Comments on: Ben and Jerry’s Says “NO” To Breastmilk — And a Little Update

By: Maha

Maha — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 20:33:39 +0000

This is truly the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard of (even the indoor sundial is a better idea – at least you could place it by a window). If there were a surplus of human breast milk, it should go to premies or to babies whose mothers can’t produce milk but don’t want to use formula. Sorry, I put humans before animals, but I certainly don’t condone animal cruelty. Besides, I seriously doubt that all the lactating women in the country could even produce the amount of milk needed to make ice cream. What’s more, the idea is plain offensive to women.

By: Lizabelle

Lizabelle — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:28:08 +0000

Some interesting comments coming out of this! I agree that the interest from lactating women would wane very quickly. It’s just a shame that cows (what do they get out of the bargain?) are not given the same choice.

I disagree with PETA on a lot of things, particularly their apparent desire to privilege animal rights over human rights. That said, I believe that their campaigns are often aimed more at getting people thinking than at actually achieving results (like getting B&J to use human milk).

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 17:02:21 +0000

I think B&J should have jsut gone along with it – can you imagine the press release? “We’ve agreed to give PETA’s idea a try. In order to make this work, we need 2000 gallons for each batch. We currently pay $1.00 per gallon and are willing to pay the same amount to any woman willing to act as a supplier to us. As there is a limited shelf life with any such product, we will need to collect this all in a short timeframe. Please line up to my right.”

When the number of volunteers turned out to be inadequate, or when the women found out thaey only earned a 10 cent paycheck for their effort, I expect the interest would dry up rather quickly.

(Note: I pulled all the numbers out of my imagination – I have no idea what B&J pays for milk, nor how much product would be gathered in an average milking, but I can’t imagine that it would be much)

By: Greg

Greg — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:23:45 +0000

Sorry, but this is one of the kookiest ideas I’ve ever heard. Two of us were discussing this at work a few days ago. The idea isn’t “gross” so much as it is totally impractical. As deepali said, how are you going to make this happen?

This announcement is about publicity. Nothing more…

By: deepali

deepali — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 01:03:41 +0000

Well we already eat breastmilk ice cream. Cow breast milk. It doesn’t seem gross to me – I think the “grossness” part comes in due to our societal conditioning to see breasts as something sexual instead of functional.

Now, I’m a little lost on the logistics of mass producing human breast milk ice cream…