The national baby formula shortage is getting worse over time, not better. NPR. One month ago the out of stock rate for baby formula nationally was 40%. That number at the end of last week was 73.6%. Not a single state was below 45% while some states, such as Arizona, California, Mississippi and Georgia had rates around 95%. The shortage is mostly affecting the poor as most baby formula in America is purchased through WIC, a nutritional program for poor people. African Americans are also being disproportionately affected as breast feeding rates are the lowest among that ethnic group. The shortage has become acute since Abbot Laboratories recalled baby formula. They are supposed to begin production again in a few days but it will take six to eight weeks for the formula to reach stores.
My Comment:
What an absolute embarrassment for the United States. Not being able to feed our babies is something that shouldn't happen in the most powerful and rich country in the world. It's something I don't think has ever happened in our history and it's disgusting.
I actually had someone argue with me on Twitter a while back. This person said that the baby formula shortage was a media creation and simply wasn't happening. How anyone could say that is beyond me. I have seen my friends with babies complaining about the issue. And I have seen the bare shelves in my local stores myself. This is a real issue and it is one that could end up killing children.
The government does not seem to be doing all that much to stop it either. I know Biden has authorized the Defense Production Act to try and increase production and he has imported a small amount of formula from foreign companies but neither effort has made much of a difference, if they made any difference at all.
What is worse is that Biden admits that he wasn't aware of the issue until April, two months after Abbot Laboratories closed down. Manufactures were sounding the alarm in February but Biden didn't even hear about the shortage until April, after the situation was totally out of control? It does not speak well of the competence of Biden administration at all.
The NPR article pointed out a few things I didn't realize about this shortage. I didn't know that it was ethnic minorities and poor people that were most likely to use formula. You could debate about why that is, but the fact of the matter is that the Democrats are betraying their most loyal voters with this issue.
It doesn't seem like the issue will be solved anytime soon. Abbot Laboratories is not going to get up and running for a few days yet and even after that it will take a long time for the product to get shipped out. And it's also true that it's not just Abbot Laboratories that is at fault here, the rest of the industry is having the same problems with getting supplies and shipments as every other industry is having right now.
Still, it's shameful that this is a problem at all. Something has gone terribly wrong where this issue could even come up. Are too many women not breast feeding? Why is the industry so affected by just one manufacturer going down? Why haven't imports actually helped? I don't think we will get the answers for any of these questions anytime soon.
The real question is if this situation will get worse before it gets better. Shelves are bare right now and it's a nightmare to get formula but you can still get it if you work hard for it. What happens if that is no longer the case? If this shortage does get any worse I fear that children can and will starve..
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