is also joining the initiative to help raise awareness about the free individual subscriptions across the eateries in its network, and to offer all its restaurants a discount on business subscriptions for the first year.
“When it comes to creating a healthy environment for women, the restaurant industry has done an insufficient job,” notes Kalamata’s Kitchen co-owner Derek Wallace, who points out that many new and expecting parents feel they “have to choose between having a family or being in the restaurant industry.” Kim herself recalls feeling badly when she had to take breaks to pump as a new mom. “There’s a lack of empathy or understanding of how hard it really is to manage your [milk] supply,” she says.
VanHaren, who also worked in restaurants for years before becoming a mother, says a crucial step toward normalization is educating employers about how important it is for lactating parents to take breaks to feed or pump regularly.
By educating restaurant owners about postpartum needs and providing them with resources to ease the stress of baby-feeding workers, services like pumpspotting can help encourage honest conversations about lactation and build an atmosphere of empowerment and inclusivity that signals alignment with breastfeeding parents.
“It is for the benefit of communities because we need women to thrive,” adds Kim. “We need babies to thrive.”
Thank you for bringing this vital conversation forward! So important that those who work hard to feed our families have the support necessary to feed their own.