Why I don't buy Haagen Dazs

Every once in a while it comes up that my family and I participate in the #nonestle boycott. That means we try very hard not to buy any products produced by Nestle. I say try because Nestle owns so many companies and buys more each year that it's hard to being 100% on top of what not to buy. Lots of label checking. Lots of remembering companies and brands that fall under their umbrella. It also means I can no longer buy Haagen Dazs (I actually dreamed about their ice cream the other night). We've been doing this for about 4 years.

Image from PhD in Parenting.

There are a lot of reasons to not buy Nestle products and many, many people have written compelling editorial pieces about the danger the corporation poses, particularly to developing countries. From trying to patent a long-used herbal remedy to duping mothers without access to clean water into formula feeding, the ethical implications regarding Nestle's business practices should be a major cause for concern to citizens around the world.

In short, I boycott Nestle because Nestle is evil.

You want me to be more specific? Ok, since I began boycotting Nestle primarily for their formula pushing tactics that violate WHO codes, they decided to patent their findings on an herbal remedy used for centuries in India to reduce the danger of food allergies. I figure the best way to show you exactly what I mean is to send you to Nestle themselves. Here's their take on what they're doing.

According to them, we shouldn't be worried, because they aren't patenting the actual plant and that countries will have access to the plant under fair access. The only thing they're patenting is the findings of their scientific research and any uses related to those findings. So basically they heard about a plant that reduces the danger of food allergies, got a hold of some, ran some tests, came up with some fancy lab terms, and called it something new.

It's a lot like if I decided to run some lab work on why chocolate makes people feel happy, came up with all the scientific reasons, and then tried to patent those findings and their uses. Meaning no one could make chocolate for the purpose of giving pleasure.

Now wouldn't that be a bad day?

Imagine how people with food allergies feel.

Of course, maybe that's not as bad as the fact that Nestle doesn't believe access to water is a universal human right. I mean why stop there, Nestle? What about air? Or sunlight? Or a heartbeat?

There's a helluva lot of reasons to stop buying Nestle. In fact the boycott has been going strong since the 70s. Some people may say that proves it isn't working, but I look at it differently. Every year more people hear about the boycott, read up, and join. Nestle is one of the largest corporations in the world. In fact, it's the 3rd largest food processing company in the world. It's going to take some time. But by talking about and speaking out about, well, their evilness, bit by bit, one by one, maybe we can do something.

I'd like to think so.