Two words that will strike fear… er, no, more like revulsion in your heart:
Human cheese.
Meet Miriam Simun, who created cheese made from breast milk as part of a course at NYU and is continuing her research beyond that. This interview discusses her inspiration (“So I started thinking – what would be the most natural, local, ethical cheese possible?”) and offers other interesting comments (“I am working to make a delicious Wisconsin human cheddar”).
Okay, I’m about to vomit now.
It’s all, evidently, about sustainability and ethics and an art project as well, and I hope it’s a well-crafted, elaborate joke, but I fear not. If not, perhaps someday you’ll be sprinkling some nice human Gorgonzola on your salad, or getting your pizza with extra human Mozzarella. Incidentally, she’s also looking to locally source her ingredients, so women in the New York City area are invited to contribute. There’s more here and here.
And, might I add, ew.
@Hurricane: Yes, there is actually a test for alcohol level in breast milk they sell over the counter — I am a nursing mom, and I passed over that “breast-i-lizer” test, because I’d just rather not know. It’s called “Milkscreen”:
http://www.milkscreen-moms.com/what-is-milkscreen/
@Jordan, no they’re not cannibals. I was just wondering if prions can be transfered through milk.
@my-name-here, has anyone consumed breast milk on a regular basis as a adult (fetishes don’t count), and if so have there been any studies?
I have no credibility on the subject, I am just honestly wondering.
If a woman drinks while lactating, will she produce spiked milk? 🙂
Where did mad cow and cannibalism come into this picture? Drink milk is not the same as eating flesh, as other have menioned here. Are you going to call a baby a cannibal?
@Hurricane Ditka
You do realize that that almost everyone has already consumed breast milk in their life right? I’m willing to bet if me as a baby can handle it without fucking up my proteins, me as an adult can too.
Ok, so we are talking about consuming something made by our same species..
Mad Cow Disease developed from basically cows being forced to eat ground up parts of other cows, and developed misfolded proteins called “prions”.
Is there any chance that these prions can be transfered through milk if this does occur? I saw a documentary a while ago where cannibalistic humans exhibited mad cow disease like symptoms; however I am unaware if they were doing anything other than just eating human meat.
I’m with the others who are confused about why human cheese would be grosser than animal cheese. As to ‘regulation,’ a lot of the animals raised for food are fed so many hormones and are kept in such horrible conditions that there’s probably little you could do to make human breast milk as potentially screwed up.
How is that gross? We drank breast milk when we were babies what’s wrong with consuming it now? It’s just milk. If it tastes good and is good for you it shouldn’t matter where it came from whether it be a cow, goat, or human.
Have you ever tried human breast milk? It’s delicious AND our bodies assimilate the proteins in it far better then it does with cows milk- (despite the stoner nomenclature, I am an RD in my day job). However, @Jordan is correct that us humans aren’t regulated and (not to sound too Portlandian) I would need to know the person whose cheese I ate. (quote of the day)
IT’S PEOPLE! Is what I thought when I read the headline. Fortunately, soylent yellow is not here… yet.
Add me to the list of “why is this an issue” questioners. I love cheese. Goat cheese, cow cheese, etc. I’d try people cheese if it were available, fresh, in my area. Why the hell not?
Also, this stuff is old news.
http://chefdanielangerer.typepad.com/chef_daniel_angerers_blog/2010/02/mommys-milk.html
Mmmmmm Mac and cheese, just like mom used to make..
@isaac: because we are also people…. cows eating cow meat is generally frowned upon as well.
it looks like everyone else was also wondering that… i should really read the existing comments before posting my own.
how is it any more disgusting than eating cheese from an animal? i’m not saying it’s not… but it interests me how this is found vomit inducing while typical cheese from other animals is just fine with everyone.
Mozzarella? More like Momzarella, amirite?
I want to say how this makes more sense than eating cow’s milk but the cows are generally raised for consumption and most people are not. People do some fucked up things to their bodies. At least there is a some semblence of a regulatory body that governs food products (not that they do a great job themselves). This is all too weird…
@ Jen:
Well, we also eat cow’s meat, but eating people meat is generally frowned upon…
Well, we drink cow milk because cows produce liters of it. Human milk cheese is still rather vomit-inducing to think about.
In theory, human cheese shouldn’t gross us out any more than cow cheese…I mean, we drink COW BREAST MILK, EW. We’re just used to it.
However, I also want to barf a little when I read this. Theoretically real..etically.
-J