Tracking the United States' national embarrassment.


Jim Wright


So, why can't we just import baby formula?
Heh heh, glad you asked.
Ever heard of the United States Canada Mexico Agreement? That bit of legislation Trump and Republicans proudly replaced NAFTA with?
Remember Trump bragging about that? Remember?
That. That's why.
Three (or four, depending on your point of view) American companies control 90% of the global infant formula market, chief among them is Abbott Nutrition. When a Chinese company announced it was investing in a Canadian manufacturing facility to make powdered baby formula from excess Canadian skim milk powder (Canada makes a lot of butter, so they have a lot of leftover skim milk), Abbott and the US diary industry spent millions lobbying congress to change the trade rules -- claiming increased Canadian production of formula would "negatively impact U.S. dairy trade and jobs."
Here's the actual 2018 lobbying statement from the International Dairy Foods Association (which despite the name, is a lobbying group for the AMERICAN dairy industry): https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22014622-ustr-idfa
And so, when the Trump Administration backed by a Republican congress wrote and implemented the USCMA to replace NAFTA, they imposed new regulations restricting commercial importation of baby formula from Canada (you can still import it for your own personal use, though you'll have to pay extra for it and there are limits. Also, I'd think twice about buying it from Canada and then trying to resell it at jacked up prices on eBay without checking that law first).
This is part of the US government's long history of protecting the very powerful US dairy industry, which has always imposed very high tariffs on importation of dairy products from Europe and Asia. And even previous free trade agreements (such as NAFTA) imposed pretty specific restrictions on the import of formula from our free trade partners, such as Canada, to protect the American monopoly by companies such as Abbott. The USCMA *significantly* increased those restrictions and imposed draconian fees. A good breakdown of this entire complex situation is here: https://thedispatch.com/.../americas-infant-formula...
There's a lot more to it, such as FDA restrictions on nutritional standards and labelling, but that's the basics.
So when Abbott contaminated its production line and was forced into a massive recall, well, for Americans, there just ISN'T any other place to get infant formula. And you can thank the dairy industry, and their lackies in Congress (and, yes, the White House) for that.
American industry, unfortunately, CAN'T just spin up to replace the lack of supply from Abbott. Because the Dairy Industry has worked very hard over several decades to ensure the supply of infant formula is strictly managed to maintain a steady profit margin. Couple that to suppliers and retailers who are right now hoarding and/or restricting supplies to (allegedly) prevent panic buying (but are really just increasing their profits in the traditional manner of supply and demand capitalism), AND add in supply chain problems, including those deliberately imposed to INCREASE lack of supply (like the actions of a certain Texas governor) and here we are.
Oh, by the way, the problem that led to contamination at the Abbott plant in Michigan? Instead of investing in sanitation and upgrades, Abbott spent the last few years and $3 billion buying back its own stock.
That's the gestation (I'm not sorry) of the current crisis.
So, when you see members of Congress who WROTE THOSE LAWS right now blaming the CURRENT president for the lack of infant formula on store shelves...
When you see the very same pundits and news anchors blaming Joe Biden for a crisis caused by the very same trade agreement they themselves cheered two years ago...
Well, you know where that full diaper you're smelling came from.
I had a laugh reading that. You should see how restrictive the Canadian Dairy industry is. At least you can get Irish butter in the US. Butter quotas in Canada are vanishingly small and hard to come by. Dairy is much cheaper in the US.
The problem with giant agribusinesses buying up all the small producers is an entirely different issue and it effects the whole world. An ever shrinking number of companies are owning the production of all food and free trade is a big part of the cause. It is good to favour local producers where you can but then you have to also get serious with anti-trust. Yes, large producers are more efficient in many ways but highly efficient systems can be terribly brittle. Either everything is going great or it's not going at all.
----edit---
BTW, I know modern western types tend to forget these little biological peculiarities, but women have breasts - being mammals and all - which are specifically designed for producing food for human infants. Formula is a very poor substitute that the World Health Organization has long railed against. It should only be used as a back-up and not a replacement for breast milk. The BIG problem is not that the formula industry is a virtual monopoly, it's that there is a formula industry.
 
Last edited:
women have breasts - being mammals and all - which are specifically designed for producing food for human infants.
sure. I don't disagree to the general idea.
the FACT is, however, that not every new mother is able to express milk. It's not like a factory.

My own wonderful mother WANTED to breast-feed, but was unable to.
My grandmother breastfed just fine and for a long time, probably to the detriment of her own health (but that's another story)

Some women use a pump because they have to work (because the US has a crappy support non-system) and the pump doesn't empty the breast efficiently. This can end up meaning that they stop being able to express any or enough milk.

The point is that society - especially US society - has no interest in helping women be mothers because it's not profitable. Women's health doesn't matter, Women's concerns don't matter. And family doesn't matter.
Only money matters. Welcome to capitalism
 
Formula is a very poor substitute that the World Health Organization has long railed against. It should only be used as a back-up and not a replacement for breast milk.

Not all babies are tolerant of breast milk. Unfortunately a large number of children are being born with lactose intolerance. My grandchildren are both highly lactose intolerant to the point only a single brand and specific type of formula can be used. While it is true that far too many modern day parents are simply lazy and self absorbed shitbags, too many babies would die without formula do to lactose intolerance.
 
Not all babies are tolerant of breast milk. Unfortunately a large number of children are being born with lactose intolerance. My grandchildren are both highly lactose intolerant to the point only a single brand and specific type of formula can be used. While it is true that far too many modern day parents are simply lazy and self absorbed shitbags, too many babies would die without formula do to lactose intolerance.
That fact, if it's really lactose intolerance, is alarming - specifically because human milk has a higher lactose content than cow's milk and we have millions of years of adaptation that makes human milk the most compatible for human babies. Either doctors are wrongly diagnosing lactose intolerance in infants or something has gone wildly wrong with our biology.
 
Not everyone has the opportunity either. Many children of my generation were put up for adoption days after birth, myself included. My adoptive Mum wasn't in a position to breast feed.
Not all babies are tolerant of breast milk.
 
a large number of children are being born with lactose intolerance
:eek: where are you getting THAT??

anyway, when I was a baby I didn't tolerate cow milk very well, apparently and got "colic"(as they used to say back in those days.)
Mom got some goats milk and I was fine with that.

I've never been lactose intolerant, however. I did drink some milk as an older child. But once I got to be a grown up I just stop drinking lots of milk and since the 90's drink soy milk because the estrogen is good for da ladies.
 
:eek: where are you getting THAT??

anyway, when I was a baby I didn't tolerate cow milk very well, apparently and got "colic"(as they used to say back in those days.)
Mom got some goats milk and I was fine with that.

I've never been lactose intolerant, however. I did drink some milk as an older child. But once I got to be a grown up I just stop drinking lots of milk and since the 90's drink soy milk because the estrogen is good for da ladies.

The sample size in my circle of friends and family show a disproportionate number of lactose intolerance babies/children. Heck, it extends beyond kids but they are most vulnerable. Next time you are in a major grocery store check out how many options there are for lactose free milk and ice cream. I'd also say baby formula, but obviously there are mostly empty shelves right now.

When it comes family there's the mention grandkids. They were started off exclusively breast fed, but at a certain point vey early on they couldn't keep any breast milk down. It was a doctor who diagnosed it. The parents wanted to breast feed for health benefits. As they get/got older they can't tolerate anything with lactose in it.
 
The sample size in my circle of friends and family show a disproportionate number of lactose intolerance babies/children. Heck, it extends beyond kids but they are most vulnerable. Next time you are in a major grocery store check out how many options there are for lactose free milk and ice cream. I'd also say baby formula, but obviously there are mostly empty shelves right now.

When it comes family there's the mention grandkids. They were started off exclusively breast fed, but at a certain point vey early on they couldn't keep any breast milk down. It was a doctor who diagnosed it. The parents wanted to breast feed for health benefits. As they get/got older they can't tolerate anything with lactose in it.
how very weird. Is there something in the water around your area? (that's a joke, BTW)

BTW, yes, I see milk substitutes in the store, just like I see products that claim to be for people who are glucose intolerant. Lots of that is just marketing. There ARE people who can't tolerate glucose, but not the majority. Thinks like almond milk are mostly just interesting tasting drinks (and often overpriced).

it's possible your case is inherited
 
Last edited:
it's possible your case is inherited

AFAIK no one my generation or older in the family lines had lactose intolerance. Only one of my kids had an issue, but it was milder than my grandkids.

I do think there is something people are exposed to causing the problem to become more much more prevalent. Growing up I don't think I ever knew of someone intolerant. As an adult I've known many, many kids. Vaccines are the easy go-to, but I have no data. It could be so many things that were not around before my generation were born.
 
AFAIK no one my generation or older in the family lines had lactose intolerance. Only one of my kids had an issue, but it was milder than my grandkids.

I do think there is something people are exposed to causing the problem to become more much more prevalent. Growing up I don't think I ever knew of someone intolerant. As an adult I've known many, many kids. Vaccines are the easy go-to, but I have no data. It could be so many things that were not around before my generation were born.
It could also be that it has become a fashionable diagnosis which lets doctors put people on treatments that have been promoted to them (and which they may also be receiving kick backs).
 
It could also be that it has become a fashionable diagnosis which lets doctors put people on treatments that have been promoted to them (and which they may also be receiving kick backs).

There is no financial incentive.

Baby always spits up breast milk.
Baby gets skinny, malnutrition and dehydrated.
Doctor diagnoses and recommends cutting out all dairy with lactose, including breast milk.
Parents buy lactose free formula from regular stores.

There's no financial incentive for the doctor.
 
There is no financial incentive.

Baby always spits up breast milk.
Baby gets skinny, malnutrition and dehydrated.
Doctor diagnoses and recommends cutting out all dairy with lactose, including breast milk.
Parents buy lactose free formula from regular stores.

There's no financial incentive for the doctor.
Sometimes there are incentives, sometimes there is an environmental problem and sometimes a diagnosis becomes a medical fad - think trans.
 
Explains a lot why Nancy seems 2 sheets to the wind any time in front of the camera in recent years.

Nancy Pelosi’s Husband Paul Pelosi Arrested for DUI in Napa County


House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) husband, Paul Pelosi, was reportedly arrested and booked over the holiday weekend in Napa County, California, after driving under the influence.

The speaker’s husband was arrested just before midnight Saturday (11:44 p.m.) in Napa County and booked into jail hours later — just after four o’clock in the morning — on two counts, according to the Napa County Criminal Justice Network.

According to the arrest records, the two misdemeanors he was arrested for were:

(a) It is unlawful for a person who is under the influence of any alcoholic beverage to drive a vehicle.
(b) It is unlawful for a person who has 0.08 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood to drive a vehicle.
The exact details of the arrest have yet to be released, as well as the mugshot of the person arrested, a “Paul Pelosi.” However, as TMZ also reported, the description of the 82-year-old aligns with his publicly known description, particularly his birthday — April 15, 1940.

The bail was set at $5,000.

Paul Pelosi was released at 7:26 a.m., according to the Napa County Criminal Justice Network.



Napa County Criminal Justice Network

There has yet to be any official statement from the speaker, herself, or any of her children and immediate family at this time.
 
That'll upset the homophobes.
Or perhaps not. After all, Marjorie has some form in that department herself yet she still hired him. Whether that makes her a cynical opportunist, even more stupid than we already thought, or a bit of both is up for debate.

-EDIT-
I wasn't aware that Milo claims to be an "ex-gay". That just makes the whole farce even funnier.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top