An Interview With Gabrielle Palmer, Campaigner Author and Nutritionist, Who Learned From Women Around the World

Abstract

Gabrielle Palmer has written, taught, and campaigned about infant nutrition issues, particularly the unethical marketing of baby foods, since the 1970s. Her seminal book, The Politics of Breastfeeding: When Breasts are Bad for Business, has guided many breastfeeding advocates for over 40 years through three editions and multiple printings. As a breastfeeding counsellor during the 1970s, she helped establish the United Kingdom’s advocacy pressure group Baby Milk Action. She worked as a volunteer in Mozambique during the 1980s. During the 1990s she co-directed the International Breastfeeding Practice and Policy course at the Institute of Child Health, University College London, until she went to live for 2 years in China. Over the years, she has worked for various health and development agencies, including serving as HIV and Infant Feeding Officer for the United Nations Children’s Fund, New York, and also taught at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). She is a mother and a grandmother. (This is a verbatim interview that has been edited for readability: MA = Maryse Arendt; GP = Gabrielle Palmer).