This question popped into my head after an ADHD moment of deconstructing the concept that humans willingly drink cow milk on an industrial scale. Would you drink milk if it was human women pumping the milk themselves?

  • davidgro@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    One thing I’ve heard mentioned is that the vegan restriction on animal milk is actually about consent, which humans can give (especially when paid), so human milk can be vegan. That opens up the possibility of vegan cheese, butter, etc. but as true dairy products. Seems like an untapped niche to me.

    • spittingimage@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      The internet has taught me that human breast milk doesn’t make good cheese. Something about the protein content. Either too high or not high enough.

    • Sludgehammer@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      That opens up the possibility of vegan cheese, butter, etc. but as true dairy products.

      There actually are vegan dairy-ish products out there. Several startups have inserted the gene for casein (the main protein in milk) into yeast. So you just harvest the casein, add a little bit of some sort of fat and sugar and you have something that’s 99% the same as milk, and can be used in the same sorts of processes.

      The only product that I’ve actually tried was some Brave Robot ice cream, which was well… ice cream.

    • Bob@feddit.nl
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      7 months ago

      The other thing about it is that mammals, with rare exceptions, have to have had a baby before they produce milk, and of course since dairy farmers want to make a profit, they just force pregnancy on their animals and take their babies away to bring about a “surplus” of milk for them to sell. So if this ends up happening with people, I want no part of it.

  • mononomi@feddit.nl
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    7 months ago

    I would, but I also think this would turn bad as soon as this was a big commercially available thing.The people pumping would probably be exploited to the point their kids actually needing the milk would get less.

  • Bizzle@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    I’ve drank person milk from two different people. It’s pretty thin and watery, but sweeter than cow’s milk. On the whole I don’t feel like I’m missing anything by not having more of it.

    • Bdtrngl@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Calling it person milk is technically correct but boy oh boy does it make me uncomfortable.

  • lemmefixdat4u@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    It is for sale commercially. Hella expensive! $107 for 50 ml.

    https://www.innov-research.com/products/single-donor-human-breast-milk

    Now you can get it from private individuals for less - a buck or two per ounce, plus overnight shipping. But there are no food safety guarantees. You have no idea who the donor is, what kind of diet they have (may be an issue if you have food or drug allergies), or their health. That’s why it’s not recommended by the FDA.

  • CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Nah. I switched from cow milk to plant milk a couple years ago and while it wasn’t awesome at first, once I discovered oat milk my troubles were over. It’s so damn good. I don’t see how human milk would be an improvement.

  • Cuberoot@lemmynsfw.com
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    7 months ago

    I assumed the only reason we don’t already is because of the ethical issues with subjecting human women to the practices that make bovine milk economical.

  • gregorum@lemm.ee
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    7 months ago

    all milk comes from breasts

    edit: oh, human breasts. no, as i’ve heard it tastes gross.

      • CraigeryTheKid@lemm.ee
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        7 months ago

        I think the best description was it tastes like the milk from a bowl of honey nut Cheerios. It was very accurate to me.

          • Apepollo11@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            Just wanted to add another agreement here. It’s like milk at the bottom of a bowl of children’s cereal (er, obviously not Coco Pops).

            I’m surprised that there’s a few people saying it tastes salty. I wonder how much it depends on diet - I guess human diets vary more than cow diets do.

    • ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.worldOP
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      7 months ago

      That’s a fair point lol

      But as far as I’m aware when referring to non human breasts we rarely use that word.

      Mammary glands, udders, and nipples are the three that pop into my head when thinking about animal titties. Which I’m realizing I’m doing a little too much of recently lmao

      • gregorum@lemm.ee
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        7 months ago

        That’s the other thing: raw. I like the science behind pasteurization. I trust it.

        Edit: I also find homogenization to be convenient

    • ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.worldOP
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      7 months ago

      I mean I picture it like working at a factory. Clock in and start pumping. Also I picture it like certain dairy farms with how they wait for the calf to be fully weened before harvesting the rest, so children wouldn’t be being deprived.

      Plus if they were being deprived finding more breast milk wouldn’t exactly be hard ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

      • XeroxCool@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        I think the primary concern would be women giving too much milk at work to meet quotas, followed by the risk of women giving too much to make money, not leaving enough for their own children. But breast milk will continue to be produced as long as it’s withdrawn, so there should be an ethical way to continue it.