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Instructor
Original Poster
#1 Old 24th Sep 2008 at 10:20 PM
Default PETA asks Ben & Jerry's to use human breast milk in ice cream
I read a story today about PETA writing a letter to Ben & Jerry's asking them to use human breast milk in their ice cream claiming health benefits. They also mention a restaurant in Switzerland is introducing a new menu that uses 75% human breast milk in their soups, stews, and sauces. They're claiming feeding cow's milk to children will play a role in setting the child up for obesity, heart disease, juvenile diabetes, and anemia. Ben & Jerry's has already released this statement: "We applaud PETA's novel approach to bringing attention to an issue, but we believe a mother's milk is best used for her child."

Click Here for the Article

Going against previous posts i've made defending PETA, this past year has made me think they have nothing else to do than try to cause a stir in the media. I'm pretty shocked at the outrageous things they say. I don't see why harvesting human women for milk would be any better than harvesting cows for milk. Shouldn't a mother's milk go to her child?

Do you guys think that breast milk would be beneficial to use? Do you think PETA is too extreme?
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#2 Old 24th Sep 2008 at 10:25 PM
Ah, I can see women lining up like cows for the milking machines needed for the mass production of Ben & Jerry's...NOT!! Women are not animals.

While I respect some aspects of PETA's stance against cruelty to animals...this is nothing but ridiculous. If this happens (which it will not) perhaps we should form PETP. Not a bad idea actually.......
#3 Old 24th Sep 2008 at 10:29 PM
thats disgusting. the only one who should drink a mother's milk is her child.
#4 Old 24th Sep 2008 at 10:31 PM
That's...kind of weird. I'd definitely say that's extreme. A mother's milk should go to her child. The thought kind of freaks me out, that there'd be some kind of factory somewhere where they basically milk pregnant woman all day. What's next? Human milk cartons sold in grocery stores? No. It's too much. Children are going to end up drinking cow's milk eventually and frankly if the child ends up obese most of the time it's probably the fault of the parent. Until a child is around...11 or 12, depending, they eat what the parents give/let them eat. If the parent keeps their kid on a proper diet there shouldn't be any problem (unless you're like me with diabetes on both sides of the family, it's like a sick heirloom at this point).

Bravo to Ben and Jerry's for their response. Really now, is this really about the health of the poor defenseless children? My first thought was that their line of thinking was that milking a cow was cruel or something. This is a dumb thing to stir trouble about.
Lab Assistant
#5 Old 24th Sep 2008 at 10:32 PM
hahahahahaha...yes, even I as a nursing mother finds this ridiculous!
Field Researcher
#6 Old 24th Sep 2008 at 10:35 PM
Its not the fact its human milk that irks me, its that fact that human milk isn't seen as being hygenic enough; its obviously kept at a correct condition within the mother and then in bottles if its expressed (spelling?) - but there are no rules or regulationd dictating a) how it should be kept, b) for how long, c) where and d) side-effects - we know milk is okay for babies and toddlers but do we know what the effects could be like on adults?
Lab Assistant
#7 Old 24th Sep 2008 at 10:39 PM
Well i'm sure if it had to be used in a survival circumstance it would be fine, its called liquid gold for a reason....but its designed for babies, and well honestly its sweet but not like cows milk...its just...different but I'm sure harmless.
Lab Assistant
#8 Old 24th Sep 2008 at 10:45 PM
I read about this today and was just as shocked as you are. PETA is going nuts lately. I'm an animal lover and think they should be treated with respect. But PETA is too extreme for my taste.
And the problem of obese children is not milk, it's parents taking their kids to fast food restaurants all the time and not giving them proper meals every day.
Lab Assistant
#9 Old 24th Sep 2008 at 10:49 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Nikisha
I read about this today and was just as shocked as you are. PETA is going nuts lately. I'm an animal lover and think they should be treated with respect. But PETA is too extreme for my taste.
And the problem of obese children is not milk, it's parents taking their kids to fast food restaurants all the time and not giving them proper meals every day.


I agree with you Nikisha....Americans love their buffets and fast food....and televisions and computers.....
Test Subject
#10 Old 24th Sep 2008 at 10:50 PM
Quote:
Do you guys think that breast milk would be beneficial to use?


No.

Milk cows go through very vigorous health requirements. If a cow becomes ill, it can't give milk for commercial use anymore. If a cow is given medicines, it can't give milk for commercial use until it is proven beyond doubt that there are no traces of the medicin left in the cow's body. And so on.

Humans on the other hand smoke, drink, do drugs, eat utter crap like McDonalds (come on, cow fodder MUST taste better than McDonalds). All the poison that heaps up in your body goes straight to the breast milk.

Unless you live in a rural area and care about your own health, you might as well feed your kid pure cyanide - that'd be the merciful way to kill it.

Quote:
Do you think PETA is too extreme?


Yes. Not just because of this issue.

But mostly I oppose them for their hypocrisy, their cowardice, and their own abuses.

For example ... why do they throw paint at rich, single women running around in fur - but they don't throw paint at big, hulking, scary-looking bikers dressed from head to toe in real leather? COWARDICE.

Why do they claim to be all about saving animals, and yet murder thousands of animals in their asylums and shelters?

Why do they oppose the use of animal testing in medicin, and actually propose a boycott of those medicines? " Even if animal research resulted in a cure for AIDS, we'd be against it. — Ingrid Newkirk"

While I'm too lazy to look for the source and full name right now, one of the PETA vice presidents in the past has stated (not verbatim): 'Yes, I take pills for my diabetes that were tested on animals. And no, it's not hypocritical. I fight for the good cause. Those few animals who suffered for me are saving many others.'
#11 Old 24th Sep 2008 at 10:52 PM
What a stupid bloody thing for them to say, it's not the worse I have heard though.

Ironically when I read this I thought of one of their high profile supporters, Pam Anderson and her main claim to fame being her 'assets'.. so she's a perfect poster child for this campaign.
Top Secret Researcher
#12 Old 24th Sep 2008 at 10:59 PM
So housing and milking pregnant women dry for profit is more humane than milking cows through a harmless process, where afterwards they are let back out on the farm to graze and be happy?

I can't believe we're even having this conversation.

~* Childish, Eco-Friendly, Snob, Couch Potato, Inappropriate *~
#13 Old 24th Sep 2008 at 11:07 PM
This idea is quite unrealistic. Everyone here has made very good points on why this insanity should/could never be allowed. And where do they think they will get all this breast milk from? Even if these crazy lactating women want to donate, I really don't think it would be enough for the entire US or world for that matter. Not to mention the milk is not regulated (I imagine they would push for a notion to have it regulated though). Also, breast milk is extremely fattening, and that's its purpose, to make a baby grow fast and healthy. After a baby is weaned from its mother's milk, it no longer needs it like when it was a baby. This idea is just completely insane and I do agree that this is just something to get PETA back in the news and get some attention.
Banned
#14 Old 24th Sep 2008 at 11:25 PM
While interesting and not as bad as many would think, doing it on a large scale such as for a major ice cream producer is very impractical. They deal with very large amounts of milk and for that reason alone it's impractical. If Ben & Jerry's were say a very small business, say 1 building providing to a small area, it's more practical but most likely very cost ineffective.

OT: I'd also like to point out that women are animals, men are also animals, all humans are animals.
Forum Resident
#15 Old 24th Sep 2008 at 11:29 PM
Ok thats just gross. I just stopped nursing my daughter and I dont think anyone else should drink my milk but my daughter and future kids (if I ever want another one).
#16 Old 24th Sep 2008 at 11:31 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Safyre420
While interesting and not as bad as many would think, doing it on a large scale such as for a major ice cream producer is very impractical. They deal with very large amounts of milk and for that reason alone it's impractical. If Ben & Jerry's were say a very small business, say 1 building providing to a small area, it's more practical but most likely very cost ineffective.

OT: I'd also like to point out that women are animals, men are also animals, all humans are animals.


Ditto. I don't think it's wrong or anything, but I doubt it would work. If anyone ever did make human milk ice cream... I think I'd like to try it, but I'm curious like that. :P
Banned
#17 Old 24th Sep 2008 at 11:34 PM
yeah i'd like to try it as well, if someone were to make their own ice cream with their own milk then I don't see how it'd be a problem but really much beyond that it starts going impractical.
Undead Molten Llama
#18 Old 24th Sep 2008 at 11:35 PM
I think PETA started with a noble idea, yes, but then they went way too extreme. And because of the extremism, they put themselves in a nearly impossible position in terms of not being hypocritical. You can not wear fur, not wear leather, not use products tested on animals, not consume animal products, be against people dissecting frogs in science class, yadda yadda...but what about the bugs you kill when you drive your car or while walking down a sidewalk or while mowing your lawn? Bugs are indeed animals. OMG BUG MURDERERS! Yes, it's silly, but when you're an extremist -- about anything! -- that's what you set yourself up for.

Plus...Well, yes, they do seem rather attention-whorish, don't they?
Moderator of Extreme Limericks
#19 Old 25th Sep 2008 at 12:13 AM
To Saffy's point, how in the world would this even be possible? There couldn't possibly be enough unused breast milk in the world to allow Ben & Jerry's to use it in all of their ice cream, never mind the astronomical costs of trying to do so. And to happycowlover's point, what exactly would be the purpose of this? It's not as if milking a cow is inhumane, so from that point of view there really isn't any purpose in attempting to switch.

As an aside, I imagine that if this were potentially viable that it would be *disastrous* for Ben & Jerry's. Wouldn't they scare an enormous number of their customers away? I know I wouldn't want to eat breast milk ice cream... the thought is just unnerving and unappealing. I flat out wouldn't feel comfortable doing it, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. And even if that didn't scare off their customers, wouldn't the breast milk make the ice cream taste completely different...?

This just strikes me as an all-around terrible idea, and possibly just a ridiculously extreme idea for the sake of shaking things up... or at least garnering attention.

There's always money in the banana stand.
Mad Poster
#20 Old 25th Sep 2008 at 12:13 AM
I thought formula milk was invented because women could not produce enough milk to feed their babies. Maybe that's what PETA had in mind. lol. Anyway, they're insane.
#21 Old 25th Sep 2008 at 12:35 AM
Everything a lactating woman (or lactating person, as I have read that men can actually produce breast milk) consumes including alcohol, medications etc is absorbed into the milk glands and the milk that they produce.

Just thinking of the logistics of these 'providers' is mind boggling. Apart from the downright stupidity of trying something like this.
#22 Old 25th Sep 2008 at 1:01 AM
When cows aren't milked, they become restless and agitated. This is like if PETA were to say that shearing sheep is cruel.

And if I were to point the finger at a cause of child obesity, it wouldn't be cow's milk. It would be turkey twizzlers and the like.
Lab Assistant
#23 Old 25th Sep 2008 at 2:00 AM
I wouldn't be surprised if PETA had a book called "To Serve Man" in their possession.

"I am a fly in the ointment, I am a whisper in the shadows. I am also an old, old woman. More than that you need not know."
Scholar
#24 Old 25th Sep 2008 at 2:24 AM
turkey twizzlerts shion? wtf?!!?!
maybe itll work like sperm banks...go on your own free time and "get er done"
i personly dont belive this..i dunno..its so...out there...like...wow...
i call epic fail on peta
Instructor
Original Poster
#25 Old 25th Sep 2008 at 2:43 AM
Haha. I'm glad most people thought this was as ridiculous as I did. I think milking cows is a lot more humane than milking humans.

I think the child obesity thing has to do with what Americans are eating and the portions that they're eating. I work in a restuarant and whenever we get anyone from another country in, they always comment on how large the portions are, even if it's one of the smaller platters. I don't even know if most people know what a proper portion looks like.

The thing that finally made me lose hope in PETA is when they had nothing better to do than to criticize Jessica Simpson for wearing a shirt. And then they cemented it by trying to pick a fight with the American Cancer Society when they said Michael Jordan was a bad example for smoking cigars. Seems like they've turned into media bullies. Too bad they don't seem to care about the ethical treatment of people.
 
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