A food industry newsletter recently carried a story about Nestle, who — stung by the criticism leveled at them for their predatory water bottling practices — were mounting a public relations counter-offensive.
Apparently, that’s easier than fixing the problems that got them in hot water to begin with, but if you want to read an intelligent writer’s take on Nestle’s problems with the town of Fryeburg, Maine, then consider Elizabeth Royte’s soon-to-be-available book: Bottlemania
You can read an excerpt here. Frankly, it looks like fascinating stuff, and Royte is heavy hitter, with credits from Harper’s, National Geographic, Outside, The New York Times Magazine, the New York Times Book Review, and OnEarth.
See you in Maine, Tom Chandler.
Technorati Tags: bottlemania,elizabeth royte,nestle waters,bottled water,fryeburg,multinational predator
I just read a book review of Elizabeth’s book in Tuesdays issue of the Wall Street Journal. Matthew Rees was less than kind in saying that the storyline is filled with all the suspects one expects to find in a dispute like the one in Fryeburg: The greedy multi-national (Nestle); the pure-as-snow citizen activists who worry about landfills and non-biodegradable containers; and the local authorities, thirsty for revenue, who are alleged to be caught in the web of conflicts. Somebody should set this guy straight. What Elizabeth says about the happenings in Fryeburg are all true and then some! I’ll bet this guy drinks bottled water. In my opinion, her book is well worth reading. Everyone who drinks water, period! should beware of what is taking place all over the world. Pass this on: DO NOT BUY BOTTLE WATER!!!
Andrew(Quote)
Andrew: I have a copy of Elizabeth’s book for review, and hope to have it read and reviewed in a week or so.
What I’ve read so far seems pretty even-handed; that the players tend to conform to Mr. Rees’ own stereotypes doesn’t mean they’re not real.
Everything I’ve seen in McCloud tends to confirm what she’s writing about in Fryeburg.
Tom Chandler(Quote)
I agree. She’s fair and writes about both sides of the issue. I guess you have to live in small town America to understand the politics of it.
Andrew(Quote)
You seen this yet?
Community Wins Round Against Nestle
Tom Chandler(Quote)
Thanks Tom, I had already read about it thanks to this site and others. We are hoping for the best in Fryeburg. Nestle/Poland Sting have a new website with all of their honest and true information readily available to the public. Several very good letters to the editor appeared in the Conway Daily Sun recently. One singing the praises of one of our really honest Selectmen, and he is!) in response to a last minute effort by a group who is in opposition of what we are doing, trying to pass a referendum question to oust any Selectmen without just cause. This one in particular. He’s been fair and honest and has backed us up in the fight against Nestle. They will stop at nothing to get their way.
Andrew(Quote)
Andrew: We’re looking at the selectman issue in your area. It sounds eerily familiar to what’s happened in McCloud.
As for the Nestle site, I’ve been there and laughed openly at some of the purported “benefits” to the town.
Simply put — and despite many Nestle-written words — there aren’t any.
Tom Chandler(Quote)
Town meeting is over and the good old boys won this round. I read recently that Nestle bought off the Fryeburg Rescue with $35,000 worth of defibrillators and donated another $30,000 to fund the installation of weirs on Ward’s Brook. Our(and I use the term loosely) Water District Board claims that after they reviewed several engineering proposals, they selected Wright Pierce to do the engineering. Peter Garrett of Emery & Garrett will oversee the entire project. All three attached in some way, shape or form to Nestle. Surprise, surprise! On top of that one of our local celebrities, a Mr. Hugh Hastings, brother of the Hastings Law Office family, was caught stuffing Poland Spring propaganda into the local Conway Daily Sun. He scrawled across the top of at least 50 papers, “An Interesting Article.” It was written by the superintendent of the Hollis Bottling Plant,raving about the wonders of Poland Spring. Interestingly enough, Mr. Hastings didn’t even get a slap on the wrist. Instead the paper said how happy they were that he felt they had such great circulation that he chose their paper. It is against the law, yet he promised never to do it again and he was off the hook. Will wonders never cease?
Andrew(Quote)
Get a life – there are children in this country who don’t get enough to eat every day and the enemy you choose is bottled water???
If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. Don’t drink it.
Meanwhile, get off the keyboard and do something worthwhile for humanity.
Mother T.(Quote)
Mother: Let Nestle privatize the water, and those kids will be thirsty too. More worthwhile than trolling blogs.
Tom Chandler(Quote)
Here’s a quote from the front page of the business section of today’s paper, the largest circulation in Maine. With the comments below, then why is Nestle suing the town of Fryeburg, yet again!
This opposition to an industry long associated with good health and purity has surprised officials at Maine’s big bottled water player, Poland Spring, which has responded by increasing its public-relations efforts and saying it might have to leave the state to develop new water sources.
“We don’t want to do that, but we may be forced to,” said Poland Spring Natural Resource Director Mark Dubois, who handles site development out of the company’s headquarters in Poland Spring. “We’re going to go where we can do business. We’re going to go where people look at facts, not emotions.”
Reid(Quote)
Mother T. – Dont forget that Nestle is also the largest producer of food in the world. Without water, Nestle can not produce any of their products. So no wonder they want to tap in to as many places as possible. This argument goes much further than people “not buying bottled water”. Nestle, a multinational corporation, wants to stake a claim in as many places as possible to ensure they can continue and grow thier business. And they certainly dont care about who they trample on, starve or dehydrate to get what they want.
wells woman(Quote)