On Friday morning, I got on the computer, logged into my Google Reader and another website that I frequent, and within about 30 minutes, had found this story in three different places. For those of you who haven't heard it or don't want to go read the article, I'll sum it up for you. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) sent a letter to Ben & Jerry's, urging them to use human breast milk in their ice cream in place of cow's milk. Most of the reaction I read was along the lines of "Ew, gross!" or "That's sick!" or "Disgusting...barf!"
I was surprised and mildly amused at the reactions. After all, most of us have drunk breast milk at one point or another. I was surprised mostly at how fervent the reactions seemed to be. First of all, much of what PETA "urges" is very fanatical. Secondly, Ben & Jerry's is smart enough to not switch to breast milk because they know they'd lose a LOT of business. Third, although PETA is generally fanatical, this just seemed silly to me.
Speaking realistically, human breast milk does not contain the same nutrients as cow's milk. There is no vitamin D and not nearly as much iron. It is enough for a new and growing baby with a very immature digestive system, but not for a grown person. Human breast milk is flavored by whatever the human has eaten (this may also be true for cow's milk...I don't know). Dairy cows that have milk collected from them are bred specifically for that purpose, and are kept in a controlled environment with a controlled diet, both of which are consistent. They don't drink, they don't smoke, they don't do drugs, and they aren't out to make an extra buck. The reasons that I would be most opposed to switching to human breast milk is that it is significantly lacking in nutrients comparatively speaking (not that ice cream is hugely nutritious to begin with) and that the flavor and origin would not be consistent and could not be controlled.
That and it's just weird. Not gross, just weird. My tongue-in-cheek reaction, though, was "As long as the humans are corn-fed, I'm okay with it."
6 comments:
I saw this! So crazy! Yeah, when I think about the fact that I'm drinking something that came out of a cow, it's kinda weird, but it tastes good and is healthy, so I forget about it. I like your last comment about corn-fed humans!
Weird. That is all I have to say. And how would they get enought milk? It's not like women produce a gallon each "milking". :)
What woman hooked up to a breast pump isn't already tempted to "Mooo"? Besides if you can’t get a majority of women to breast feed for a year, there is no way you would get enough women feed the U.S.A’s Ben & Jerry’s addiction.
PS - as for the food-flavored milk I refer you to Napoleon Dynamite
I am one of those EWWW people. I stand behind it...breastmilk does NOT tast like regular milk. It would be gross. Period. :)
Can you just imagine the new packaging: "Now made with...BREASTMILK!" Ewww!
I heard about this too. Crazy animal protectors! That is the least logical solution I have ever heard of. What will they think of next? Don't get me wrong, I like animals and all but come on!
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