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?

  • Death_Equity
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    1 year ago

    You can buy breast milk in America.

    I would rather get it straight from the jugs instead of out of a jug.

  • davidgro
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    1 year 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
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      1 year 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
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      1 year 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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      1 year 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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    1 year 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
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    1 year 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
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      1 year ago

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

  • lemmefixdat4u
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    1 year 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
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    1 year 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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    1 year 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.

  • MissJinx
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    1 year ago

    Well, idk about buying but I’ll start selling

  • gregorum@lemm.ee
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    1 year 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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        1 year 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.

        • ThatWeirdGuy1001
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          1 year ago

          Ironically I used a similar comparison in another comment as it’s a very good comparison.

          • Apepollo11
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            1 year 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
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      1 year 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

    • kryptonite
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      1 year ago

      That depends on how you define breasts. From Wikipedia:

      The platypus’ mammary glands lack teats, with milk released through pores in the skin. The milk pools in grooves on the mother’s abdomen, allowing the young to lap it up.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platypus

      • gregorum@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

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

        Edit: I also find homogenization to be convenient

    • Hawke
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      1 year ago

      Nah it tastes fine. Too sweet for pouring over cereal though.

  • my_hat_stinks@programming.dev
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    1 year ago

    Probably not, I don’t even drink cows milk any more. Not because I’m vegan or anything like that, just purely for practical reasons. Cow milk goes off at the drop of a hat but I always manage to get through all my oat milk or almond milk without it turning.

    • Magus
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      1 year ago

      Seriously, cows milk even pasteurized goes bad way too quickly since I only use it for coffee or cereal.

  • AFK BRB Chocolate
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    1 year ago

    I tasted it when my wife was pregnant. Not disgusting, but not something I’d go out of my way for.