I'm Going To Say Thanks, but No Thanks

When I was pregnant with Avery we attended several classes to get ready to bring her home. They were the run-of-the-mill prep classes that just about every new parent takes so I won't bore you with the details. But in our nursing class, one of the pieces of advice caused a great deal of discussion between Matt and me. It was when the instructor suggested that both mother and father taste a small amount of breast milk so that we would know later when an expressed bottle was spoiled. 

Matt wanted nothing to do with that.

For me, I totally understood the reasoning and it made good sense. Besides, she wasn't suggesting that we grab a bag of Oreos and a glass of breast milk and watch a movie. She simply said to place a small amount on our finger and taste it so that we know what it is supposed to taste like in a bottle. I didn't see the big deal. 

(and I am not ashamed to say that I followed the advice, which actually did come in handy because there were several times that I wondered if we had kept the expressed milk in the refrigerator too long)

Matt just couldn't even believe she would suggest that and he was not going to have anything to do with tasting breast milk. He just thought it was the most disgusting thing ever. 

Please don't get me wrong; he is 100% supportive of nursing the kids. He couldn't be a better partner when it comes to making sure they get mother's milk for 1 year. Just don't ask him to test the milk to see if it is good or not. I'm sure there are a lot of other men out there that feel the same. They probably just haven't had the opportunity to share these feelings because the subject has never really come up. 

Until now.

Because today I saw this story online and I thought of all the business that Ben & Jerry's would lose if they actually took PETA's request seriously. Here is the story.

From WNBC.com:

Vermont-- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) 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 the statement recently released by a PETA spokesperson.

"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% of the cow's milk in the food he serves."

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 VP 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."

In a statement Ben and Jerry said, "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."

Can you even imagine? I am going to thank Ben and Jerry the next time I eat some Phish Food. I am sure Matt will do the same.