In the October 2017 issue of Breastfeeding Medicine (vol. 12, no. 8, pp. 489–492, DOI: 10.1089/bfm.2017.0088), in the article entitled “First Food Justice: Infant Feeding Disparities and the First Food System” by Dr. Erica Morrell, in-text citations concerning Kimberly Seals Allers' research were made for clarity. On pp.491–492, the text has been clarified as follows:
In fact, broader forces present such consistently large obstacles to breastfeeding success in predominantly black and also low-income areas of the United States that these places are often classified as “first food deserts,” a term coined by Kimberly Seals Allers based on her community projects in Birmingham, Alabama, Jackson, Mississippi, and New Orleans, Louisiana. According to Seals Allers' research, funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, a first food desert was defined as a geographic area where social and economic dynamics unequally constrain breastfeeding when compared with other locations. For example, in her work in these cities, she found common similarities in cities with high black populations and low breastfeeding rates: no Baby-Friendly hospitals within a 35-minute commute; 50% or more of employers have no breastfeeding policy or places to nurse/express milk; 30% or more of childcare facilities are untrained to handle expressed milk; 50% or more of the public reports feeling uncomfortable when seeing a woman breastfeed; and there is a persistent and widespread lack of culturally relevant healthcare support, peer support, and public spaces that facilitate breastfeeding.13 Where you live and work, then, unequally impact what you feed and how you eat (Seals Allers).
13. Seals Allers K. The Big Letdown: How Medicine, Big Business, and Feminism Undermine Breastfeeding. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press, 2017.
The online version of the article has been corrected to reflect this change.
Dr. Erica Morrell apologizes for the lack of clarity and detail in the previously published text.
