Nestle boycott at London Marathon (25 April 2010) and exhibition

The main sponsor of the London Marathon, taking place on 25 April 2010, is Virgin. But it is also sponsored by Nestlé Pure Life bottled water. Baby Milk Action will be raising awareness of concerns about Nestlé at the exhibition at the London Marathon exhibition and along the course of the race. If you are entered to r...un in the race, Baby Milk Action has materials, such as t-shirts and leaflets, for raising awareness about Nestlé. See:
http://www.babymilkaction.org/

Over the next few months we will post details to our site about where and when to turn up to expose Nestlé - although these are life and death issues, we aim for a spirit of fun to gain the support of runners and spectators and the maximum amount of publicity. To start with, you can leave a comment on the discussion board for the London Marathon on Facebook here:
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=71506449747&topic=12052

Nestlé is the target of a boycott over its aggressive marketing of baby milk, which undermines breastfeeding and misleads those who use formula. For example, a current concern is its new marketing strategy claiming its formula 'protects' babies - it doesn't, babies fed on it are more likely to become sick than breastfed babies and, in conditions of poverty, more likely to die. According to UNICEF: "Marketing practices that undermine breastfeeding are potentially hazardous wherever they are pursued: in the developing world, WHO estimates that some 1.5 million children die each year because they are not adequately breastfed. These facts are not in dispute."

There is also a great deal of controversy over Nestlé's bottled water and it had to halt production of Pure Life in São Lourenço, Brazil after local residents in this historic spa town raised a petition over the destruction of the water resource on which their livelihoods depend - it took ten years to stop Nestlé's pumping operation. Other concerns about Nestlé's business practices include failing to act over child slavery in its cocoa supply chain (don't be misled by Fairtrade KitKat involving just 1% of its cocoa purchase), trade union busting and other labour concerns, spying on campaigners and other issues. See:
http://www.nestlecritics.org/