Don't Go Green, Shop Nestlé

[phishtaper]

the arrogance of some corporations ... unbelievable ... Nestlé tries to bully local Guelph credit union into withdrawing support for reusable water bottle. Another reason to hate the most evil corporation in the world - Nestlé.

Credit union fires salvo at Nestlé

By Doug Hallett, Guelph Tribune

News

Sep 21, 2010

Meridian Credit Union is accusing Nestlé Waters Canada of “strong-arm tactics†in objecting to Meridian’s support of a local program that puts refillable stainless steel water bottles in the hands of local students.

Meridian, which has three branches in Guelph, has “ignored†Nestlé’s “attempts to interfere with our sponsorship†of the Message in a Bottle campaign run by Wellington Water Watchers, said Scott Windsor, Meridian’s vice-president of corporate communications. However, Meridian is “alarmed by Nestlé’s strong-arm tactics and attempts to direct the debate over water preservation in the region,†the Torontobased executive said in an e-mail to the Tribune.

Mike Nagy, a member of Wellington Water Watchers’ volunteer board, said Meridian isn’t the only corporate backer of Wellington Water Watchers that Nestlé has contacted.

“We believe this crosses the line and is very insulting to all the people in the community who have worked very hard in support of us,†Nagy said in an interview Friday.

Nestlé, “the largest food and beverage company in the world,†is “trying to discredit us and undercut us in terms of funding,†he said. “Nestlé’s tactics are disappointing and unfair.â€

The Message in a Bottle campaign, which provides stainless steel bottles at a subsidized cost as well as speakers in the schools on water issues, has reached thousands of local students, Nagy said.

Nagy stressed how much Wellington Water Watchers appreciates the $2,500 sponsorship it got from Meridian last year. “That’s 570 students we can reach. That means a lot to the children,†he said.

In an interview, Windsor said he contacted the Tribune and released letters that were exchanged recently between Nestlé and Meridian officials because he thought it was “in the public interest†to do so.

In an Aug. 18 letter sent to Meridian chairman Don Ariss, Nestlé spokesperson John Challinor described Wellington Water Watchers as “an environmental activist organization that is opposed to our business,†which includes bottling water in Aberfoyle.

The letter from Nestlé’s director of corporate affairs noted that Meridian “has every right to fund whatever non-governmental organization it so chooses. However, we strongly believe that organizations like Wellington Water Watchers should be funded through donations from like-minded individuals –not grants via our fellow members of the Ontario business community.â€

A response sent to Challinor on Aug. 29 by Meridian president and CEO Sean Jackson expressed Meridian’s “surprise and concern†about the Aug. 18 letter. Meridian is a cooperative organization owned by its 220,000 members in Ontario, Jackson said, and “we reject any attempt by any organization, including yours, to dictate the position we might make on any issue.â€

Jackson noted that the Message in a Bottle campaign has received financial support from the province “as being environmentally responsible.â€

This led Challinor to reply in a letter to Jackson dated Sept. 3 that Jackson’s “concerns about our interest in influencing who or what your organization supports philanthropically are unfounded.â€

Challinor’s letter of Sept. 3 also said that Nestlé “will not take a position with respect to our employees banking with your organization in our community.â€

Challinor’s letters suggested that Meridian’s $2,500 donation went towards work on a “re-engineered†Wellington Water Watchers website.

Windsor told the Tribune that Meridian contacted Wellington Water Watchers about this, as Meridian intended its $2,500 to go towards purchase of bottles, not improvements in the group’s website. A mention on the group’s website indicating that Meridian’s money had been used for website improvements was subsequently removed from the group’s website, Windsor said. Wellington Water Watchers representatives told him the mention had been an “oversight†and a “typo,†he said.

In an e-mail response to Tribune queries late last week, Challinor dismissed Meridian’s charges of strong-arm tactics. “It’s fairly obvious that no strong-arm tactics are being used,†he said. “The letter makes very clear Wellington Water Watchers’ democratic rights and Meridian’s democratic rights. We’re simply expressing our disappointment, which is our democratic right,†Challinor said in the e-mail to theTribune.

Windsor said the decision to give $2,500 to Wellington Water Watchers was made at the local branch manager level in Guelph. Sponsorships over $3,000 are handled by Meridian at the corporate level through an allocations committee. Meridian has corporate offices in St. Catharines and Toronto.

The two local school boards also received letters from Nestlé during the last school year objecting to the Message in a Bottle campaign in local schools. Neither board took any action as a result of getting the letters from Nestlé, said Maggie McFadzen, communications officer for the Upper Grand District School Board.

“We do have Wellington Water Watchers in our schools, but that’s an individual school’s choice,†McFadzen said.

Last December, Challinor and Nagy both appeared as delegations at an Upper Grand school board meeting over the issue of whether the board should restrict the sale of bottled water in schools. The board ended up rejecting the idea of banning bottled water from school vending machines.

[timouse]

interesting. is Nestle spokesman John Challinor the same one that is running for Milton council?

Nestlé spokesperson John Challinor described Wellington Water Watchers as “an environmental activist organization that is opposed to our business,†which includes bottling water in Aberfoyle.

...or Wellington Water Watchers is an environmental organization committed to not giving away our groundwater to a multinational that re-sells it for a buck a litre and returns very little of that money to the community.

[Birdy]

Nestle has nothing on Monsanto.

[Thorgnor]

Nestle specifically told African mothers that they should switch to formula because their breastmilk was deficient. What they didn't tell them was that you are supposed to use clean water, not what is actually available to these people, for the formula = massive mortality rates among infants. Oh yeah, and then there's sterilization, good luck with that.

Way to go Nestle! Thanks for all your help.

innovative marketing = profitable genocide