The Business Case for Racial Equity: A Strategy for Growth

Journalist and infant health advocate Kimberly Seals Allers breaks breastfeeding out of the realm of "personal choice" and shows our broader connection to an industrialized food system that begins at birth, the fallout of feminist ideals, and the federal policies that are far from family friendly. The Big Letdown uncovers the multibillion-dollar forces battling to replace mothers' milk and the failure of the medical establishment to protect infant health. Weaving together research and personal stories with original reporting on medicine, big pharma, and hospitals, Kimberly Seals Allers shows how mothers and babies have been abandoned by all the forces that should be supporting families from the start--and what we can do to help.

APA Citation: This study benefited immensely from the contributions of experts on the data, historical context, and policy environment in Michigan: Stephanie Quesnelle and Noah Urban of Data Driven Detroit, Amber Erickson and Jeremy Pyne of the Community Research Institute at Grand Valley State University and Karen Holcomb-Merrrill at Michigan League for Public Policy. National consultants to the project were Amber Ebarb of the National Congress of American Indians, Dr. David R. Williams of Harvard University, and Dr. Dolores Acevedo-Garcia and colleagues at Brandeis University. Original technical research for this study was conducted by Dr. Darrell Gaskin of Johns Hopkins University and Dr. Thomas LaVeist of The George Washington University, who updated and applied their models to estimate the economic burden of health disparities in Michigan.

WK Kellogg Foundation