children, Syria, Syria campaign, Syria Crisis, Syrian COnflict 4 Comments

Last June, horrified by what they were reading in the news, bloggers across the UK came together to highlight the atrocities taking place in Syria. Last September, we united again; shocked that nothing had changed, appalled by the torture and terror being suffered by Syrian women and children.

Today, sadly, we have to do it once more. Continue reading →

A Guest Post from Indonesia

February 19, 2013 By DorkyMum in Activism, Guest Posts Tags: #firsthour, Activism, AIMI, breastfeeding, breastfeeding support, campaigning, formula milk marketing practices, Indonesia, international development, Save the Children, The Power of the First Hour 8 Comments

Yesterday I wrote a post about Save the Children’s new campaign on breastfeeding.

Today I’m absolutely thrilled to have a guest post on the blog from Tasya, an inspiring woman who works as the head of advocacy and legal division for an organisation in Indonesia called AIMI.

AIMI (the Indonesian Breastfeeding Mothers Assocation) is a group of mothers providing advice and support on breastfeeding through Facebook, Twitter and Blackberry Messenger. They provide a 24 hour hotline to support and educate women about the option of breastfeeding, and also use social media to gather evidence of marketing malpractices of breast milk substitutes, for example crowdsourcing photos of posters which break the breastfeeding marketing code of conduct.

Continue reading →

The Power of the First Hour

February 18, 2013 By DorkyMum in Activism Tags: #firsthour, Activism, Breastfeeding campaign, breastfeeding in the developing world, breastmilk substitute companies, campaigning, Danone, formula milk companies, formula milk marketing practices, health, international development, Nestle, No Child Born to Die, Save the Children, Superfood for Babies, The Power of the First Hour 17 Comments

When I started this blog, nearly two years ago, one of my very first posts was titled ‘Breast is Best, but there’s no need to keep shouting about it.’

I stand corrected.

Sometimes, it’s absolutely crucial to shout about it.

Not when you’re talking about the UK – where mothers can make an informed choice, and where babies are likely to grow up healthy and safe whatever choice they make – but in developing countries, where the choice can literally mean the difference between life and death.

Continue reading →

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Stories from our family home in Tasmania

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