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PETA Urges Ben And Jerry's To Use Human Milk

PETA has sent a letter to ice cream makers Ben & Jerry's, urging them to replace cow's milk in their products with human breast milk. PETA officials say moving to human breast milk would lessen the suffering of cows on factory farms and benefit human health. "The fact that human adults consume huge quantities of dairy products made from milk that was meant for a baby cow just doesn't make sense," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. Counting the Swiss guy who wanted to use breast milk at his restaurant, this is the second breast-milk-in-our-food story in a week. In case the folks at Ben & Jerry's need help coming up with names, may I suggest Boobalicious or Mammary Row.

17 of 28 comments (clear)

  1. *Facepalm* by Atriqus · · Score: 1

    "The fact that human adults consume huge quantities of dairy products made from milk that was meant for a baby cow just doesn't make sense"

    Because, like all things PETA, they never look at the complete picture. Hint #1: Cows won't sue the company if they are paid only in the form of an all-you-can-eat grass smorgasbord.

    --
    Hey, look! It's Bono's brother.
  2. What could POSSIBLY go wrong? by Duncan+Blackthorne · · Score: 2, Informative

    PETA is a PITA, really, and this proposal of theirs is just the same flavor of hyperbole they've been serving up for a long time now. There's NO WAY you could possibly do what they're proposing, and if you did you'd be opening a huge can of worms that nobody wants to deal with (public health, compensation for the "producers" of said milk, etc).

  3. Udderly stoopid idea... by kclittle · · Score: 4, Funny

    But, I'd sign up to be an at-the-source QA tester...

    --
    Generally, bash is superior to python in those environments where python is not installed.
  4. That kind of rights organization by unity100 · · Score: 1

    for that kind of civilization. i mean ours.
    really. if you make a list of it, the things we do for living are still very brutal. nature and evolution rewards mutual symbiotic relationships. check yourself - as a weak hominoid monkey species, you are on top of the pile instead of having been annihilated. its only because this specie started to care for its weak, and also establish mutually symbiotic relationships with the other species throughout its evolution. both species prosper in such a relationship. thats what nature wants.

  5. Toodlers by moose_hp · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So instead of making baby cows suffer from lack of milk, PETA wants to make baby humans to suffer because the mother is eigther poor or greedy to sell her milk for dairy products.

    I never got why PETA consider animals as higher beings than humans.

    Lets save the cows! screw the humans! /sarcasm

    --
    DON'T PANIC.
    1. Re:Toodlers by thermian · · Score: 1

      So instead of making baby cows suffer from lack of milk, PETA wants to make baby humans to suffer because the mother is eigther poor or greedy to sell her milk for dairy products.

      I never got why PETA consider animals as higher beings than humans.

      Lets save the cows! screw the humans! /sarcasm

      It would almost certainly end up meaning cheap imported human milk from south America got used, were it implemented.

      This all sounds like more of an attempt to grab headlines then produce any real change.

      --
      A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' - D. Adams
    2. Re:Toodlers by jcwayne · · Score: 1

      This all sounds like more of an attempt to grab headlines then produce any real change.

      I'm shocked, shocked I tell you, shocked!

      --
      Failure to follow this advice may result in non-deterministic behavior.
  6. Bad Idea! by robski88 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    There also is the risk of contracting HIV through human breast milk. Not a good idea.

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    All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.
  7. My intellectual curiosity is piqued by ChromeAeonium · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Okay, honest question for people who support this: How would you plan on physically, socially, and economically plan on doing this? I mean, it seems like there'd be way too many hurtles to cross before one could seriously suggest something like this, physically, because, although I'm not an expert in the field, I wouldn't think that a human would have the same output as a cow, socially, because there would be many groups opposed to the idea, and financially, because I don't think a women will work for the same wages a cow takes. So, if anyone here really supports this, I'd be sincerely interested in hearing why you support it (and no, won't someone please think of the cows is not a good reason) and more importantly how you would hope to make mass produced human milk a reality.

    1. Re:My intellectual curiosity is piqued by Thomas+M+Hughes · · Score: 1

      I think you kind of missed their point. That's not to say that their point is reasonable, because it's not reasonable at all. But, here's the logic anyway...

      PETA holds the position that it's unethical to force animals into slavery and cruel conditions for the purpose of human amusement. Thus, PETA's position is the following: (1) Cow's milk is unnecessary for a human diet. (2) For those who really like and enjoy dairy products, we have another source of dairy available: humans. (3) Human milk is preferable to PETA than cow's milk because a human being can say "Yeah, I'd be willing to have a pump hooked up to my breast for X dollars a day." It doesn't mean any human being necessarily IS willing, only that they COULD be willing. Cow's can't have a choice in the matter.

      Therefore, PETA's position is that the cow dairy industry is cruel to cows because it is both unnecessary for human survival and because we have a source of dairy that doesn't require coercing other creatures to obtain dairy. They're not trying to make ice cream taste better, or to make it more economical, or even more desirable. Quite the contrary, they'd probably be happy if the entire dairy industry disappeared entirely. But it's purely from an ethical standpoint about the treatment of animals. Economics or preferences have nothing to do with it.

      Again, this is not to say that I think PETA's right here, but you should at least understand their framework before you reject it as absurd.

  8. Re:BDSM community is already capable! by whyloginwhysubscribe · · Score: 2, Funny

    Is that the free BSDM community or the open BSDM community? I ask because I think the open one is much more secure, and into things like handcuffs etc...

  9. Re:What do we do with all the Dairy cows now? by volcanopele · · Score: 1

    Turn them into nice juicy steaks? Seriously, I never get PETA people. When I see them protesting in front of a KFC, that just makes me want some fried chicken.

    --
    The Gish Bar Times - Blog covering Jupiter's moon Io
  10. People Eating Tasty Animals by mcgrew · · Score: 1

    I am definitely not a PETA fan; I'm an omnivore who has killed his own dinner before, having been a rabbit and squirrel hunter in my youth.

    However, I agree with PETA here, but not for their reasons. Have you ever tasted human milk? I mean not as an infant but recently enough that you can remember what it was like?

    My oldest daughter was breast-fed, and my then-wife used a pump so I could feed the baby while she was at work or asleep. I tried it myself, and it was simply delicious. Raw, and in coffe as well.

    I haven't drank cow's milk since. I'd love to try human milk ice cream! I wish you could buy human milk at the grocery store.

    I'm not against selling cow's milk, but I wholeheartedly endorse selling human milk!

  11. Re:What do we do with all the Dairy cows now? by The+Iso · · Score: 1

    No need. If cows are not milked, the milk stays in the cows and spoils, killing them. I explained to a PETA supporter that cows need to be milked, and she said that we should milk cows, but the milk should be discarded.

    --
    "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows." - Bob Dylan
  12. Re:What do we do with all the Dairy cows now? by dragonsomnolent · · Score: 1

    Please, please tell me you made that up, because if you did, it's hilarious, and if you didn't, it's scary.

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    I got nuthin
  13. With apologies to Natalie Dee... by Slashboo · · Score: 1

    The food chain is evil! Don't eat anything!

    --
    Reality is the original Rorschach.
  14. Shame on you! by b1gb1rd · · Score: 1

    I for one will no longer tolerate Ben & Jerry's lack of sympathy for today's modern cow! It's human breast milk or bust for me.