Human Breast Milk Cheese: Too Close to Home or Just Home Enough?
March 11, 2010
When I was an obstinate vegan looking for compelling arguments to support my cause, I could always count on the human milk cheese argument to help me out. Humans are the only animals that drink the milk from another species, and yet we don’t bother drink milk from our own species. Maybe it’s that we recognize the sanctity of the bond between mother and child, or maybe it’s just gross. But why would you be more willing to drink a from strange mistreated cow than from a human?
Well I guess, its come to this, because an innovative chef in New York City has stepped up to the plate. Daniel Angerer has begun serving his wife’s breast milk cheese to special patrons at his restaurant Klee Brasserie.
I can’t believe I’ve been oblivious to this being in the news recently. How’d I miss something like this? Apparently its already been the Today Show and prominent food critic Gael Greenehas reviewed the stuff. And who could forget the sensational NY Post article.
It’s amazing to think the controversy this causing. Something as basic and human as drinking (human) milk has become an avant-garde statement and a cultural critique. It says something about our culture that violently subjugating millions of farm animals into an unnatural existence for the milk barely bats an eye, but human milk… oh no that’s too much.
As a philosophical and artistic inquiry, I applaud the chef’s work. I’m even a bit miffed I didn’t do it first…
Now the next question for me is whether this milk would be considered vegan? No animals were harmed and, in fact, were have verbal consent. I wonder if PETA will jump this. Oh wait… I guess they’ve been promoting this for quite some time.
Click through for video!
I’m having trouble loading the Today Show video, but you can watch it on their website here. They’re quite annoying but if you can sit through it… it’s interesting.
