No this isn't The Onion: Peta urges Ben & Jerry's to use breast milk

[cali]

for their ice cream to replace cow's milk.

"WATERBURY, Vt. -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, cofounders of Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., urging them to replace cow's milk they use in their ice cream products with human breast milk, according to a statement recently released by a PETA spokeswoman.

"PETA's request comes in the wake of news reports that a Swiss restaurant owner will begin purchasing breast milk from nursing mothers and substituting breast milk for 75 percent of the cow's milk in the food he serves," the statement says.

PETA officials say a move to human breast milk would lessen the suffering of dairy cows and their babies 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. "Everyone knows that 'the breast is best,' so Ben & Jerry's could do consumers and cows a big favor by making the switch to breast milk."

"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," said a spokesperson for Ben and Jerry's."

Read Peta's letter here:

http://www.wptz.com/news/17539127/detail.html

[islandmkl]

1. that's going to take a lot of breasts....

will they need any help rounding them up, so to speak?

[ingac70]

2. Gross! n/t

[liberal N proud]

3. Women of Vermont

line up!

:wtf:

[SoCalDem]

4. New flavor? Titty-Titty-Bang-Bang

:rofl:

[halobeam]

6. OH ...DUzy!!

:rofl:

[lame54]

56. Buy it in the new 2-pack

[Matariki]

5. If they'd stick to covert filming & exposing places like that pig farm in Iowa

I'd even consider donating to them.

But no, they have to pull stupid stunts like this, or publicly call Michael Moore and Al Gore fat, or make stupid broad brush demands for universal veganism.

:eyes:

[IndianaJones]

7. PETA is the most idiotic joke of an organization I have ever seen. nt.

[Skip Intro]

12. They know how to get the plight of animals in the headlines. More power to 'em! nt

[Donald Ian Rankin]

25. They mean that people associate support for animal rights with lunacy.

They do their own cause more harm than good.

And no anti-viv movement deserves more power.

[Skip Intro]

27. When else to you see animal welfare make the headlines, especially in the US?

[Donald Ian Rankin]

46. The Michael Vick case springs to mind, as does Palin's moose-shooting.

NT

[cobalt1999]

58. Slight correction, it's not an animal welfare story

It's a "look at the loons from PETA" story. That's all people will remember & talk about. This thread is proof of that.

[-..__...]

37. Think of the donkeys!

:eyes:

Following the recent bombing in Jerusalem in which a live donkey, laden with explosives, was blown up, shocking people of all nationalities around the world, PETA has written to Palestinian National Authority President Yasser Arafat asking that he urge those who listen to him to keep animals out of the conflict.

At PETA, we strive to end violence every day. As Albert Schweitzer stated, “Until he extends the circle of compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace.”
PETA’s letter to Yasser Arafat

February 3, 2003

Yasser Arafat, President
Palestinian National Authority
Ramallah, West Bank
Palestinian Authority

1 page via facsimile: 972 7 282 2365

Your Excellency:

I am writing from an organization dedicated to fighting animal abuse around the world. We have received many calls and letters from people shocked at the bombing in Jerusalem on January 26 in which a donkey, laden with explosives, was intentionally blown up.

All nations behave abominably in many ways when they are fighting their enemies, and animals are always caught in the crossfire. The U.S. Army abandoned thousands of loyal service dogs in Vietnam. Al-Qaeda and the British government have both used animals in hideously cruel biological weaponry tests. We watched on television as stray cats in your own compound fled as best they could from the Israeli bulldozers.

Animals claim no nation. They are in perpetual involuntary servitude to all humankind, and although they pose no threat and own no weapons, human beings always win in the undeclared war against them. For animals, there is no Geneva Convention and no peace treaty—just our mercy.

If you have the opportunity, will you please add to your burdens my request that you appeal to all those who listen to you to leave the animals out of this conflict?

We send you sincere wishes of peace.

Very truly yours,

Ingrid Newkirk
President, PETA

http://www.peta.org/feat/arafat

[mr_hat]

8. What about the human spit in 409 household cleanser?

Those poor people sit in squalid conditions, spitting into a jar 15 hours a day. How about camels, hmm Peta? Turn about's fair play.

I love animals, but priorities, please: profiting from third world human spit fountains HAS to stop.

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

9. A new flavor!

Nipple Ripple!

[-..__...]

34. Luscious Lactation

:smoke:

[originalpckelly]

10. Sounds like PETA just jumped the synthetic shark.

:rofl:

[ddeclue]

21. The Tofu-shark???

:rofl:

[ddeclue]

22. The Tofu-shark???

:rofl:

[YellowRubberDuckie]

36. I swear to God...

...I didn't read the rest of the thread before I posted my comment.
Duckie

[originalpckelly]

55. Great minds think alike.

:P

[yawnmaster]

11. is there enough fat?

Is there enough fat in human milk to make good ice-cream?
In addition, to maintain the consistency of taste, how do we tell the milk suppliers what to eat?
I hear drinking beer makes it taste quite good.

[vanderBeth]

13. This is incredibly stupid.

A) Could they even make ice cream with breast milk?

B) Where the f*ck are they are going to get all this breast milk?

C) If said ice cream was possible, B&J would go out of business.

This is just idiotic on PETA's part.

[rucky]

14. Even if it weren't ridiculous, it wouldn't be viable.

How would you control what the donors eat/drink/smoke? That shit passes through the milk.

[dana_b]

24. exactly, not to mention medications.

It's absolutely ridiculous.

[vanlassie]

38. Ok I agree it's a joke...but......cows are fed medications too, you know?

What makes human milk inherently more unsafe than COW milk???

Just askin'

[dana_b]

41. nothing. but the cows are fed the same meds

if one mom is on blood pressure meds, another is on blood thinners, another is on something else... I'm sure that chef oversees asks the moms there kind of questions (hope so, anyway!) but it could be dangerous territory.

[vanlassie]

42. I would put my money on a medically managed mother's milk any day over

the industrially managed cow.

Medications are rarely an issue in human milk anyway. The amount that transfers to the milk is generally negligible. But who is more concerned, the mother of a nursing baby or some guy on a factory farm?

[dixiegrrrrl]

53. Going with the logic here..

Much in the news of late is the fact our drinking water is contaminated with medications that are not filtered out of water treatment plants.

[dana_b]

59. both of you have great points!

The amount of medications that people flush down our toilets is huge and is coming back to hurt some.

I think people just don't like the idea of breast milk. they think it's "gross" or icky. I really don't care except that I can't see how a company would get enough breast milk to make ice cream. ;-)

[TZ]

62. Not true on the amount of transfer

There is ALOT actually..In fact I'm involved in a clinical trial now that looks at the concentrations of a new drug in breast milk..There is a very good reason why doctors mark medications as DO NOT TAKE WHILE LACTATING.
Lets also not forget that even things like alcohol,smoking and drug use can be passed into breast milk. I don't like to think what might happen if people think they could see breast milk for money as well. Human bodily fluids in food...baaaad idea.

[petronius]

44. They're just women - we'll keep them on a farm. Duh...

:sarcasm:

[rucky]

45. Didn't Spinal Tap write a song about this?

[dana_b]

60. Sex Farm Woman!!

I'm gonna hoe you down...

[Bjorn Against]

15. This is absolutely hilarious...

I know this is going to make people scream about how crazy PETA is, but I say this is a brilliant move on their part. PETA does not actually expect Ben & Jerry's to use breast milk, this is satire and it is very clever satire. Say what you want, but do you think people would talking about this if PETA asked Ben & Jerry's to switch to soy? It wouldn't get any attention at all, by suggesting breast milk they bring attention to their cause. I don't always like everything that PETA does, but in this case I give my thumbs up because I have to admit that this is a clever and funny campaign.

[Matariki]

18. And exactly what "brilliant" thing will it acheive for them?

Negative attention for peta? I think they have *enough* of that to last them to the twenty-second century.

Get people to stop eating Ben and Jerry's ice cream? Seriously, why Ben and Jerry's - one of the more decent companies around?

Face it, they're just attention sluts.

[Bjorn Against]

23. It will get them attention...

And ultimately attention is the goal of most political and social organizations. PETA wants people to talk about their issues, and by doing crazy stuff like this they get people talking not only about them but about their issues as well.

[tekisui]

16. Where do I apply for milkman?

:rofl:

[flvegan]

17. Still wouldn't be vegan.

:popcorn:

[Faygo Kid]

19. "Consume huge quantities?" O--kay.

[BlooInBloo]

20. Fucking animal looneys.

[dysfunctional press]

26. does peta actually pay people to come up with this goofy shit?

apparently they aren't happy unless they're making themselves seem like irrelevant & total loons to the general public.

whatever...:eyes:

[Dreamer Tatum]

61. Actually, yes, they do

And I'm convinced their strategy is being set by a high school drama club, as puerile and histrionic as they are.

[KamaAina]

28. In an unrelated story, Ben & Jerry's to open a location in Mid-City New Orleans

where this trend appears to have originated. "Birthplace of Jazz" is so 20th-century...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=8104280&mesg_id=8105162

[Hugabear]

29. I don't even want to think about how that mass-production assembly line would look like

So replace bovine suffering with human suffering?

[Nikki Stone1]

30. What? Were all these PETA types bottle fed?

Sounds like it's time for some haldol.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

31. Im a vegetarian, but PETA is an embarrassment

they've turned the image of animal advocates into that of raving idiots.

[-..__...]

32. My Wife, she make this cheese...

http://www.chbn.com/Clip.aspx?key=8BF2D6BFC8CACD0C

:rofl:

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

33. PETA's reputation for idiocy continues undimmed

[pokerfan]

43. “A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy.”

[YellowRubberDuckie]

35. PETA just jumped the shark.

What the hell?
I watched this documentary about the new dairies. They're like spas for cows. It was crazy. There's a dairy here in Oklahoma that harnesses this technology. It's awesome. And very humane. And done on the cow's schedule. When she feels full of milk, she steps into the stall. Before the suckers attach, the teets are steam cleaned gently and sterilized. The suckers attach, do their job, then, when they are done, they clean the teets again, and off she goes to graze. It was really cool.
Duckie

[Sparkly]

39. When you think about it, it IS weird that we find human milk gross, yet cow milk okay.

Aren't we the only species that consumes the milk of another species? I mean, THAT is what should seem gross, yet it's the notion of human milk that squicks us. It's odd!

Still gross, though. :puke:

[The Straight Story]

40. I've had both

Liked em both too :)

[Maine-ah]

47. I thought B&J didn't even own it anymore.

owned by Unilever

[cali]

48. yep. that's correct, though I believe Ben and Jerry both have some

involvement with the company.

[KurtNYC]

50. Only Ben and very little involvement

Apart from Ben's membership on the advisory Board, Ben and Jerry are no longer actively involved with the company as of the Unilever acquisition back in 2000.

Seems like the research budget at PETA is a little low.

[KurtNYC]

49. They sold it long ago -- April of 2000

Next they can send a letter to Willard Scott (the original McDonald's "Ronald" clown) and ask him to change all the items on McDonald's menu.

[cobalt1999]

51. Here's where PETA defeats their own purpose

Their defenders will say this gets the topic in the news so it's a good thing. The problem is the news that people remember isn't the animals, it's the wacko loonies and their weird ideas.

Additionally, with such actions it brands anyone else who doesn't like factory farming as a complete loon, sort of a guilt by association. Who wants to be viewed like that? Now, if someone speaks up against factory farming, people will say "I'm not eating breast milk ice cream!".

I'm sure this gets their base all excited and generates more donations, which I believe is their primary objective anyway.

[Alter Ego]

52. I don't care where you are on animal rights, this article should only elicit one reaction:

"GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH."

Seriously, the B&J response needs to be along the lines of "DEAR FUCKING GOD NO WHAT IN FUCKING FUCK ARE YOU THINKING YOU ASSBANDITS?"

[Dorian Gray]

54. Why doesn't

PETA start a brand of breast milk ice cream to show us how successful it will be. I'm sure that general population will just lap it up.

[annonymous]

57. PETA just lost any credibility they had.

Not that they had much to begin with. All they are doing is alienating most of the public. I know I'm not the only one who considers them the lunatic fringe.