What does breastfeeding have to do with the infant-formula shortage?

The sharpest opinions on the debate from around the web

A baby bottle.
(Image credit: Illustrated | iStock)

President Biden this week invoked the Defense Production Act to speed up infant-formula production, part of a broader effort to address a shortage that has sent many parents dashing from store to store to find what they need to feed their babies. Biden's order requires suppliers to fulfill orders from baby-formula producers before other customers. He also authorized the Defense Department to use commercial aircraft to help bring in more imports from overseas, and the Food and Drug Administration reached a deal with Abbott Nutrition to reopen its baby formula factory, which was shut down in February over safety concerns, intensifying a crisis started by knotted supply chains.

But the crisis has ignited a heated debate over whether encouraging more people to breastfeed would ease the crisis. Bette Midler faced an angry backlash online after tweeting that breastfeeding was parents' best way out of the formula shortage because it's "free and available on demand." Critics called her advice "profoundly offensive and ignorant," noting that there are "countless reasons" why breastfeeding isn't best, or even possible, for many mothers.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.