(Gen, did you hear about this on 97.9 this morning? I heard about it coming into work!)
This is a situation that is primarily dominated by a difference in modesty morals and natural thinking.
Personally, I believe that breast-feeding is one of the most beautiful, natural functions in existence. There is nothing more amazing than a mother feeding her infant child. However...
... I do believe there are matters of couth and respect for others that must be considered before simply partaking in this action. Yes, it's food for the baby, but it's also indecent exposure if the breast is full-on straight out in view. Cover it and turn it into something discreet, and that's fine -- but if you're even unintentionally showing my young children your breast, we're going to have a problem. There are also the options of breast-pumps and bottles, which are a convenient way to still feed your baby natural milk in public.
But saying it's natural, you also give me every right, if I were to so desire, to urinate in the middle of the floor while you're eating at that same restaurant, or to lean to one side and pass loud wind. Just because something is natural does not necessarily mean it belongs in the public view, or that it should not wait. You could say, "Rance, but passing gas and moving your bowels and urinating ... that doesn't compare!" I would say it does. 1) I'm secreting something from my body. 2) These secretions are important to a human's well-being. While the milk is important to the baby, the secretion of waste is important to me, getting poison and foul objects out of my body.
Yet, if I can wait to do these things... a mother can wait to feed her child, find a private place to do it, or bring along stored breast-milk to feed the infant.
I'm eating my steak and paying damned good money for it. I didn't pay to see you feed your baby. Thanks.