Thursday, April 11, 2013

Weston A. Price Foundation: Buy our Endorsed Products to make Raw Milk Baby Formula...until a baby dies.

Below the Belt? Sally does know how to incite ire! Image via JD Mumma

Dear Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF):

When a baby dies from e.coli 0157:H7 induced Hemolymic Uremic Syndrome, from your promoted, marketed and endorsed Raw Milk Baby Formula, the nonsense will stop. You, however, seem hell bent on it happening.

Now, why am I coming out in public with this belief that a young child or infant will probably die from drinking raw milk? WAPF advocates and endorses and markets a raw milk formula. And you've come under the scrutiny of the pro-human milk and breastfeeding blog world these past few weeks, that's why. For good reason.

You've gotten into really hot water for asking, "Is Breast Always Best?"
Pretty much every breastfeeding advocate has responded: YES. and IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT THE MOTHER EATS.

I will not mention who or what or why this phenomenon has originated from because I don't want to give you any more "controversial" web traffic that you so crave. :-P Suffice it to say, WAPF's founder and leader, Sally Fallon Morrell, has been spouting this nonsense since the dawn of WAPF. Her adoring PR machine on the interwebs has kept it going into the 21st century. A notable exception is a WAPF PR machine heavyweight: Jennifer McGruther of Nourished Kitchen on her FB page.

What has been your, WAPF's overall response? Meh. The usual. You are wrong, we are right. We shouldn't even be really discussing this. Here is our stance. Read it and feel ashamed for your lacking diet and buy our products to make raw milk baby formula. Don't believe me? This blog post sums it up better than I can:

THE WESTON A PRICE FOUNDATIONS DANGEROUS BREASTFEEDING ADVICE SHOULD NOT BE IGNORED.

I'll add this: AND because it leads well meaning mothers to feed their infants Raw Milk.

And I repeat, only when a baby dies, will this raw milk nonsense stop. Not because you, Sally Fallon, or WAPF, will ever admit that raw milk is dangerous for babies. Nope. But if a baby dies, raw milk will hopefully be legislated out of existence. Even then it will continue on the black market because the fanatics will still find a way. But hopefully, if a baby dies, people will think twice before giving their children raw milk.

I pray that such a horrendous thing will never happen.

Good day,
Farm Muckraker

My favorite responses these past few weeks:
~Debunked has fabulous images of indigenous women tandem breastfeeding:
https://www.facebook.com/debunkedmisinformation
~Unlatched has the best summary of why this cannot be ignored:
http://unlatched.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/the-weston-a-price-foundations-dangerous-breastfeeding-advice-should-not-be-ignored/
http://unlatched.wordpress.com/2013/04/09/hey-weston-a-price-foundation-language-matters-how-not-to-be-a-breastfeeding-advocate/
~Just say no to booby traps:  
http://www.bestforbabes.org/from-karo-syrup-to-goat-milk-the-formulas-may-change-but-the-booby-traps-remain-the-same
~To tickle your funny bone, this is a FANTASTIC read: 
http://farmersdaughterct.com/2013/04/05/goats-milk-really-a-response-to-wapfs-claim-that-homemade-formula-is-better-than-breast-milk/
~A shout out to Jodine Dale Chase of Human Milk News for sharing the huge interweb response on her Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/HumanMilkNews

And the heavyweight of breastfeeding advocate heavyweights:

~Dr. Jack Newman, via his Facebook page:

"I have been getting a number of emails and questions on Facebook regarding the Weston Price Foundations recommendations for infant feeding. I answered thus, with a few additions, to one of those requests:

If the Weston Price Foundation says that home made formula is better for the baby than the milk of a vegan mother, they really don't know what they are talking about. As long as the mother is vitamin B12 sufficient the mother's milk of a vegan mother is far superior to any formula, home made or otherwise. One dose of vitamin B12 is enough to render the mother B12 sufficient for many months, even years. Studies also show that mothers who are malnourished still produce adequate milk and it shows once again that if the Weston Price Foundation says any formula, even homemade made from raw milk, is better than the milk of a mother whose diet is anything but what they think is ideal, they also don't know what they are talking about.

I should add that even if any formula were as good as breastmilk (impossible), breastfeeding is so much more than breastmilk and the special, intimate relationship of breastfeeding cannot be duplicated even by the "best" formula fed in a bottle."

If any reader cares to know what happens to a child whose body is completely ravaged by e.coli 0157:H7 from drinking raw milk, please read (and DONATE) to the latest public case: Kylee is Getting a Kidney on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/kyleekidney 

For those of you who care about Kylee, please leave kind and respectful words for this family. Please. They need a huge outpouring of love and comfort.

If you are a raw milk advocate and think it's cool to harass a family that has and is going through crisis, you'd better think twice. You will be blocked and damned for eternity. In fact, you should put your money where your mouth is and donate to this family because your propaganda is why families like this expose their children to raw milk in the first place.  

Buy off your shame, please. I dare you.