Baby Formula Shortages Should Be Unheard Of, Right?
We have been conditioned that our society, superior product of science, technocratic management, and focus on the better good, is robust. The idea that food shortages are an issue in America is something that in 2018 people would have scoffed at. But now we are being conditioned for something else. This article is part of the supporting materials for our documentary Rationed State.
In spring of 2022, the US entered yet another crisis, this time baby formula was not available on shelves. The US had to airlift formula into the United States, bizarre version of the Berlin Airlift.
The manufacturer voluntarily issued a recall, but this is not what created the scarcity. Government, and the FDA in particular did. The manufacturer claims that they could not get the FDA to come to inspect the facilities, and their own investigation revealed that the source of bacteria reported in one infant came from the bottle of distilled water, not from the formula itself. The FDA claims that COVID illness, inefficient data gathering and poor communication with Abbott, the baby formula manufacturer, with opaque production methods caused the delay.
Despite the finger pointing, the FDA did little to accelerate the process to review and approve resumption of production. Currently the FDA claims that delays were related to in their own inability to investigate a whistleblower’s complaint. But shelves remained empty, and nothing seemed propel the FDA to take appropriate action, not even calls from the public.
Taking a step back, this is a bizarre series of events. The United States is unaccustomed to shortages, that is considered a third world issue. Yet here you had public announcements concerning the use of baby formula, warning mothers to avoid the tainted product. Panic rightly ensued as shelves remained empty despite Abbott’s insistence that their factory was ready to be tested and resume production. Soon public service announcements were made advising mothers to consult their doctors.
Imagine My Shock-
— Orange🇺🇸 (@Orangezipple1) September 21, 2022
Hey @HZardoz - The Wheel is being Greased 👇🏻👇🏻 https://t.co/n9PNYZYmGm
Mothers turning to their own resourcefulness, took matters in their own hands and began circulating recipes for formula. The medical community reacted adversely to this self sufficiency and advised mothers to not make any kind of formula on their own. In other words, do nothing until the authorities had a resolution. Public service announcements hit the airwaves urging mothers to remain inert; in other words, you were required to do nothing until you received the proper instruction. This learned helplessness fueled further panic, as discussed in our podcast Formula 51: Inducing Medical Fear.
We are being conditioned to not rely on our own resources. If you recall the United State’s WW II efforts, Americans were asked to rely on the ingenuity and plant their own food in Victory Gardens. Contrast this with the answer from FDA and physicians to not take action until otherwise directed. Manufacturers of baby formula that is exported abroad have also been denied the ability to spring into the action and temporarily supply products.
The fear created by FDA and the stasis of the authorities to resolve this crisis is used as an opportunity. Ignoring that they are the source of the problem, the government agencies immediately begin the mantra that more funding is required to re-engineer a system the is “sustainable”. In other words, by simply remaining silent about their own failings they now pivot this crisis into an opportunity to engineer a new future for us. The advantage here is that the panic is never really quelled, leaving many in a receptive state for drastic change that they normally wouldn’t consider.
In our documentary Rationed State: Victory Gardens, we review the differences in our responses to crisis and contrast the Victory Garden campaign, which called upon Americans to remain self reliant, with the COVID response where Americans were order to remain at home and do nothing. The result was disastrous. The same thought process is being applied to baby formula shortage. And we have been conditioned to remain in place until rescuers arrive, but the ensuing terrible results are then used as a launching point yet more interference, for more misguided policy and as we see with the Great Reset, a plan to completely prevent us from fending for ourselves. That is the true disaster.