http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/food_and_drink/news/article358202.ece

Devotees of ethical consumerism were dismayed when The Body Shop was
sold last month to a company part-owned by Nestlé.

They may now have further food for thought following reports that the
company set up by the vegetarian trailblazer Linda McCartney is also
about to be swallowed up by the Swiss food giant, which is named
today among a top 10 of "unethical" multinational companies.

Ugh, I am so mad right now, it's not bad enough that Loreal brought The Body Shop, but now Nestlé are buying McCartney foods :gun:

Stupid Nestle. Their chocolates are the best though. I guess I should start eating more Hersheys.

I used to like a lot of Nestle stuff until I found out a few years ago that they had shares of Loreal, and I have never brought any of their stuff since.

I had one of those frozen Linda McCartney meals several years ago, and thought it was absolutely disgusting in taste and texture. Ever since then, I've never even considered buying another. :no:

I had one of those frozen Linda McCartney meals several years ago, and thought it was absolutely disgusting in taste and texture. Ever since then, I've never even considered buying another. :no:

me too--and i was suprised because they had come so highly recommended to me and i had a buy one get one coupon so i thought why not and imo it was awful just awful..have never tried it again.

Stupid Nestle. Their chocolates are the best though. I guess I should start eating more Hersheys.

Ew, crap. Don't eat nestle or hershey's chocolates. Get some real, honest-to-goodness, dairy-free chocolates, and enjoy the iron and antioxidants with your better-tasting, real chocolate.

Good for them! I don't understand why people get upset when big corporations branch out into vegetarian markets. Makes no sense to me... "No, No, don't sell vegetarian stuff!!! Don't sell anything good!!". I don't get it, but whatever works for you.

Good for them! I don't understand why people get upset when big corporations branch out into vegetarian markets. Makes no sense to me... "No, No, don't sell vegetarian stuff!!! Don't sell anything good!!". I don't get it, but whatever works for you.

I think I side with you here, kpickell, if it makes vegetarian food more mainstream and accessible, then it can't be a wholly bad thing! I don't buy from Nestlé as a rule, though.

I actually really like the Linda McCartney sausages - they taste okay and are widely available, and not too expensive (and vegan!)

Good for them! I don't understand why people get upset when big corporations branch out into vegetarian markets. Makes no sense to me... "No, No, don't sell vegetarian stuff!!! Don't sell anything good!!". I don't get it, but whatever works for you.

I think the problem here is the fact that, as everyone knows, Nestle is not a socially responsible company. In that case, why would I want to give them my money, regardless of whether they sell a few vegetarian products? There are alot of socially responsible companies that sell these types of products that are more deserving of our money, in my opinion. And it's not like Nestle are doing it in the public interest, or to promote vegetarianism. There's no doubt it's solely profit-motivated.

I think the problem here is the fact that, as everyone knows, Nestle is not a socially responsible company. In that case, why would I want to give them my money, regardless of whether they sell a few vegetarian products? Um, because we want them become more socially responsible. Boycott anything good they do, and they have no reason to change.

Um, because we want them become more socially responsible. Boycott anything good they do, and they have no reason to change.

I'd rather support companies that are responsible from the outset. Yes, we want Nestle to be more socially responsible, but I don't agree that giving them my money is going to have that outcome. It will certainly give them more profits though to continue to invest in unethical pursuits, that's for sure... At the end of the day, they are in the business of making profits. I really don't think we're going to make an ethical company out of them, no matter what we do.

I don't really get the boycotting of a whole company thing either, kpickell. I think it's much more sensible to boycott the products that are made in unethical ways.

My sister practically lives off these meals, no joke. I don't like them that much (except like the sausages) but they're good as she has very limited cooking skills (she's 13) and sometimes she needs to feed herself.

It's not the fact that Nestle have unethical products that's the problem with some people, for me personally it's that they own about 50% of the Loreal company, and so by buying ANY Nestle product you're going to be indirectly contributing to Loreal.

I just don't like to see every sucessful small business that comes along getting vacuumed up into the mega-conglomerate. When the number of real players in the market contracts, options for consumers tend to become worse. I fear that soon there will literally be only two companies left controlling everything retail, and our shopping choice will consist of the red widget from Time-Warner-AOL-Colgate-Palmolive-Nestle-Purina-etc-etc, or the virtually identical blue widget for 5 cents more from Proctor-Gamble-Nabisco-Hain-ClearChannel-etc-etc.

Hm..I'm not happy about the acquisition particularly, but I was never impressed with the McCartney's line. I was/am extremely disappointed that very few of the items are vegan, even though Linda was a longtime vegan. The dishes are dairy heavy. :(

I don't think I've ever seen a vegan Linda McCartney product. The frickin thai peanut dish has cheese in it or some crap! I've heard the sausages are vegan, but I don't think those are available anywhere in the US; they're definitely not available anywhere near me. :/

Ingredients are online at http://www.linda-mccartney.com/
None are vegan.

Um, because we want them become more socially responsible. Boycott anything good they do, and they have no reason to change.About the Nestle boycott, from Wikipedia: "It was prompted by concern about the company's marketing of breast milk substitutes (infant formula), particularly in Third World countries, which campaigners claim contributes to the unnecessary death and suffering of babies largely among the poor."

Talking in concrete terms, how is me buying a veg*n product from Nestle going to make them change their policy re: breast milk substitutes?

f**ksocks.

the linda mccartney sausage rolls are quite good, and they're probably the best on the market. (Actually, they are the best on the market, since tesco's attempt at making sausage rolls is rubbish)

This won't win nestlé any points. They're hated by ethical consumers, and the vegetarian demographic, would you believe it, is chock full of ethical consumers.

I don't think I've ever seen a vegan Linda McCartney product. The frickin thai peanut dish has cheese in it or some crap! I've heard the sausages are vegan, but I don't think those are available anywhere in the US; they're definitely not available anywhere near me. :/

Some products used to be. I never knew that Linda was a vegan though, I guess because her books were vegetarian and contained a lot of dairy, I thought she was vegetarian too! I know Heather is thinking of going vegan (she might be vegan by now as she is giving a talk about the dangers of milk next month in London), is Paul vegan too?

I think it is a great shame about Nestle. And so soon after The Body Shop being gobbled up.

is Paul vegan too?

who cares, he's a hypocrite who accepts awards from fur-clad queens :D

Nestle is the largest packaged food distributor in the world. There is no doubt in my mind that just about everything they do is socially irresponsible. I have no interest in supporting them.