Sandra is a proud mom of two boys, a breastfeeding peer support volunteer, Masters student in Adult Education and Community Development, and non-profit sector professional. As a student at the University of Toronto, her research explored the historical and ongoing intersections between breastfeeding and climate change, presenting her research in the article “Breastfeeding and Climate Change: Overlapping Vulnerabilities and Integrating Responses” published in the Journal of Human Lactation in April 2020. The goal of her research is to urge health professionals, policy makers, and breastfeeding advocates everywhere to consider the systemic roots of breastfeeding subversion and work in solidarity with other anti-oppressive movements for common goals.
This presentation will explore the intersections of climate change and breastfeeding and map the overlapping vulnerabilities of both public health challenges, advocating for a solidarity approach to advocacy, social movement work, and policy-making. We suggest that by identifying the overlapping vulnerabilities described above we can promote the recognition of breastfeeding as an important climate resiliency effort, thus strengthening the case to mobilize resources and enforce policies for its protection. Key theoretical concepts introduced in the presentation include ecological public health, political ecology, ecofeminism, and reproductive labor. A case study is highlighted to illustrate the importance of social movement struggles for winning breastfeeding-friendly policies.
