Remember the Yazoo City Herald and Vernon Sikes?  He's the managing editor of
this small-town Mississippi newspaper who bashed the idea of breastfeeding
awareness month and the federal government kicking in his taxpayer dollars so
little Susie could eat "at the trough" in public ("Fed up with Breastfeeding
Week"/August 6, 1997).

Well, never underestimate the power of letters!  Ole Vern was deluged with so
many letters from all over the country he was forced to publis a follow-up
editorial entitled "Column response swift, certain," in which he printed
portions of some of the many letters he received. [It is interesting that the
Yazoo City Herald covered a recent WIC breastfeeding activity, and when the
photographer arrived he immediately announced, "I'm not HIM!"...we received a
very positive feature spread on this activity.]  Vern now has one of our
campaign posters, "Don't Shy Away from Breastfeeding" hanging on his office
"wall of shame."  Thanks to EVERYONE who responded!

A few choice quotes from his follow-up editorial column:


       "For the last week or so, I thought the furor had died down and maybe
it was safe enough for me to leave the house again.  Maybe mothers wouldn't
drag their kids inside, pull the shades and lock the doors at the sight of my
approaching Mitsubishi."
        "For two, maybe three weeks following my infamous "Fed up with
Brerastfeeding Week" column of August 6, I was a scorned man as letters of
protest arrived daily from all over the country, none of the complimentary
sort."

       "I had stepped on--women's and some men's--last nerve and, by crackie,
they weren't about to take it lying down.
       "The impressive thing is that the writers weren't your average, run-of-
the-mill yokels.  The letters came from people who write on letterheads and
who have business titles so lofty that I, to this day, haven't figured what
the heck it is they do for a living.
       "All I know is that I had some smart people read the column, which I
greatly appreciate, and that my assessment of National Breastfeeding Week
didn't exactly jive with theirs."

        "Commenting on my contention that the promotion of Breastfeeding Week
is a waste of taxpayer's money, Dr. Rebecca Saenz of Madison did a great job
of making me out to be the fool.
        "A mere $500,000 is little to spend on a program that encourages
mothers to breastfeed," she wrote.  "If every American mother breastfed her
baby for even just one month, the cost savaings of your and my federal tax
dollars spent on formula and medical costs for the illnesses mother's milk
could have prevented would be $478 million."

        "Mark R. Mills of Brandon wrote: 'As the father of three healthy
breastfed childrn, I found your negative remarks about women breastfeeding
their babies to be rude and insulting, as well as inaccurate...Perhaps you
will find it convenient to research your facts a little better before you
publish another editorial that demeans women who have chosen to do what is
best for thei baby despite the fact that some pompous ill-informed newspaper
editor may find it socially unacceptable.'"

        "Since I'd have to be completely out of my mind to dare say anything
more, I have only two words for whoever gifted me with the lovely picture of
a woman breastfeeding her child.
        "Nuf said!"

Cathy Carothers, IBCLC
State WIC Breastfeeding Coordinator
Mississippi State Department of Health