10 Responses to “What do Smoothies, Third World Genocide and an Eight Year Old Have in Common?”

1. 

   summer jessee #

   Wow Gena! Thanks for posting. Just read your entire post and watched both videos. Your daughter is adorable and GOOD for you teaching her such great lessons at a young age I had NO idea about any of this Nestle madness… watching that Nestle video made me so sad!! I don’t understand how they could knowingly do something like that. It’s just horrible. Looks like I’ll have to boycott Jamba now too… which is a bummer… not that we go there a lot, but a few times a year we would enjoy a jamba… but most of the time we just make our own But Jamba was kinda special for us because it originated in SLO, where I’m from… and the idea for jamba juice was a “senior project” from a Cal Poly student… so we would go there way back in the day when it was “The Juice Club”… it’s a bummer they decided to do biz w/ Nestle because I would hate to see Jamba fail But I am SUCH a breastfeeding advocate and I guess I just like doing the “right thing” so I really can’t support them now knowing what I know. Luckily we don’t buy any of Nestle’s other products – and I had NO idea they owned so many! Crazy. I”m going to repost.

   July 13, 2011 at 6:07 am Reply
2. 

   Darlene #

   After reading your request to go to the Jamba Juice page on Facebook, my first reaction when I got there was, “WHAT???????? It’s a Nestle company??????!!!!!” Dangit! I loved Jamba Juice! Oh well, now it’s on the list of products we will no longer buy.

   It’s important for our children to understand our values and what makes those values meaningful to us. I admire your daughter’s maturity and the decision she made, and also her thoughtfulness and creativity in her ideas to communicate with Jamba Juice and Nestle.

   My kids have known for several years why I don’t buy Nestle products (and why we don’t shop at Wal-Mart) and about communicating values with buying power. I think these are valid lessons and it helps to live life a bit more consciously and conscientiously.

   Great article, great lesson, and thanks for sharing the product list. I helps to revisit it every so often. Looks like there are a couple of candies I have to remember about!

   July 13, 2011 at 4:36 pm Reply
3. 

   Brandon #

   It’s sad to see people like this take things way out of proportion. My family and I have always been breastfeeding advocates and always will be. However, you must research this waaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy more than what you get from those videos. I am a huge Jamba advocate and know they don’t have anything to do with Nestle other than creating a better for you energy drink. So that’s my first problem! Don’t blame a company doing the right thing, because of the affiliate company doing something completely different under a separate division etc etc etc. Second, Has this lady ever been to the Philippines? Does she really understand the way they live? People like my sister feel like it is a miracle to have formula because they have problems breastfeeding and producing the nutrients they need. It’s not the formula killing the babies. It’s about time people start facing up to their own faults! I feel this is way out of line and Nestle is not the Devil nor is Jamba for doing the right thing. To bad gossip with an extreme point of view with little to no real facts that are one sided hurts everyone here. Hope you can see past it! FYI There are many Mothers in the philippines who are malnourished as well. That also kills babies. Come on! Get Real and see past all wish wash stuff. If you look for the good you will find it. I love Jamba Juice and the good they do with there products. Hope you will all get over it.

   July 18, 2011 at 10:12 pm Reply
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     gena kirby #

     Speaking of research. I found out by talking to the folks at Jamba Juice that three executives in corporate are ex executives of Nestle!
     “It’s not the formula killing the babies. It’s about time people start facing up to their own faults!” NO WAY?! Are you kidding? The people you are talking about have no idea that not having access to clean water and formula can lead to the death of their babies. We are not talking about a country with infanticidal tendencies! We are talking about a company that puts profits before people.

     They send women in white coats out to villages and they talk to them about how great formula is. They violate WHO codes and do not care that they are in violation!
     The following is from
     THE NEW YORK TIMES: “Mother’s milk also provides a clean and sterile method of feeding. When babies in third-world countries feed on formula, they face myriad dangers from their bottles. Fatima Patel, a nurse who works with Peruvian Indians in the Amazon, told Senator Kennedy’s committee in 1978 how villagers prepare formula in that area: ”The river is used as a laundry, as a bathroom, as a toilet and for drinking water,” she said. ”Now, you can tell … but to get the fuel to boil that water, she has to go into the jungle, chop a tree trunk with a machete … and carry it on her back. No mother is going to use that hard-earned piece of wood to boil that water. … So, the babies are drinking the contaminated water.”

     And if the infant does not finish its bottle of formula, the mother may save the rest, unrefrigerated, until the next feeding. ”Stored at room temperature in a tropical country,” says Dr. Taylor of Johns Hopkins, ”you have explosive bacterial growth. So the bottle becomes a lethal instrument.”

     Overdilution is another serious hazard of formula-feeding. ous hazard of formula-feeding. A medical team from an Indonesian university analyzed the mothers at four health clinics in that country. Their study, published last year in The Journal of Tropical Pediatrics, revealed that only one in four women had mixed the milk reasonably close to its recommended strength, despite their aboveaverage economic and educational status and the clear directions on the cans. The researchers also found ”gross contamination” of the milk by fecal organisms, through the water supply, and concluded that babies fed with a bottle should be classified ”high risk.” In other cases, mothers who cannot sustain regular formula purchases start using cheaper mixtures such as rice water and sugared tea.”

     These women have been convinced that formula is as good as breastmilk.

     “The formula companies deny that their marketing has influenced the choice of feeding methods, and they contend that misuse of their products is rare. For them, a rich global market is at stake. Formula sales in this country reached $550 million last year at the wholesale level, divided principally among Abbott Laboratories (50 to 55 percent), the Bristol-Myers Company (40 percent), and American Home Products Corporation (8 percent). In the world market, estimated to be as great as $2 billion wholesale, Swiss-based Nestle commands a 50 percent share, while the American companies and dozens of other competitors divide the rest.”-New York Times

     This GIANT CORPORATION you are defending doesn’t care about people their latest attempt at getting money over the health of you or your kids was as appauling as it was outrageous!
     “According to a recent Nestlé ad campaign aimed at parents, a drink called Boost Kid Essentials was so good for children that it could keep them from getting colds and missing school.
     But on Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission said the ads were deceptive and announced that Nestlé had agreed to stop making the claims.”New York Times

     Profits over people. You want to stand up for these guys? Really? Is it because you OWN a Jamba Juice in Idaho Ryan? You seem like a nice guy, but I cannot and will not stand down when it comes to NESTLE.
     In answer to your ;”Don’t blame a company doing the right thing, because of the affiliate company doing something completely different under a separate division etc etc etc.”
     There’s an old saying that says “Show me a man’s friends, and I will show you the man.”

     July 24, 2011 at 4:36 am Reply
4. 

   Archie Shiller #

   The next time I read a blog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as a lot as this one. I mean, I do know it was my option to read, but I truly thought youd have something attention-grabbing to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you would fix in case you werent too busy looking for attention.

   August 31, 2011 at 11:00 am Reply
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     gena kirby #

     I really don’t know how much more attention grabbing you can get. If you didn’t already know how sleazy Nestle is, I think this would be eye opening. Please elaborate on what you meant to say here. If you weren’t convinced about how low Nestle can go here’s an update. But like you said you have the option to read it or not:
     Nestle decides they’re going to try to get six million dollars out of ETHIOPIA.

     The multinational coffee corporation, Nestle, is demanding a $6m (£3.7m) payment from the government of the world’s poorest state, Ethiopia, as the country struggles to combat its worst famine for nearly 20 years.

     The money is compensation for an Ethiopian business which the previous military government nationalised in 1975. It could feed a million people for a month, according to Oxfam.

     The cash-strapped Ethiopian government has offered to pay $1.5m to settle the claim, but yesterday Nestle, which bought the firm’s German parent company in 1986, was standing by its demand, insisting it was a “matter of principle”.

     “In the interest of continued flows of foreign direct investment which is critical for developing countries, it is highly desirable that conflicts are resolved according to international law and in a spirit of fairness,” a spokesman for the company said.

     August 31, 2011 at 10:51 pm Reply
5. 

   Nancy McIntyre #

   I believe that part of the reason Nestle operates they way they do is because they are too big. Instead of working on producing the best (including using the right products and processes) product, They seemed more focused on getting bigger. They should be more motivated in producing a good product and being proud of it’ not solely money and getting bigger. There is no way to monitor the quality and procedures of your business if it is that big. It is sad that Nestle can’t be proud of their products, but only their dollars. The goal of most American businesses is money, not quality. Sad.

   September 1, 2011 at 4:46 pm Reply
6. 

   almond milk benefits #

   thanks to you I didnt waste my money

   September 27, 2011 at 8:15 am Reply
7. 

   Linnie Caughron #

   The next time I read a blog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as much as this one. I mean, I know it was my choice to read, but I actually thought youd have something interesting to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you could fix if you werent too busy looking for attention.

   January 10, 2012 at 2:30 am Reply
8. 

   Len Drozdowicz #

   Nice read. I just passed this onto a friend who was doing a little research on that. He actually bought me lunch since I found it for him! Therefore let me rephrase: Thanks for lunch!

   January 22, 2012 at 4:54 am Reply

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