My husband and I took our daughter to a local “green babies” expo. According to the advertisement, it is “An Earth-friendly family festival creating awareness about cloth-diapering and green parenting.” The event was targeted toward parents of small children and expectant parents, as it was one of the Great Cloth Diaper Change locations. 

When we arrived at the event, every family was given a door bag…sponsored by Enfamil. In each bag, was a huge sample of newborn formula, as well as a secondary sample hidden in another bag. The bags were given away by Enfamil reps. The rep pointed out the formula to me and encouraged me to take it for myself (even though my 16 pound, six-month old baby is no newborn) or to give it to a friend. I handed back the huge formula sample and politely said that I didn’t need it. Later, I opened the bag and founded the hidden secondary sample.

It’s a day later and I am still stewing about this damn formula giveaway.

I know that many people choose to or need to use formula and that is a valid choice for their families and situations. But I hate how many places give away formula to new and expectant moms, especially places that you don’t expect - like green parenting fairs, my own gynecologist’s office, and even in my mail. To me, it’s incredibly wasteful. I have a huge bag of formula that I will never use, which I plan to turn in to a food shelf. But it’s also a lot of strong-arming on the part of the formula companies. I’ve never been marketed to this aggressively for one food product.