Public domain Mom, should we be doing this here? image:41235:4::0

Here's startling new evidence City Hall is keeping abreast of the times After a winter with at least three reported cases of breastfeeding moms facing off against ill-trained restaurant staff, summer was sure to spike such cases.

Moving to head it off at the cleavage, Department of Public Health has launched a citywide initiative to erase any stigma associated with breastfeeding in public places.

The first step of this two-year campaign involved Toronto restaurants displaying a new decal in their windows naming them Breastfeeding Friendly venues. The voluntary initiative, called Breastfeeding Friendly. Anytime. Anywhere. will encourage the 6,100 restaurants throughout the country's largest city to post decals in their windows and register online to let mothers know breastfeeding inside is not only accepted but encouraged.

Mothers attending the program launch at Commensal, a downtown Toronto vegetarian restaurant agreed it was a good beginning in eradicating negative views about women's breasts.

Which only come up when said breasts are used for feeding offspring. Twirling tassels, crushing beer cans, decorating them with whipped cream and cherries is all just fine. But just try applying infant lips to nipple in public and it's like, Not on my shift.

To make it even odder, female employers caught in this situation have reacted as irrationally as the males. So much for sisterhood.

The first phase of the program kicked off with breastfeeding friendly decals put in all 1,200 city-run properties in Toronto.The final phase, slated for 2009, will target retail outlets such as shopping malls and big box store locations. Best news, the pretty decals are accompanied by information for restaurant owners on how to respond to complaining customers and the niceties of accommodating new mothers.

Under the Ontario Human Rights Code, it is illegal to prevent a woman from breastfeeding in public, but it shouldn't come to that.

We all started out hanging at the original milk bar, yes? Next time you see a mom breastfeeding, think back to the happy times when that was you and a boob never looked better.