Mama's milk ice cream cone, anyone? By JOHN CURRAN – 1 day ago
WATERBURY, Vt. (AP) — Mooove over, Holsteins. PETA wants world-famous Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream to tap nursing moms, rather than cows, for the milk used in its ice cream.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is asking the ice cream maker to begin using breast milk in its products instead of cow's milk, saying it would reduce the suffering of cows and calves and give ice cream lovers a healthier product.
The idea got a cool reception Thursday from Ben & Jerry's officials, the company's customers and even La Leche League International, the world's oldest breast-feeding support organization, which promotes the practice — for babies, anyway.
PETA wrote a letter to company founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield on Tuesday, telling them cow's milk is hazardous and that milking them is cruel.
"If Ben and Jerry's replaced the cow's milk in its ice cream with breast milk, your customers — and cows — would reap the benefits," wrote Tracy Reiman, executive vice president of the animal rights advocacy group. She said dairy products have been linked to juvenile diabetes, allergies and obesity.
Ashley Byrne, a campaign coordinator for PETA, acknowledged the implausibility of substituting breast milk for cow's milk, but said it's no stranger than humans consuming the milk of another species.
"We're aware this idea is somewhat absurd, and that putting it into practice is a stretch. At the time same, it's pretty absurd for us to be drinking the milk of cows," she said.
It takes about 12 pounds — or 1 1/2 gallons of milk — to make a gallon of ice cream. Ben & Jerry's, which gets its milk exclusively from Vermont cows, won't say how much milk it uses or how much ice cream it sells.
As a standardized product under federal regulations, ice cream must be made with milk from healthy cows. Ice cream made from goat's milk, for example, would have to be labeled as such.
Presumably, so would mother's milk ice cream.
To Ben & Jerry's, the idea is udderly ridiculous.
"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," spokesman Sean Greenwood said in an e-mail. He didn't respond to requests for an interview.
Leon Berthiaume, general manager of the St. Albans Cooperative Creamery, which provides milk products to Ben & Jerry's, called the dairy products "among the safest in the world."
"Milk from cows has long-term health benefits and has been proven to be safe and healthy and an important part of the American diet for generations," he said. "I'm not ready to make that change."
Cow's milk and mother's milk aren't interchangeable, according to La Leche spokeswoman Jane Crouse, who says breast milk is a dynamic substance that's different with each woman and each child and might have difficulty being processed into ice cream.
Then there's the question of who would provide the milk, and whether they'd be paid.
"Some women feel compelled to donate milk to a milk bank for adopted babies, or for someone who's ill or unable to breast feed. There's plenty of anecdotal evidence about sisters who nurse each others' babies. There's a population of women very willing to share their milk. Whether there's enough to do it for a commercial entity, who can say?" she said.
At the Ben & Jerry's factory in Waterbury, consumers gave a collective "Ehttp://www" to the idea Thursday.
"It's kind of creepy," said Jeff Waugh, 42, of Dayton, Ohio.
"I think it's a little nutty," said the Rev. Roger Wooton, 83, of Malden, Mass., finishing up a cup of Heath Bar Crunch.
"How would they get all that milk?" said his wife, Jane Wooton, 77.
Jen Wahlbrink, 34, of Phoenix, who breast-fed her 11-month-old son, Cameron, said she wouldn't touch ice cream made from mother's milk. She remembers her nursing days — and not that fondly.
"The (breast) pumps just weren't that much fun. You really do feel like a cow," she said, cradling her son in her hands.
as a woman who has breast fed what goes on to your body in between feedings is so painful and horrid that to endure it for your child is one thing. but to be milked to feed the already plump america is stupid.
apparently (pun totally intended) no one at peta has an infant.
if cows dont want to be milked they need to speak up, until then, theyre yummy and need to stop bitching to groups like peta. _________________
well, science could try making the process less painful for the cows...
but yuck, if you think about it, its gross...
seriously though, thats gonna help spread the AIDS virus... breastmilk... it carries AIDS. we dont want that to happen.
i recommend eating less ice cream, or making homemade ice cream using your own breastmilk. your family wont mind taking it. after all your kids have taken your breastmilk and your husband surely wont mind taking it directly... _________________
This is really stupid! Ben and Jerry's already uses milk that only comes from cows that are treated right and not given hormones. PETA really needs to be more credible. _________________
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I'm pretty much the same way. I don't think that animals should be treated like humans, but I do think that people have gotten way too passe with the lives of animals. _________________
Please support the Diabetes Walk
Money money moneyyyyy!!! Money! Who cares if a few thousand people get sick? As long as they have their $150,000 Mercedes Benz's. _________________ Yas and Simmy - Putting Luna on catwalks since 2008!
Exactly, welcome to Earth. _________________
So America, with an open heart and an empty stomach, I say unto you in the words of my uncle: Allez Cuisine!
I'm pretty much the same way. I don't think that animals should be treated like humans, but I do think that people have gotten way too passe with the lives of animals.
I do..to me animals are more important than people. If someone was lying in the middle of the street..I wouldn't give em a second look, but I've ran out in the street to help a hurt bird when a truck was coming. _________________
I'm pretty much the same way. I don't think that animals should be treated like humans, but I do think that people have gotten way too passe with the lives of animals.
I do..to me animals are more important than people. If someone was lying in the middle of the street..I wouldn't give em a second look, but I've ran out in the street to help a hurt bird when a truck was coming.
That's f***ed up. Seriously. We need people to make the world a better place (well, at the rate we're going, I honestly don't blame you for choosing beast over man lol).
By the way, if you left a person in the street to die, you could actually be held in court for being essentially an "accomplice" because you did not help out a fellow human being. _________________ Yas and Simmy - Putting Luna on catwalks since 2008!
Cheaper to use people then cows wouldn't you think?
Cooperate Greed. _________________
So America, with an open heart and an empty stomach, I say unto you in the words of my uncle: Allez Cuisine!
Cheaper to use people then cows wouldn't you think?
Cooperate Greed.
no . . . You would have to pay people for labor. It would take more humans to get the milk than cows, since humans put off significantly less amounts of breat milk. Plus all of the shit they'd have to do for the FDA. Cows are definately cheaper. Besides, PETA wants then to change it. PETA won't be dealing with the difference in finances. PETA is trying to be funny. This is sort of a modern version of "A Modest Proposal." PETA knows that this would never fly. It's just a tacky way for the company to prove a point that isn't going to work. _________________
Please support the Diabetes Walk
You'd seriously leave a person lying in the middle of a road?
I like animal rights as much as the next person - but it doesn't mean that we should neglect people.
Ok..I exagerrated a little bit. I would help if there was something I can do..I've called a ambulance before when I found a guy laying on the floor & blood was coming out his mouth & running from the back of his head, but I do like animals better then people. I've heard & seen things & met alot of messed up people in my life..over the years my liking for them has gone away unless I know the person & I like them..then I'll do whatever I can to help if they need it. _________________
Ok, yeah... I need to clear something up... Ben and Jerry's only use cows from Vermont who are not mistreated... meaning they dont' use machines that suck the milk from them until they bleed, as some cows are. Ben and Jerrys has always made sure that the cows they used are treated well like that.
A milking cow hurts if they aren't milked... literally, it hurts their udders if they have milk in them and aren't used.
It would cost much more money if they used human milk as opposed to cow milk. As Zenny said, they would have to pay the women and they would have to use way more women then cows. Not to mention all the testing and cautions that would have to be put into place, as hbp mentioned.
Not all breast milk is safe. What goes into breast milk depends on what the woman herself eats. They would have to check every single woman to make sure the milk is safe, which could lead to more money and time spent on something that, if there is one tiny slip, could be absolutely disastrous. _________________ Blame it on a simple twist of fate. ~ Bob Dylan "To commemorate a past event, you kill and eat an animal. It's a ritual sacrifice. With pie." ~ Anya <3
I never liked peta. I heard something on the news about people like them who don't get enough protein become dumber. I'm so glad Ben & Jerry's didn't agree with them. _________________
Patronus: Beast, the savage side of my humanity
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