Breasts are nice. I get it. As a girl, I’m well aware of how lovely they look. Despite the fun purposes they serve, their main purpose is to provide nutrients to babies. As an aunt, I wasn’t grossed out when my sister started breastfeeding my niece, but I was grossed out when she tried her own breast milk for the fun of it. I can’t imagine knowingly ingesting that. Ew! There’s been a recent trend with restaurants using breast milk in dairy products. You won’t believe what you’re about to read.
Leave it to our neighbors across the pond to lead the way in food trends. In February, The Icecreamists, a London-based ice cream parlor, debuted their new specialty line of ice cream made with human breast milk. The shop is known for being freaky and unusual, and was rated by Selfridges with the quote, “More Sid and Nancy’s than Ben & Jerry’s.” Cool, I guess. Lactating women donate the special ingredient, and receive a small profit from each sale of ice cream. Critics have rated The Icecreamists’ featured flavor “Baby Gaga” as tasty. Me? I’ll pass. I’m not the only one not who is skeptical about this ice cream. The Westminister Council are testing supplies of the ice cream for viruses. Hmm, I’m sticking to sorbet from now on.
The breast-milk-dairy-alternative trend is catching on in the states. Earlier this month, a New York gallery featured a temporary art installation called The Lady Cheese Shopp, which showcased cheese made with breast milk. Miriam Simon, a graduate student at New York University, hopes the craft of making cheese raises questions about the ethics of modern biotechnologies. One sampler of the cheese said it was “creamy and just pure heaven.” I never thought I’d imagine the day when the food section of the paper included something about breast milk. I’m still going to pass on this trend.
