New Yorkers sample cheese made from human breast milk

[Duke]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A New York gallery on Sunday offered adventurous eaters the opportunity to sample cheese made from human breast milk, getting mixed reviews and some puzzled looks.
The Lady Cheese Shop is a temporary art installation by Miriam Simun, a graduate student at New York University who hopes to use the craft of cheese-making to raise questions about the ethics of modern biotechnologies.
"Cheese is the conversation starter," Simun said. "Some people are loving it, and some people are gagging."
Simun found three nursing women willing to have their milk turned into cheese. She screened the milk for diseases, pasteurized it and learned the basics of cheese-making.
Three varieties were available on Sunday -- West Side Funk, Midtown Smoke, described as "creamy and just pure heaven," and Wisconsin Chew, the taste of which apparently reflected the vegetable-filled diet of the woman who provided its milk.
Jocelyn James, of Manhattan, who works with expectant mothers, declared her favorite was Midtown Smoke, which she said was mild. She described Wisconsin Chew as bland.
"It's a lot healthier than cow's milk, which can be very suspicious," she said, although she conceded: "It does have a stigma."
Frances Anderson sampled the cheese while breast-feeding her infant son Luan.
"I'm an adventurous eater," she said. "I know more about the source of this food than going into a supermarket and picking up Cheddar cheese. I don't know what they pumped into that cow."
Passersby seemed perplexed.
"That there's so weird," said Cheryl Coleman, a neighbor walking by.
"I love this neighborhood," she added.
Simun said she hoped her cheese will make people think about the various ways human bodies are used as "factories," producing blood, hair, sperm, eggs and organs that can all be harvested to be used by others.
And while the transfusion of human blood is a common practice, uses of human milk raise eyebrows.
Last year, a New York chef served diners at his restaurant cheese made from his wife's milk, and earlier this year an ice cream parlor in London began buying women's breast milk and turning it into frozen treats.
"You're putting it in your mouth," said Simun of human milk and the taboos around it. "There's something really visceral about that."



All I can say is yuck!

[Gotham Knight]

So you would rather prefer milk from a cow udder? It's not really that gross. I can understand why you might be turned off at first, but it's not a big deal.

[Ultra Lantern]

Originally Posted by Gotham Knight

So you would rather prefer milk from a cow uterus? It's not really that gross. I can understand why you might be turned off at first, but it's not a big deal.

I agree with Gotham Knight.

[Duke]

let's just say I consider somethings are not meant to be consumed after infancy.......

[Gotham Knight]

Originally Posted by Duke

let's just say I consider somethings are not meant to be consumed after infancy.......

It's not like it's coming from your own Mother....

[Duke]

in that case more power to you, i'll sit this 1 out.

[Gotham Knight]

Originally Posted by Duke

in that case more power to you, i'll sit this 1 out.

I just don't understand why you're so repulsed by it.

[Manic]

I heard it so delicious, Arsenio Hall had to slap somebody for not telling him how good the cheese was.

[KRIM]

Originally Posted by Gotham Knight

I just don't understand why you're so repulsed by it.

I can understand it, as I can understand it's also a silly response. People have been conditioned from birth that certain things must be this way, or it has to be that. Any deviation from that norm is usually met with confusion or aversion.

The biggest cultural perspective that reeks of hypocrisy to me, is the concept of pets and food. People will scream bloody murder at dogs and cats in foreign countries being made into delicacies, but literally every other species on the planet is on our daily menus. A bit humorous, I must say.

[Ponyboy]

Originally Posted by Duke

All I can say is yuck!

I reckon if nobody told you where the milk came from, you would've never thought twice.

I say MMMM! to tit-milk cheese!

[Alex The Great]

I'd at least try it. :shrugs:

[Ultra Lantern]

Originally Posted by Alex The Great

I'd at least try it. :shrugs:

Me,too.

[StrainedEyes]

It's only weird if you make it weird.

[Yurka]

I had breast milk ice-cream in London last summer. Not bad.

[JAK®]

This is literally the only food source specifically designed for purely human consumption and some people think it's gross?

Have you ever considered how bizarre it is that we drink cow's milk?

[katie_girl09]

I don't like milk very much period. It's cool if you guys like the idea, but I'm gonna sit this one out too.

[Spidey-Bat]

I'd only eat it if I were allowed to inspect the breasts that produced the milk.

[Sawyer]

Well....... is the woman it came from hot?

[The Morningstar]

Isn't breast milk really sour? I guess I'd try it.

[THE MR. TERRIFIC]

I Boobies and I cheese!


WIN WIN!

[chamber-music]

Originally Posted by JAK®

This is literally the only food source specifically designed for purely human consumption and some people think it's gross?

Have you ever considered how bizarre it is that we drink cow's milk?

Exactly how I feel. Drinking milk from another human is no weirder to me than drinking cow or goats milk.