November 13, 2009 1:41PM # The Hypocrisy of “Well-Fed Activists” By [Sallie James](https://www.cato.org/people/sallie-james) --- SHARE Speaking at a food security conference in Milan, Nestlé chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe today [criticized “well-fed activists”](http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/68865e24-cfbb-11de-a36d-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1) whose protests and lobbying activities have, in his opinion, held back the adoption of food technologies that could help the starving poor: > It is disheartening to see how easily a group of well-intentioned and well-fed activists can decide about new technologies at the expense of those who are starving. Nestlé has been subject to intense [criticism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestl%C3%A9#Controversy_and_criticism) in recent years, primarily over its strategies to sell infant formula in developing countries, but I think Mr. Brabeck-Letmathe is spot-on here. [Penn](https://www.cato.org/people/penn-jillette) & [Teller](https://www.cato.org/people/-teller) made a similar, if more forcefully put, point in the last few seconds of [this](http://www.blinkx.com/video/penn-teller-bullshit-eat-this/d4qU8xUIrDZGrVXjjApcLA) excellent video (warning: language may be offensive to some). [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).