"Some are driving several hours, only to find more empty shelves. Online, private sellers are gouging prices, marketing cans for double or triple their normal price, and many large retailers are sold out altogether. Since the shutdown of Abbott Nutrition’s Sturgis facility, other manufacturers have struggled to quickly increase production because their operations are geared toward a steady level of consumer demand, according to Rudi Leuschner, an associate professor of supply-chain management at Rutgers Business School. 'Some industries are very good at ramping up and ramping down,' Dr. Leuschner said. 'You flip a switch and they can produce 10 times as much. Baby formula is not that type of a product.' On top of the broader supply-chain issues that have emerged during the coronavirus pandemic, such as labor shortages and difficulty securing raw materials, the problem may be compounded by panic-buying, Dr. Leuschner said. Abbott Nutrition said it was doing everything it could, including increasing production at its other U.S. plants and shipping products from its facility in Ireland.... Some parents are researching homemade infant formula recipes on the internet, although health experts have warned that such formulas can lack vital nutrients or present other dangers."
Is President Biden doing anything to help? I searched the page for "Biden" and all I came up with was:
Republicans have seized on the widening anxiety among parents to blame President Biden, arguing that the administration has not done enough to ramp up production. On Tuesday, Senator Mitt Romney of Utah sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture, asserting that federal officials have been too slow to respond.
Is that the President's argument, that Republicans are politicizing something that he's helpless about? I suspect that if Trump were President, the NYT would craft its language to blame Trump.
I'd like to hear more about the homemade formula recipes? I looked and saw things that I know my own mother followed in the 1950s, with the key ingredient of canned evaporated milk. The NYT article conveys a warning that "such formulas can lack vital nutrients or present other dangers." Can? What nutrients can be missing? What dangers are there? How about printing the best recipe for homemade formula?
Breastfeeding is discussed in the article, but the NYT puts a social-justice spin on it:
The shortage has been a challenge for families across the country, but it is especially palpable at grocery stores and food banks in San Antonio, a Latino-majority city in South Texas where many mothers lack health insurance and work at low-wage jobs that give them little opportunity to breastfeed.
You'd think that would activate Biden and the Democrats!
Posts
107 comments:
There are several brands of formula that have long been approved for use in Europe and are not in shortage, but the FDA refuses to allow their import and sale here. This is, of course, typical of this agency, as the same is true of many medications.
Whenever there appears to be a market failure, further inquiry almost always reveals stupid government policy is a major cause of it. Markets adapt, unless they are forbidden to.
Homeland Security been shopping for the kiddies?
How about printing the best recipe for homemade formula?
WHERE is The Money in That? The NYTs isn't going to do something that doesn't increase ad revenue
Althouse wrote: You'd think that would activate Biden and the Democrats!
Cynically, the last 50+ years of social justice efforts (post Great Society) have been nothing but a grand manipulation of those in need. Democrats in power sought the outcomes they received: Manipulate the poor and uneducated to gain their votes. Promote abortion to gain votes from the most reckless voters, and simultaneously limit their numbers. Strike pay-to-play deals with business as they blame business for harming the poor (...errr...Clintons...err...Obama...err...Biden...). Set up the conditions for violence in cities and blame Trump. Per dogmatic and failure-bound "green" programs, set up the conditions for food and fuel shortages but blame Trump/Russia/big business.
This state of affairs follows from either (1) Keystone Kops levels of incompetence, or (2) Political gamesmanship by a truly evil group of psychopathic and narcissistic bureaucrats. Or both. This state of affairs goes far beyond a few accidental errors by professionals.
New Democratic Party Slogan: "My country right or wrong."
Solution to current issues: Reverse every single decision since Biden came to power and lay blame on those responsible for Trump era lies and nonsense.
The biggest baby formula plant is STILL shut down after the FDA shut it down because bacteria had killed two children...but it did NOT come from that plant. It's almost like this was planned. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10801581/FDA-refuses-say-baby-formula-plant-reopen-despite-companys-claims-facility-safe.html
Is Mayor Pete still on Paternity leave?? WHERE has he been?? He sucks at his job.
So wait we can't feed babies unless a major biopharma company produces more formula?
What in the actual F....
This is super simple:
- Prioritize the FDA and national health outlets to expedite clearance of additional formulas
- Prioritize the same agencies to give guidance on homemade varieties that are close to ideal
- Mobilize FEMA or similar to provide some form of local rescue guidance and options
It's a freaking shortage in the ability to feed newborns and infants. If you can't mobilize a response around that, you as an executive branch are completely helpless.
Biden's hands are likely tied by the tangled web of crony corruption he has woven, we need that guy from MIT to figure this out. But allowing the importation of baby formula from Europe seems out of the question, I guess.
https://qz.com/2163395/all-the-reasons-for-the-us-baby-formula-shortage/amp/
Maybe this article has more of an explanation as to why the US is in dire straits? If the focus is on the distress- it’s not allowing for the problem to be rationally observed? Hopefully, the feds lay off any farmer who sells out of his take. It ain’t formula, but it could help.
Personally, I never used formula. And even thought it was a learning curve(my 1st being a barracuda)- I appreciated the lack of snags in the supply chain. Maybe it’s time people started doing things in a more natural, biodynamic rhythm and stopped listening to what the smart people are always ramming down our throats. Meaning- simple living is actually less stressful and more wholesome than $$$ and status.
I hope this lack of sustenance issue resolved itself very soon. Watering down formula? The babies will slowly starve. Unreal.
Compare this to Trump's actions when they were predicting hospital bed shortages and a significant shortage of respirators. Bureaucrats are generally horrible in a crisis, and that is what the Democrats are. Bureaucrats.
I hope those needy parents will quit whining about the shortages. The adults are back in charge; norms have been restored; and no mean tweets. What more do those ingrates want?
There are too many examples of poor journalism presented here to list. But just to point out one, supply chain problems and labor shortages don't explain this if the manufacturers are maxing out their normal plants and are increasing production at other plants. So focusing on supply constraints is a distraction.
I'm no expert on the baby formula market. But what I see in this article is a smokescreen, no doubt intended to protect the Biden administration.
This appears to me to be a result of a demand spike that the producers weren't prepared for.
On baby formula?
Could it be the result of MASSIVE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION?
Can't say that!
Double and triple prices are good, not bad. It prevents hoarding. It's economists vs the world on this.
Jobs for illegal immigrant wet-nurses.
Press lactation rooms at work into service with an in-kind lactation tax.
How long do you have to be pregnant to produce milk? It might be under the abortion limit, in which case you can get a job as a cow.
WRT Formula from Europe: II expect demand there is steady and predictable. Thus, excess capacity is unlikely to be substantial. So there's not much surplus available unless some plant wants to run three shifts, presume it can get the inputs and get around local labor regs for an opportunity which may not last long enough to get the stuff onto a boat.
OTOH, considering who's in charge, it might last a very long time.
When pursuing ideology, especially one as culturally poisonous as Diversity Inclusion and Equity, over just making sure shit works, well here you are.
WRT Formula from Europe: II expect demand there is steady and predictable. Thus, excess capacity is unlikely to be substantial. So there's not much surplus available unless some plant wants to run three shifts, presume it can get the inputs and get around local labor regs for an opportunity which may not last long enough to get the stuff onto a boat.
OTOH, considering who's in charge, it might last a very long time.
I blame incompetence not evil. Our Dem leadership either does not have kids or their kids are well into adulthood. I think this issue crept up on them just like CRT and the education backlash in a separate context as part of the supply chain fiasco.
The formula issue does not touch them directly so they just don’t see it. It’s a problem for the little people.
Once again, we are governed by a the HR department that is focused on slogans and diversity hiring while the company goes out of business.
I blame incompetence not evil. Our Dem leadership either does not have kids or their kids are well into adulthood. I think this issue crept up on them just like CRT and the education backlash in a separate context as part of the supply chain fiasco.
The formula issue does not touch them directly so they just don’t see it. It’s a problem for the little people.
Once again, we are governed by a the HR department that is focused on slogans and diversity hiring while the company goes out of business.
Republicans have "seized"! Those lousy Republicans. But at least they didn't "pounce."
Hey suburban moms, this is what you voted for. Pay closer attention next time, and don't vote based on superficial and emotional reactions.
"Republicans Pounce!"
Page 4 in the playbook.
And just like that, Mitt Romney is a cynical Republican...
Certainly another example of why the NYT has become rubbish. Papers can present the news and give practical advice which would help the reader rather than create more panic (i.e. shouting fire in a theater).
Ann writes "You'd think that would activate Biden and the Democrats!"
How might the party of activists activate themselves on this? Given that their response to rising petrol prices was "Go and buy a Tesla!" I imagine that the response would be "Hire a wet-nurse!"
No mean tweets though, is it not clear this regime is pure evil,
Well. When you consider the value they put on unborn children this development can hardly be surprising.
I'll just put this out there. Have every illegal alien bring a case of baby formula across with them. Some enterprising coyote will make a fortune.
I've been wondering when the Mothers of America would find their breasts. I realize not everyone is pump-ready, or doesn't have the time to pre-fill oodles of bottles, but I also know it's done. I've seen it in my own family. Before this shortage ever happened. And once upon a time, there were no cans of formula to buy- so all of humanity did it the old fashioned way.
I suspect one of the problems with evaporated milk use today is that it does not contain any of the currently 'hot' nutrients of food types. For instance, there is no Himalayan Salt in evaporated milk, nor is there any sea moss. So many women on the coasts- those that still have babies- will not be able to use it.
Also, knowing how people like to hoard when they hear about shortages, I'm sure there's many people who have no babies at all, in fact may be protesting right now in front of Justice Alito's home, who are, on the side, online buying up formula wherever they can. It's apparently got more value than Ethereum today.
Anyway, Biden's steering of the economy coming out of covid, his shutting down our energy production, moving slow to ease up the port situations, not knowing how to work with other countries to push them to move out product, and just spitting out US dollars to black holes in Ukraine and other areas deemed useful to the administration has not helped any industry. Look around. Every industry in the country is either hemorrhaging business or cannot find employees, or simply cannot get it's goods in sooner than 8-12 months from now.
You think Trump would just mumble in front of a camera, then dodder off to one side looking for his wife's arm to steer him? He'd have so many people working on this. Just baby formula alone- he'd have factories in Ireland, Norway- wherever- cranking out cases directly for US citizens. Like it or not. It would get done.
In the meantime, people can now go to the trans women they know and ask them to start helping. They wanted in. Time to start giving back. Start with Lia Thomas.
Of all the stupid ways our country is being mismanaged, this is the most outrageous. How is it possible that a country that produces so much food that the government pays farmers to leave fields fallow in order to keep prices from collapsing can’t produce enough food for babies?
Isn’t there a limit to how incompetent they can be? Is there a limit to what Democratic diehards are willing to ignore?
Most of the homemade formula recipes I've seen have been very basic. Saw this one last night and it should be shared far and wide. Here.
Even if you can't get raw milk, it's worth looking at the different nutrients added and using that to add to evaporated milk. It's better than babies dying.
they had me at "Republicans have seized"........comes right after the debunked election fraud that was never debunked. Who debunked it? How much money did they spend debunking it?
Republicans have seized. The media doesny even try anymore.
Wheres Bobby Woodward? Wheres Jim Acosta?
Where it all started. From the archives:
"Last week, a once-notorious Iraqi site made news again. Seeking evidence of biological weapons production, United Nations arms inspectors swooped into the closed industrial facility at Abu Ghreib, outside Baghdad — the same plant that U.S. forces bombed on Jan. 23, 1991.
The Iraqis claimed in ’91 that the site was a baby milk factory and nothing more, a charge reported by Peter Arnett on CNN and then denied by the U.S. government."
http://veteransforcommonsense.org/2003/01/14/a-tragic-lesson-in-u-s-gulf-war-propaganda/
Ann, that Daily Mail article linked above is a lot more informative than the NYT. It doesn't make sense to ask if Biden is helping, because the administration is at the center of the problem. There's a fight between the FDA (i.e., Biden) and the largest manufacturer (Abbott) over the safety of a plant that makes a big portion of the US formula supply (and a majority of one of the more specialized formula products). The FDA found certain violations, and then the company shut down the plant after a couple of babies died of a bacterial infection. The company now says the plant is clean and that it wasn't the source of the bacteria, and that the FDA is keeping the plant closed. The FDA says it's not. It's hard to tell who's at fault here, or what the right way out is.
You think Trump would just mumble in front of a camera, then dodder off to one side looking for his wife's arm to steer him? He'd have so many people working on this.
Oh yeah, Trump is superman. He would force Norway and Ireland to make formula for us(Jared and Ivanka have it).
I remember how he kicked ass and kept all his promises. He repealed Obama care and replaced it with something so much better (the plan will be out in two weeks). And he fixed our crumbling infrastructure (that comprehensive plan will also be out in two weeks)
You peop.e are pathetic!
There is some fear that residue from the vaccine is present in breast milk and th this is harmful to babies.
It does not matter if this fear is rational or not, it could drive mothers away from breastfeeding to formula.
I was thinking of this the other day and wondering how big the effect was and how much, if any, effect this had on demand for formula.
I was meaning to see if I could find anything but got sidetracked. So pure speculation on my part at the moment
John LGKTQ Henry
Baby formula is a precious resource but at the same time a future environmental catastrophic agent.
If we can’t increase production, maybe we can reduce demand.
President Biden could with only his signature temporarily open up federal lands to abortion clinics.
Is not a perfect solution. I can already hear republicans pouncing.
wendybar said...
Is Mayor Pete still on Paternity leave?? WHERE has he been?? He sucks at his job.
He sucks at home too... That is; when he's not taking it in the ass
They are Literally, the only two things he is any good at
Everything good comes from government and the Biden administration up until the moment it doesn't; at that moment it's somebody else's fault.
Joe Biden: Competence, Compassion, Empathy.
If you didn't see that all that was a fraud before the election, don't you see it now? For fifty years, Joe has been practicing a lot of phony gestures until they are second nature. Now his routines are so threadbare that they are falling apart. But that's all he's got.
all of humanity did it the old fashioned way
At old-fashioned rates of infant mortality. Besides, we can't create a nationwide network of wet nurses overnight.
I’ve been told that it is wrong for women to have to drive for hours (to get an abortion). When it happens, it is an issue worthy of a call to arms.
There are several brands of formula that have long been approved for use in Europe and are not in shortage, but the FDA refuses to allow their import and sale here. This is, of course, typical of this agency, as the same is true of many medications.
Yeah! I remember when those boneheads at the FDA refused to approve that miracle drug thalidomide. It was available over the counter in Europe!
It's a freaking shortage in the ability to feed newborns and infants. If you can't mobilize a response around that, you as an executive branch are completely helpless.
Right now they are too busy mobilizing around clinging to their ability to kill newborns and infants, in the womb or out of the womb. Maybe they will have time to address this shortage sometime later.
"This appears to me to be a result of a demand spike that the producers weren't prepared for.
"On baby formula?
"Could it be the result of MASSIVE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION?"
Has there been a spike in "MASSIVE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION" you can point to that would support this as a reason baby formula is suddenly in short supply?
"Republicans have seized on"
The tell: when Dems mess up, the GOP pouncing is the issue.
Just a question and a couple of off the cuff thoughts from someone who worked in the pharmaceutical industry.
I assume Abbott Nutrition is a division of Abbott Labs which is a very reputable and well regarded company. This is no fly by night operation.
Every plant that I ever worked in was designed and built to be completely sterilized from top to bottom overnight. Bacterial issues are generally not very hard to deal with.
Every FDA inspector that I ever dealt with saw him/herself as directly descended from on high; a combination of Ming the Merciless, Happy the Clown and Anthony Fauci (but I repeat myself.) They make their bones by shutting down operations like this and damn the consequences.
If Trump was President that plant would be back and operating safely in less than a week.
1. Pandemic that mostly targeted the elderly and obese elderly. Government response is to put sick people in old folks homes and hasten their demise.
2. Second government response is to shut down society killing off half of small businesses leaving big chains free to make bank.
3. Third government response is to ban domestic oil production and kill pipeline projects sending energy costs into new highs, leading to runaway inflation.
4. Fourth government response is to stop arming Ukraine at the exact moment Russia begins massing troops on their border, the same Russia that Hillary arranged to give USA uranium reserves to, the same Russia that became among our top suppliers of oil and Europe’s main gas supplier. Delaying all sanctions on Russia until after the full invasion was underway and being very slow to approve very limited arms had the desired effect and is leading to widespread food shortages and depleted fertilizer production.
5. Fifth government response is underway: ignore mysterious explosions, fires and other damage taking place at food production and packing facilities worldwide including all over the USA.
This list ignores ancillary evils of Big World Government that have afflicted us lately such as pushing a “vaccine” by force that doesn’t work while withdrawing effective treatments and silencing voices who questions such perfidy, flooding the country with unvetted foreigners, and printing so many dollars that fighting inflation will be even more difficult.
To recap, the Global Elite who are pushing for a Great Reset in response to Brexit, Trump and populism in general was to create worldwide Pandemic, kill off the Old, kill off private enterprise, kill the dollar, create famine and panic, starve the babies and finish up with WW3 to enact permanent emergency rule over us. Or maybe it’s all coincidental.
Pestilence, War, Famine, and we’re waiting on that Fourth Horse to show up.
I wonder what Xi is going to do about that whole generation of restless disaffected unattached underemployed men with no prospects? Xi is ready for WW3 and we are creating a gender dysphoric US Army.
Wait a second I thought you people were free marketeers. Why does every little manufacturing problem need to be fixed by the president of the United states. Sounds like you people in addition to eating fentanyl are addicted to baby formula as well.
Why aren't these women breastfeeding their children everyone knows that baby formula is junk food for infants.
This is a heartbreaking story. I never used formula, breastfed my babies, and I can still find compassion for a family trying to feed their baby. This is so sad. I think of the ridiculous TP shortage and then apply those feelings to my child without food.
BTW, you must give birth before the hormones for lactation kick in.
"The NYT article conveys a warning that "such formulas can lack vital nutrients or present other dangers." Can? What nutrients can be missing? What dangers are there? How about printing the best recipe for homemade formula? "
That would require actual work on the part of the journalist.
"You'd think that would activate Biden and the Democrats!"
You'd think that.....but you would be wrong.
One thing that is becoming apparent is that the Biden administration seems incompetent at almost everything.
Biden should fund a wet nurse training program
Freder has to go back 60 years to find something that the FDA accidentally got right Even blind squirrels do better.
Just remember. Freder voted for Biden. His bicycle still ahs training wheels.
On a more serious note. Shortages like these are usually the result of third party interference in the marketplace. And by third party I mean government. Government is preventing the market for baby formula to operate.
Of course he's doing something to help. He's giving the money to arms dealers to Ukraine.
That will help if the nursing mothers is an arms dealer.
the response would be "Hire a wet-nurse!"
==========
I once knew boy from VA who fondly reminisced about his Mammy
As long as Hunter Biden's stripper kids have theirs.
Screw U - 'merica.
The Dems look at the formula shortage as post delivery abortion. Really, what's more humane - sucking baby parts out with a vacuum pre delivery or starving babies post delivery. Either course of action gets to the same place.
" Why does every little manufacturing problem need to be fixed by the president of the United states."
Not every little problems does, but some of his attention to the ones he and his administration created should.
"Yeah! I remember when those boneheads at the FDA refused to approve that miracle drug thalidomide. It was available over the counter in Europe!"
So the mothers can go pound sand because clearly there is going to be a rash of problems with European babies from their formula any day now. My bet is that the owners of the factories are careful to donate significant money to the Democrats to maintain this kind of market protection, and some of that money goes to fund trolls who completely lack awareness of how they sound.
30,000 mostly women and children starve to death every day.
They’re not worried about “missing nutrients”
They’re worried about zero nutrients.
"Is President Biden doing anything to help?"
Fascism (government control of private industry) is a slippery slope, Ann.
Government purchases nearly 2/3 of all baby formula at deeply discounted prices. Manufacturers hope to make it up in volume, but the margins are tight. Due to this government distortion of the market, making baby formula has thus become an enterprise in which it is difficult to turn a profit. No wonder there's a shortage.
"It's a freaking shortage in the ability to feed newborns and infants."
An increase in the number of abortions would alleviate the pressure. Clearly, Biden IS trying to help.
Most states (at least they used to) have contracts with manufacturers to provide formula through state WIC programs. I recall in the past that about 50% of formula sales were through WIC programs. USDA also seems to regulate which formulas can be purchased through WIC. Powdered formulas (like the ones produced by Abbott in Michigan) were the largest component not liquid formulas. So manufacturers produced based on state contracts they were trying to supply versus entire market. I did see at least one article that USDA was relaxing WIC requirements in February - but they would likely need to change regulations to allow for imported formulas. Been 20 years since I worked for Abbott but assume most regs still in place with similar restrictions....
Blogger Howard said...
Wait a second I thought you people were free marketeers. Why does every little manufacturing problem need to be fixed by the president of the United states.
Typical Howard who does not know why the FDA, which is subject to the President, has screwed this up so badly.
I heard Psaki yesterday at the press conference saying that the US government is working with the manufacturers and advising them on how to boost supply.
Seriously.
Like multi-billion dollar companies have never thought of that.
We're from the government and we're here to help.
JFC these people are morons.
"My bet is that the owners of the factories are careful to donate significant money to the Democrats to maintain this kind of market protection, and some of that money goes to fund trolls who completely lack awareness of how they sound."
Don't be naive. "Owners of the factories," and all big business donors to politicians donate to both parties. They want to cover all contingencies and ensure they can call in favors no matter who is in office.
"If Trump was President that plant would be back and operating safely in less than a week."
Yes, Trump the Magic Fairy who could ("if he was president") make all things happen.
Not.
Howard said...
Why does every little manufacturing problem need to be fixed by the president of the United states.
You are quite right on this. He shouldn't. Except that he, through it's agencies caused the problem to some extent by shutting down the Abbott plant.
What he, and govt in general need to do is nothing as in just get out of the way.
Re breastfeeding I also agree that it is generally better If the mother is healthy, not on drugs including alcohol and if the MRNA vaccine is not harmful and/or present in the breast milk.
But if the breast milk is harmful, even you would not want the mother breastfeeding, would you?
John LGKTQ Henry
And
Robert Cook said...
"Could it be the result of MASSIVE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION?"
----> Has there been a spike in "MASSIVE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION" you can point to that would support this as a reason baby formula is suddenly in short supply?
Are you saying there hasn't been a spike?
Illegal immigration soars under Biden to third-highest in 97 years
Just so long as no one has to pay more for vegan formula.
Are you better off now than you were two years ago, voters?
You can search “your_state wic formula” for details on which manufacturer has state contract and which formulas can be obtained through WIC. For example, from the Georgia site:
In Georgia, infant formula manufacturers competitively bid for the sole-source WIC contract every three years. Under this agreement, non-breastfeeding infants enrolled in WIC may receive either a milk-based or soy-based iron-fortified infant formula produced by the contracted manufacturer. Infants with special dietary needs may receive an appropriate alternative formula, according to Georgia’s WIC policies and federal regulations. A medical prescription is required in order for an infant with special dietary needs to receive an exempt, non-contracted formula.
So it is really not a free market for folks who can’t afford to purchase on their own without government assistance.
Just last year, the FDA and media were scare-mongering over homemade formula. And any company or nutritionist would be subjected to prosecution if they advised mothers on how to use OTS products to mix a formula since it would not have properly paid off the FDA for approval.
If babies suffer from this formula shortage, it will be as with all famines, due to the government's actions.
But no doubt, for a woman who is set on an abortion, she can go for a late term abortion and offer her to sell her breast milk. Planned Parenthood makes money on the part and she makes money as well.
'I once knew boy from VA who fondly reminisced about his Mammy'
You knew Al Jolson?
The “slowing” of inflation is only because it was unusually high this time last year. Slowed from 8.5 to 8.3%, but month on month, inflation soared. But piss on our backs and tell us it’s raining some more Joe.
Jesus, John Henry. You need a vacation. I hear Puerto Rico is a fun vacation spot this time of year. Jet Blue is running special packaged deals to all inclusive retorts.
"They are Literally, the only two things he is any good at"
They are literally the only things he knows how to do. Whether or not he's any good at them is anyone's guess.
"remember how he kicked ass and kept all his promises. He repealed Obama care and replaced it with something so much better (the plan will be out in two weeks). And he fixed our crumbling infrastructure (that comprehensive plan will also be out in two weeks)
You peop.e are pathetic!"
Again, I am not a Trump fan, but remember how gas wasn't 5$ a gallon, there weren't supply chain issues, inflation wasn't a problem, the US was an energy exporter, and Russia hadn't invaded the Ukraine? I sure do.
Blogger Howard said...
"Wait a second I thought you people were free marketeers. Why does every little manufacturing problem need to be fixed by the president of the United states."
Because you voted for this. Maybe if someone illustrated it on a brown paper bag with crayons you'd understand it.
many mothers lack health insurance and work at low-wage jobs that give them little opportunity to breastfeed.
Progressive prices (e.g. Obamacares), immigration reform (e.g. anti-emigration reform), and single-parent households (i.e. social progress).
Gas wouldn't have gone up as much as it did if Trump were president. We also may not have had the Russia-Ukraine war. Lower gas prices would have meant less inflation.
I don't fault Trump for not messing with health care any more than he had to. No need to reopen that can of worms and spend valuable time and money just to satisfy partisans.
"remember how gas wasn't 5$ a gallon, there weren't supply chain issues, inflation wasn't a problem, the US was an energy exporter, and Russia hadn't invaded the Ukraine? I sure do."
MeToo.
I was lucky enough to breast feed both of my children for several months. But not everyone can do this for a number of reasons, like inadequate supply, need to work, medications or health conditions, etc. And breast feeding is not easy! It can be very painful at first, you have to nurse the baby every 1-2 hours (even with raw, sore nipples), and dads can't take part in feedings until you have enough milk supply to pump and store excess. If you have to be away from the baby for more than a few hours your breasts can become uncomfortably engorged. Once the window has closed on breast feeding you can't just magically start it up again, although maybe there are hormone shots you could get?
There are homemade recipes for formula out there, which are probably not nutritionally safe over a long term, but certainly better than a starving baby. Although I imagine there are already shortages for things like evaporated & powdered milk at this point. And for babies with allergies or digestive problems there is no solution at all.
I'm not buying it. 100 years ago, baby formula didn't exist. We're supposed to believe that in one century, it became an essential item in the diet of infants? Milk a cow already, if you aren't one.
In looking around for more information I saw three pictures of babies and two of them had pierced ears and earrings.
What the fuck?
Don't be naive. "Owners of the factories," and all big business donors to politicians donate to both parties. They want to cover all contingencies and ensure they can call in favors no matter who is in office.
=========
fact check = true!
further fact check === not equally == also true
In that quoted section at the very end, what does lacking health insurance have to do with baby formula? Does health insurance actually cover baby formula?
My Dr. Banjamin Spock "Baby and Childcare" book from 1972 had a formula that I used for one of my children while living overseas. It was 10 ounces evaporated milk, 20 ounces of water, 2 tablespoons corn syrup, and that's it. The child this was fed to is now a healthy 49-year-old woman.
"Are you saying there hasn't been a spike?
'Illegal immigration soars under Biden to third-highest in 97 years'"
This is not a spike of illegals who have successfully infiltrated into the country. It is a spike in illegals encountered at the border--taken into custody or turned back--so where would be the likely connection between illegals and the shortage of formula? (And, isn't this a sign of success on the part of the president in successfully turning away record numbers of illegal immigrants--or, since they didn't get across, those who tried and failed to illegally immigrate?)
Howard, take your meds.
I'm sure they don't publish the recipe for formula because they don't want to be sued if a baby ends up malnourished.
But in general, I totally agree with you Althouse. Don't just write about the problem, write about the solution!
Is there a bear attack in the news? Write about what to do if a bear looks like its coming for you.
Someone dies in a riptide? Write about how to save yourself!
Someone gets struck by lightning? Remind us what to stay away from (don't seek shelter under a tree!) in a thunderstorm.
Hear what sounds like a huge explosion? Stay away from the glass in your house! Don't open your doors!
Come on, newspapers, make yourselves useful!
Someone asked Biden's new black lesbo press secretary if anyone was working on the problem, and she just laughed.
At least she was honest.
But there's $40 billion available to squander in Ukraine.
I guess Abbott wasn't willing to direct 10% to the big guy.
"On top of the broader supply-chain issues that have emerged during the coronavirus pandemic...
On top of the broader supply-chain issues that have emerged during the government's overreaction to the coronavirus pandemic...
FIFY
Howard,
Yes, Puerto Rico is a fun vacation spot not just this time of year but any time of year. I don't need to book a resort, I live in one (easels.stroke.pizza)
Where every day's a holiday and every meal a banquet.
As the song goes, I've been everywhere man.
But I always come home.
John LGKTQ Henry
If a baby does not have special needs, mothers should revert to a mixture of evaporated milk and Caro Syrup prepared at home. A generation of Baby Boomers thrived on this, and they can tell the baby formula industrial complex to go to hell.
"This is not a spike of illegals who have successfully infiltrated into the country. It is a spike in illegals encountered at the border--taken into custody or turned back--"
When the DEA interception of drugs goes from hundreds of pounds to hundreds of tons, no one seriously thinks they are getting better at their jobs. The logical conclusion is that a lot more drugs are being smuggled in.
so where would be the likely connection between illegals and the shortage of formula?
Border facilities holding migrant children are ‘stretched beyond thin’ with ‘profound overcrowding,’
"Supplies of water, fruit, snacks, diapers, infant formula and other food was determined to be adequate by the monitors."
This was last year, but I haven't seen evidence that the numbers have been decreasing since then. And CBP is required to maintain sufficient supply of formula.
I wonder how their current stock of formula compares to your local grocery?
Shelves and pallets packed with baby formula.
Not saying this is the only reason, but it doesn't help (but who cares, right?).
My head must just be full of straw instead of brains because I can't understand the thinking of the the experts who are quoted in the article. I'm remembering my kids as babies, and how they had to be fed every few hours, and they couldn't eat anything solid for the first many months of their lives. I can feel some panic even now, imagining them screaming in hunger if I had no way to get formula, or ability to nurse. But the "experts" say that I shouldn't even THINK of making a homemade formula? What else am I supposed to feed them??
The shortage and the idea of babies going hungry is horrifying and there’s much to be said about the policies that led to this and lack of policy making to solve it.
So what I’m about to write is not in any way meant to brush over that. Also not in any way meant to criticize individuals who use baby formula (as I’ve done myself, after breastfeeding my two girls intitially but then experiencing illnesses that disrupted my milk supply…and also in the case of my adopted son where it was obviously a necessity.)
But am I the only one that finds it odd and really disconcerting that humankind has become this dependent on factory made food for our babies?
Trump addressed the insecurity of single/central/monopoly solutions, just-in-time outsourcing models, incentives for shared/shifted responsibility normalized by labor (e.g. practical and actual slavery) and environmental (e.g. Green Deal) arbitrage, wars without borders with "benefits" (e.g. Slavic Spring), [catastrophic] [anthropogenic] immigration reform, and medical care financing (e.g. Obamacares) that are primary drivers of progressive prices (e.g. "inflation"). Also, elective abortion (e.g. planned parent/hood) of viable human lives for social, redistributive, clinical, and fair weather causes.
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