People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has asked the kings of ice cream, Ben and Jerry’s, to use human breast milk for ice cream. Read about it below.

PETA has reached out to the Vermont ice cream entrepreneurs Ben and Jerry’s, requesting that they start using human breast milk to make their ice cream and other dairy products. Their concern in large part is for the cows. It seems that cows only produce milk during and after pregnancy. Therefore, dairy farmers keep their cows artificially pregnant every nine months to keep them producing milk. Of course, PETA goes on to describe what a terrible life these cows have, being forced into a cycle of pregnancy and lactation constantly. Being a woman, I’m thinking of the mood swings the cows must be going through!

Actually, PETA’s argument for using nursing mothers rather than milking cows for dairy products makes sense in many ways. I certainly agree with the value and health benefits of a mother’s milk …. for babies. We all know that babies who are breast feed have fewer allergies and are healthier in general. I just have a bit of a problem thinking about drinking some other woman’s milk in my dairy products. Does it seem odd that would bother me more than drinking a cow’s milk? I don’t know if its odd or not, but it seems that way to me.

PETA reminds us that no other animal in the world drinks the milk of another species. Okay, I hear ya. But we’ve been drinking the milk of cows and goats since the beginning of time, pretty much.

Still it bothers me to drink breast milk or to know that the ice cream and milk shakes I drink might be made with breast milk. There are all sorts of questions that come to my mind. How will the milk be pasteurized? Will there be a government office overseeing the milking process for cleanliness and testing samples to ensure there are no diseases in the milk?

Here’s the real question. Who will milk the … mothers? Are there enough nursing mothers in the world to supply the world’s milk needs? Will they go to donation centers? Will all nursing mothers be required to go to dormitories so that their milk can be harvested? What about the nursing baby? Will he/she get his/her share of the mother’s milk?

Well, I suppose the bigger vision is one thing and working out the details is quite another thing. Regardless, Ben and Jerry’s politely declined.

“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.”

I’m betting that PETA’s letter made the rounds of the office and probably got framed and put in Ben or Jerry’s office. Maybe they made a copy so they could both have it in their offices.

Even as nice as they were about turning PETA down, it doesn’t mean PETA is letting it go. They are asking people for input on their idea on their website.





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