PETA on Milk

I got this link off CNN's website about People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals latest push. Apparently, they heard a Swiss restaurant owner is replacing 75% of his cow milk with human breast milk. He bought the milk from nursing mothers in his area. Excited at the possibilities they sent a letter to the owners of Ben & Jerry's ice cream asking that they replace their use of cow's milk in their ice cream with breast milk. To convince Ben & Jerry they presented the following:

1. Health concerns for people from cow milk, including allergies, obesity and heart disease.

2. Horrible treatment of milk cows, constantly impregnated to keep the milk flowing. Then once worn out from years of production the cows are made into hamburger or a tasty soup.

3. Male calves sold to veal farms to be fattened up and butchered.

4. "The breast is best!"

Ben & Jerry's responded via spokesmen with "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 guess my first question is, “Are you PETA guys really serious?” Second question, “Just in case you are serious, did you think this one through?” Although I am not really sure I assume breast milk tastes different than cow milk which would probably give ice cream a funny taste, which may or may not be appealing. Health problems exist, as I can attest to, I get sick from drinking milk so guess what? I don’t drink milk! Ben & Jerry’s is not, sadly, a staple of life. My request I sent to the US Department of Agriculture to have Ben and Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie added as the elusive sixth food group was turned down. If you have ever bought Ben & Jerry’s you know it’s a luxury item costing either your first born or second favorite offspring.

PETA cites the conditions and treatment of milk cows and their non-milk bearing offspring. I don’t want to be too insensitive to PETA’s cause (or do I?) but cows are in fact animals. Women, however, are people (despite occasional inhumane treatment of ex-boyfriends), babies are also people (see Horton hears a Who, “A person is a person no matter how small.”) Ben & Jerry’s makes a lot of ice cream and need a lot of milk to operate. While the emotions of milk cows weighs heavily on my mind, the thoughts, feelings and happiness of women is foremost in my consciousness. Not really a reflection of speciesism on my part but because I hope to mate with, have offspring with and share a home with a woman and really do not want to do any of the above with a milk cow.

Hence, I am a little weary of plans to turn the pregnant women of this nation into nothing more than milk cows. Of course the PETA plan is to get the milk from “willing” donors but we are really opening a Pandora’s Box with this one. Strangely-or not so strangely, I come back to my main objection to legalized prostitution. The complete denigrating of women to provide service for money with the extreme potential for coercion. Imagine a young poor woman going to a social services office. She is pregnant and for whatever reason cannot rely on the father for support and need welfare. She is told that because she will now produce milk she is not eligible for welfare until she runs dry since she can sell the milk and get formula. Similar situations have played out in Germany since they legalized prostitution.

I do have to admit, they got me with that last one, how do you argue against “The breast is best!”?