Boycott news from issue 125 of Ethical Consumer Magazine July / August  2010

Nestlé Boycott Update

The boycott of Nestlé is the world’s longest running. It began in 1977 in response to aggressive  marketing of Nestlé baby milk formula in poorer countries.
 

Here is a list of Nestle brands currently beging boycotted

Items marked with an * are part-owned by Nestlé, such as L’Oreal, Body Shop and Cereal Partners (a 50:50 joint venture with General Mills).

For a full Nestlé brand list see click here.

Baby Feeding Law Group

Recently both the Liberal Democrats  and Green Party backed the baby Feeding Law Group who campaign to implement tighter standards on the advertising of baby milk. The campaign represents 24 health, union and mother support organisations, such as the Royal College of Paediatrics & Child Health, the Royal Colleges of Midwives & Nursing and UNISON. It has  long argued that standards introduced in the 1980s need to be better  policed.  With the Lib Dems now in government it’s hoped that concrete action will be taken by policy makers.

Nestlé palm oil campaign victory

Nestlé recently gave in to pressure from Greenpeace and have promised a zero deforestation policy in its palm oil supply chain. After just 8 weeks of intense campaigning and meetings with the company Nestle have come up with what Greenpeace say is a “comprehensive policy” that will be monitored by the Forest Trust.

Nearly 1.5m saw Greenpeace’s spoof Kit Kat advert, over 200,000 emails were sent and activists demonstrated at Nestlé HQs worldwide. Greenpeace said “We didn’t expect Nestlé to come up with this policy so quickly.”

We say: Boycott tuna sandwiches from Boots, Greggs, Subway and Tesco

Following last issue’s tinned tuna report we conducted a survey of the tuna    sourcing policies of the biggest sandwich retailers in the UK. We want all Skipjack  tuna to be caught by pole and line. Other methods result in the unnecessary death  of thousands of sharks, turtles and other marine wildlife every year. Of the UK’s top  five sandwich retailers only  M&S currently uses pole and line caught tuna in its    sandwiches.

Ban Israeli Settlement Goods

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign has launched a campaign in partnership with the TUC which aims to end the sale in the UK of produce from illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land.

The British government has recognised that the settlements are illegal and an obstacle to peace. Yet produce from Israeli settlements – fruits, herbs, beauty products, DIY tools – are being sold in our supermarkets and shops, helping to economically sustain the settlements and strengthening the occupation. All the main supermarkets including ASDA, Tesco, Waitrose, John Lewis, Morrisons, and Sainsburys, stock settlement produce.

In December 2009, following signifcant consumer pressure, the Department for Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) issued guidelines for supermarkets on settlement labeling – differentiating goods grown in settlements from goods grown on Palestinian farms. Although this guidance is not compulsory, many supermarkets are already saying that they will adopt this labelling.The campaign advises that if the label says ‘Produce of West Bank (Israeli settlements produce)’ – don’t buy it.

Goods from Palestinian-owned farms should be labelled ‘Palestinian produce’.
Supporters are also urged to write to their MP or MEP calling for settlement goods to be banned and to their local supermarket asking them not to stock settlement produce.

Join the campiagn at www.palestinecampaign.org/ban-settlement-goods.

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