August 17, 2011

A dispute over breast-feeding at a Salt Lake City grocery store has sparked plans for a nationwide nurse-in this Saturday, when moms armed with hungry babies are expected to descend on dozens of Whole Foods Markets. Angelina Love, 23, was nursing her 17-month-old son while shopping at the Trolley Square store this June when an employee asked her to cover up. Another customer had complained after seeing Love feed her child with her tank top-style dress pulled down beneath her left breast. Love was shocked. “A breast-feeding woman is feeding her child,” she said this week. “She’s not exposing herself.” An employee explained that some customers found the behavior offensive. Several other employees arrived and said there were other places in the store she could nurse with more privacy, such as the café. They said they were trying to please everybody. “You’re putting shame on me and my family by telling me to cover up or asking me to move,” Love said she told the employees. The mother and employees couldn’t come to any resolution, so Love took the manager’s phone number and walked out of the store with her family. Now she is asking Whole Foods to develop a pro-breast-feeding policy and training that would prevent a similar confrontation from happening again. The corporation, which is welcoming the nurse-in, says such a change is in the works. “The bottom line is some people made some mistakes and we have addressed that internally,” said Libba Letton, a Whole Foods spokesperson. “This nurse-in is a great way to bring attention to an important issue.” Utah has one of the highest percentages of breast-feeding moms in the nation, according to the 2011 report card from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 85 percent of children are breast-fed at some point, with 61.5 percent still nursing at six months, compared to 44.3 percent nationwide. If Love returns to Whole Foods and nurses her son, she will not be asked to cover herself, Letton said. A complaining customer would be told about the policy. But Love said, “I’m not going to shop in that store again until they make it sure this won’t happen again. Nursing a child is normal and not something unsightly that should be hidden.” I agree, and to support that, I plan to be at Whole Foods Saturday to keep an eye on things.