UPDATE: Hingham and WOBURN MA Whole Foods Nurse In/Celebration 8/20

[jessjgh1]

I'm passing on this information

(Utah) Media Coverage:  http://connect2utah.com/news-story/?watch=1&nxd_id=157177

Blog- highlights what happened, progress towards resolving the issue, contact info, etc.: http://wholebabyfoods.blogspot.com/

Facebook Page (National):  https://www.facebook.com/WFNationalNurseIn?sk=wall

Hingham, MA Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=255505677793042

UPDATE  Another MA location added-- Woburn MA

Woburn MA Event Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=270997139580745

MA Facebook Group:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/207846819267319/

Press Release - next post

Hello Everybody!

As the event grows nearer, we wanted to ask for everyone's help in making this an enlightening and educational experience.

• Please send the press release to as much of your local media as possible.  Most media organizations (TV news, newspapers, etc) have a way to submit tips or story ideas online.  Some list an email address where you can send the release.  Some only have forms to submit your story idea.  If this is the case, copy the whole release (except the picture) and paste it in the proper submission field.  If you need us to send you the press release, just ask!  
• Share a link to the the national nurse-in page on your Facebook wall and on your other social networking sites.  (Daily, if possible!)
• RSVP to the event you will be attending and invite friends to that event.
• You don't have to be a nursing mom or even a woman to attend and support the nurse-in.
• Feel free to make signs for the nurse-in so that people know why you are there.
• While many local marketing managers have said that they are "welcoming the nurse-in," and that "WFM welcomes nursing mothers" it is important to remind them that if that is really true, they will personally take action to support the corporate approval of an official policy that supports breastfeeding.
• Rudeness & aggression will not serve our purpose.  Do everything you can to ensure that this event is a positive, uplifting, educational experience.
• If you created an event and no one has RSVP'd, consider going to a nearby store.  However, there is no minimum number of participants required for any given location.  You can make a sign and go alone, if you like.  One is better than no one!!

Thank you for your continued support!  Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Edited by jessjgh1 - 8/17/11 at 8:34pm

[jessjgh1]

CONTACT: ANGELINA LOVE AUGUST 11, 2011
EMAIL: [e-mail] 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WEBSITES: http://wholebabyfoods.blogspot​.com/
www.facebook.com/WFNationalNur​seIn
NURSING MOTHER HARASSED BY EMPLOYEES AT WHOLE FOODS MARKET

National Nurse-In Planned to Protest Discrimination
A young mother was harassed recently for breastfeeding her infant at a local grocery store. 

A national nurse-in is planned for August 20, 2011 at 2 p.m. (PDT), 3 p.m. (MDT), 4 p.m. (CDT), and 5 p.m. (EDT) at all Whole Foods Market locations.

Angelina Love was shopping with her family on June 17, 2011, at Whole Foods Market’s Trolley Square location in Salt Lake
City when it became necessary to feed her son. Ms. Love and her husband were approached by a supervisor and she was asked
to cover up or move to another location because one customer had complained about her breastfeeding.
A security guard then informed Ms. Love that “more people were offended by it then not.” He added, “Look, we just don’t want
you doing it.” The Love family was harassed for more than thirty minutes while other patrons gawked and whispered, all due to
the supervisor's contradictory claim of trying to create “a family place for young children.”
Later that week, Ms. Love contacted Whole Foods Market's (WFM) corporate offices to make them aware of their employees’
inappropriate actions. Almost a month later, not having received a reply, she decided to write a blog detailing her experiences
and to plan a national nurse-in to protest the discrimination that occurred. Ms. Love also created a page on Facebook for the
nurse-in. Hundreds of women rallied to the cause, voicing their support for Ms. Love and their intention to participate in the
nurse-in. The page now has more than 900 supporters, with more than 60 events created for the nurse-in.
A week after going public, Ms. Love received a letter from the local WFM manager, Randy Bradshaw. Mr. Bradshaw defended
the actions of his employees as “appropriate” and explained that Utah breastfeeding laws “do not impact private property
holder’s rights to regulate how customers conduct themselves.” Additionally, others who complained to WFM also received
correspondence that defended and attempted to justify the actions of their employees. (Read Ms. Love’s blog to view
correspondence with Whole Foods Market.)
Within a few days of receiving Mr. Bradshaw’s letter, Ms. Love received a letter from Libba Letton, a spokesperson at WFM
global headquarters. Ms. Letton, on behalf of WFM, apologized for Ms. Love’s experience and expressed a desire to make sure
this didn’t happen again. WFM has yet to explain why its initial statements defended their actions.
Ms. Love told WFM that the purpose of the nurse-in is to convince them to support the healthy and natural act of breastfeeding
within their establishments by adopting an official policy and training materials to ensure a nondiscriminatory environment
for families who choose to breastfeed. WFM informed Ms. Love that they have always had an unwritten policy of supporting
breastfeeding, but that they are now working on an official written policy that has to go through a corporate approval process.
WFM has yet to ensure that mothers are not negatively approached in the future and will not provide any details of this policy
except that it “welcomes breastfeeding mothers.” Ms. Love hopes that the nurse-in will demonstrate the importance of this
issue, not only to WFM but to the community at large. She also hopes WFM will break their silence and issue a public apology
and statement affirming their commitment to truly support breastfeeding mothers.
####
If you would like more information on the harassment that occurred or to schedule an interview with Ms. Love, please
email her at [e-mail]. To contact local event organizers email Christine at [e-mail]

[jessjgh1]

This is a transcribed  'first response' from WFM below.  Thankfully, responses since this one have been more supportive of breastfeeding, but I hope this highlights why the Nurse In was organized initially.  WFM was not at all prepared to support breastfeeding or to respond to a conflict in a supportive manner. 

-Jessica

http://wholebabyfoods.blogspot.com/2011/07/responses-from-whole-foods-market-and.html

Sent to Angelina Love July 11th, 2011

Transcribed from the blog- any errors probably mine

"Dear Ms. Love:

I am writing in response to your letter of June 22, 2011.  We are sorry that you and your family had a bad experience on the night of June 17 at our Trolley Square store.  It is Whole Foods Market's sincere hope that every customer be satisfied and delighted when shopping with us. Sometimes, however, we are put in a position where we need to balance the desires of one customer with those of another and come up with solutions.  In this case, we had a situation where we received a complaint by a customer about your breastfeeding in the open.  In order to accommodate both your desires and the other customer's desires, Ms. (name removed) appropriately approached you and suggested that you cover your breast while breastfeeding because of the complaint.  While you do have a right to breastfeed your child in your own home and on publically-owned property, the right does not extend to private property owned by others. The law provides that private property holders, such as stores, have the right to choose whether to allow, prohibit or otherwise restrict the ability of guests or customers to breastfeed on their property.  If you check the laws that you and your husband mentioned, none of them impacts a private property holder's rights to regulate how customers conduct themselves while on store property.  In this case, Ms. (name removed) did not prohibit you from breastfeeding your child in the store, or even ask that you stop. Rather, she requested only that it be done in a less open manner due to the complaint.  While we are truly sorry that you took offense to this request, as a private business, Whole Foods Market must try to strike a balance among competing desires in this regard.  Please feel free to contact me if you wish to discuss it further

Sincerely

Randy Bradshaw

Store Team Leader

Whole Foods Market, Trolley Square"

[jessjgh1]

Another MA location added-- Woburn MA

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=270997139580745

[jessjgh1]

I knew there was a way to update the title... updating/bumping so people can see there is now one in Woburn, as well as one in Hingham.  -Jessica