I recently saw a random vampire comedy from last year called Vamps, with Alicia Silverstone and Krysten Ritter. It wasn’t an excellent movie by any means, but it was goofy and cute and reminded me why I was was so fond of Alicia Silverstone. It also had some great supporting actors, including Sigourney Weaver and Dan Stevens (Cousin Matthew from Downton Abbey) before he got all skinny and weird.
My rambling point is that Alicia Silverstone still gets some work beyond the extreme vegan lifestyle she promotes, but it’s not that notable. She was also on “Suborgatory” last year. In the latest news about Alicia, she’s launching a breastmilk sharing service for vegan moms who need milk or want to share their breastmilk with others. It sounds like she’s just providing a forum for them to contact each other and that no money is being exchanged. Here’s the announcement from her blog about it.
A couple weeks ago, another mama I know gave birth to a son. She e-mailed to let me know how things were going, and she was beside herself. She’d tried to do everything so that this baby would have the healthiest, happiest start in life–she nourished herself during pregnancy with clean, kind foods; had a beautiful home birth; and planned to breastfeed from now until her son could say, “No thanks.” But because of a breast reduction surgery, she found she wouldn’t be able to make enough milk for him, no matter how much precious boobie time they spent together. She tried reaching out in her community for donor milk, but it was almost impossible to figure out what kind of lifestyle choices the donors had made. And after all that hard work keeping herself vibrant and healthy, she felt she had a right to demand better for her baby.
A lot of women unfortunately have a similar struggle, and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be able to give their babies the most amazing start in life with clean, mean, glorious breast milk. And because we are a community of beautiful souls who recognize the importance of food as health, I say we help support those mamas and babies who need a hand during one of the most important times in their lives. It’s why I’m starting the Kind Mama Milk Share, a way for moms to connect with other moms in their area. If you have milk to share–post it! If you are in need of milk–post it! Think of all the babies we can help raise together!
Are you a Kind Mama interested in participating in a milk share? Post in the comments below!
[From The Kind Life via US Weekly]
I’m hearing Alicia say this in that unique kind of questioning sing-song voice she has. Did you see Clueless as many times as I did and can you hear her voice in your head too?
I guess there’s a real call for this because there are vegan moms who don’t want their baby to get any milk from meat eaters, wine guzzlers or smokers. As two out of three of those things (not when I was breastfeeding, I just ate meat!) I find that a little judgy, but it’s their baby and they want the best for their baby so I get it. It’s also really nice that Alicia is doing this to help other moms and not for money at all.
If Gwyneth Paltrow is the Louis Vuitton of celebrity lifestyle moms and Jessica Alba is Coach, then Alicia Silverstone is a recycled patchwork purse from the Goodwill that looks cute with the right outfit. She posts videos where she feeds her kid from her own mouth, she’s not too concerned about the marketability of her image. It’s not my “lifestyle” choice (her word, I dislike that “lifestyle” term) but I respect how true she is to herself, and how she’s not monetizing everything. I wrote that before I bothered to check her website, where she has links to her skincare line for Juice Beauty. It’s just a line she developed for another company though. So maybe she’s more like an Etsy vegan purse manufacturer, but an enthusiastic hobbyist, not one of those too-serious hipsters who call themselves an “artisan.”
Alicia, her son, Bear Blu, and her husband, Christopher Jarecki, are shown on 9-19-12 and on 6-1-13. Credit: FameFlynet
I’m not a mom but this seems gross to me.. do people do this and I just don’t know about it? (I prefer it that way)
Before I had kids I felt the same way… once I had them it was all, “Oh, is your kid hungry? Hand him over…” My entire purview changed.
And, yeah, this is a thing you just didn’t know about yet 😉
“And, yeah, this is a thing you just didn’t know about yet”
Talk about patronising… Definitely sancti-mommy in action.
Jade – Marie asked a very specific question which I answered WITH A WINKY EMOTICON. I was not being patronizing in the least! I’ve had both breast and bottle fed kids, so I don’t have a “team” here.
I honestly think it’s ridiculous for anyone to judge feeding choices and that goes especially for those who are so quick to break out the “sanctimonious” crap.
In traditional societies sisters would often co-nurse and other close female relatives would too if they were lactating. This practice has been going on for a very long time, and done between women who are both healthy and uninfected, it is perfectly safe.
However – I cannot emphasize enough how many potential pathogens you are exposing your child to. HIV, hepatitis, and various other viruses can be spread through breast milk. Please do not share breast milk unless you have known that person since you were children and you know they have lived a clean life.
For goodness’ sake, would you have unprotected sex with a complete stranger??? That is what breast milk is – a bodily fluid. You are exposing your baby to the bodily fluids of a complete stranger. Think about it.
Breast milk banks are completely safe and the contributors screened for communicable diseases. People downthread have shared many ways they’ve been real lifesavers.
Nothing sancitmonious in that comment.
Some moms with excessive lactation donates their milk to milk banks/depot. The milk are used to feed orphans and babies displaced by disaster. I’m sure they screen the donor before accepting the breastmilk.
Marie I saw this on the news this morning and some docs were saying it’s not always safe to receive breastmilk from another mom.
I am a mom and I do find it gross. Also feeding your baby from your mouth is gross as well.
If you choose to breastfeed your baby it’s great and a natural thing to do but I also get sick of these breastfeeding Nazi’s that think moms who elect not to breastfeed are less of a mother and their children will be more prone to health risks
I haven’t seen any comments here that show disdain for formula. But it is scientifically shown that breastfed kids get sick less often, both diring the nursing relationship and after. Donor milk is very safe and better than formula if the mom is also healthy and not abusing drugs, etc. I was screened for a million things when i registered as a donor by blood test, and the organization wanted letters from both my ob and my daughter’s ped to make sure donation was safe for all involved.
As pro-milk as i am, it also bothers me to see moms judging other moms for using formula, especially because it isn’t always a choice.
Breastfeeding moms putting cows out of business one pump at a time. 🙂
Yes I have read that scientifically breastmilk is better for the babies when it comes to those factors but I can only go by what I witness. I breastfed my son for a couple of months and he didn’t get sick as a baby, not even an ear infection. On the other hand I didn’t breastfeed my duaghter and she didn’t experience any of those ailments either as a toddler. My co-worker has two kids and she never breastfed either of them and they were just as healthy as breastfed babies. My 3 year old nephew was not breastfed and besides the common cold he is as healthy as an ox; so I’m torn between what people are saying is healthier.
One advantage I can say about breastfeeding is that it saves you a lot of money because formula is expensive. If I was as cheap as I though I was I would have opted for cloth diapers as well but I have to draw the line somewhere.
I dont think its gross. Im lactating and feeding two babies, my baby plus a foster baby. We got him four weeks after I had my kid. He was formula fed so I switched him to my breastmilk once I became his medical consenter. Im what you would call a “super producer”. If his bio mom dosent like it- she can suck balls. I know some women are super prickly about forumala/bm but Im not one of them. But I do believe in under my roof, under my rule. If your kids arent under my roof and under my care, then I dont care what you do with them, but these kids are mine, so what I say goes.
Why did you have to open this can of worms? This article wasn’t even about that!
@MSW: yes, it is scientifically shown that breastfed children get sick less often- however, as far as I know it has been proven yet that this is because of the breastmilk, there might be other factors involved (mothers who breastfeed tend to be better educated, and healthier then those who don’t, so maybe its just the children of better educated and healthier mothers who are healthier no matter if the mom breastfeeds or not). I think studies who tried to eliminate all other possible factors found that breastfed babies were still a bit healthier, but it really was a very small difference, not as big as the studies who just compared breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding mothers. Breastfeeding surely is a very, very good way to feed your baby, but it hasn’t been proven that there really is a disadvantage for non-breastfed babies.
Oh, there are most definitely other factors at play. Social science and medical research usually have variables we can’t control for. But the best research we have shows that bm is best. In reply to other comments on this thread–Anecdotal data doesn’t mean anything– we all know breastfed kids who get sick and formula fed kids who can best them in the health dept anyday, but it is still meaningless. We usually socialize with those who are similar to us and we can’t control for our own confirmation biases. I’m not hating on formula, because I get that there are numerous reasons for mothers to choose formula (or have it decided for them, in some cases), and I support women’s rights tmake this decision for themselves. Formula babies will grow up healthy and happy too. Nonetheless, the conclusions from numerous longitudinal studies are in and we know, as conclusively as we can, that breastfeeding is best both long and short term.
I think it is kind of gross just because you can’t monitor what the breast milk provider is putting in their body. HIV is easily transmitted through breast milk. I also feel a little indifferent to breast feeding. There is a ton of great benefits to it, but if my body is unable to produce milk, I will feel fine using milk. I was not breastfed as a child, so this probably affects my views on all this.
I think if she’s not working in conjunction with a reputable bank that screens, it is very irresponsible of her. But screening donors and milk can and is done. If I hadn’t discovered that I was high lipase (not dangerous, but makes the milk smell and taste disgusting after freezer storage), I probably would have donated my extra milk to a local hospital run bank that provides breastmilk to preemies.
As a mom, I would never have given my baby breast milk from another woman. I just wouldn’t be comfortable with that. I don’t see formula as this evil thing either and never hesitated to use it when needed.
That said, this could be a cool idea for women who want it.
My sister produce so much milk ( she drank “mother’s milk tea” constantly) when she was breast feeding that she provided for a friend of hers that couldn’t produce enough to feed her baby.
See, that would have been a godsend if I’d had a friend or relative or whatever. I got sick and couldn’t breastfeed, so my milk dried up very early. As bad luck would have it, our daughter had a bad, BAD reaction to dairy, so she went through a month of hell until we figured out she needed soy formula. If I’d been able to give her breastmilk from someone else, I would have jumped at the chance.
Breastmilk banks are gross, but have you been to a dairy farm, and seen what they feed those cows and their living conditions? Or views are so messed up. We’re fine with another species milk meant for that species’ babies, but out own milk meant for our babies skeeves us out? Do you demand the name and background of the cow from which you get your milk?
It makes me sad that there are such terrible sounding farms. Because I’ve been to two large producers in our area, and both have happy, healthy, clean heifers and calves. They’re clean, and the cows eat well.
I think to a degree people assume all farms are like the bad ones.
@wiffie I can say that calling it gross is a strong word. But we eat cow so that’s why consuming cow’s milk doesn’t seem so out of the norm. For the most part we know cow’s milk has been through a cleansing process, therefore making it safe to drink. I just find it a bit odd to have my child ingest milk that has come from another woman’s fluids. I’m not going to give my child anything I wouldn’t eat or drink myself and I’m sure as hell not going to drink somebody elses breastmilk.
Back in the days of ‘yore’, wet nurses were all the rage, which is basically another woman who would breast feed your kids for you. It’s not really my thing, but I get it. Breast milk can be a passion filled topic!!
Forget the days of yore – when I worked as a nanny in a resort ski town, I knew families who had nannies AND wet nurses! This was only 10 years ago!
“The days of yore” was before HIV. So if you’re going to get banked milk, please use some common sense and check out the screening process-
Signed, Breastfed 3 kids and not a breastfeeding Nazi.
Marie-I shuddered when reading it. Not something I ever thought about and not something I ever want to think about again.
@wiffie-I don’t drink milk.
See I don’t think I would have a problem donating my milk or breastfeeding another baby. But giving another woman’s milk to my baby weirds me out.
I don’t drink milk either. Dairy products don’t gross me out but drinking straight milk is so gross to me, it smells sour to me, even when it’s not.
On a much lighter note one of my guy friends said he loves breastmilk and would drink it anytime, anywhere as long as he could drink it straight from the source. Hey; he’s a man whaddya expect.
Sheesh. I am all for breastfeeding and my kid never saw a bottle, but when I read “clean, mean, glorious breast milk” I cringe. It’s a way of feeding your kid, don’t make it sound like a freaking cult.
That was my reaction as well.
I did my best to breastfeed both my children 6 mon. and dicreased the “booby time” so that they eat normal food after 1 year.
I think that when a woman can breastfeed and want it too that’s the best she can give her baby but the “glorifying” aspect grates on my nerves.
>There are mothers who simply can’t breastfeed and don’t have this “oh, so much better than thou” milk service. Many of them still have gloriously healthy children.
It is nice to hear the voice of sanity in these posts.
Marie asked if it was a thing and she just didn’t know about it. Chill.
Huh? That wasn’t an answer to Marie but a general comment to the post.
Right? Totally agree. I started weaning after a year, so I’m all about breast feeding, but it’s just breast milk. This isn’t magical unicorn juice.
Lol at magical unicorn juice. I think I’m gonna start using that.
But for real according to a study it does kill cancer cells. That’s pretty cool.
I’m an RN and have read and heard quite a bit about the benefits of breastfeeding but I don’t like the judgement women who don’t breastfeed have to deal with. I feel like the pendulum has swung too far the other direction and women who for whatever reason can’t or choose not to breastfeed are criticized.
Yeah, in an ideal world everyone would breastfeed but we don’t live in an ideal world and not everyone can. In terms of Alicia Silverstone, that’s cool as long as she’s not judging other mothers who aren’t vegan or don’t breastfeed.
You know Becky I almost posted that same comment about the pendulum swinging the other way. I think it’s great that more women are breastfeeding.
But there’s so much pressure it was SO hard for me when my breasts failed me, and being told I just wasn’t trying hard enough was even worse.
About breastmilk banks: http://www.infactcanada.ca/human%20milk%20banking.pdf
It sounds gross at first but it’s really not. There are breast milk banks and they can be real lifesavers.
It seems ‘gross’ because our entire culture views breastfeeding as gross. The feeding of a child is a community/family responsibility in other cultures. I used a milkshare service when my daughter was 7-9 months old because a) I had lost my milk sue to trauma b) she REFUSED all kinds of formula, even homemade goat milk ones — we tried them all and c) the mother in question provided me her complete medical history and is now a friend and family member. It’s hard for Westerners to wrap their head around family not being precisely blood related, but she saved my daughter’s and my life.
+1
+2
I’m not a parent (..yet), but a family friend had a child ten months ago, but because she went through a double mastectomy a couple of years earlier it meant she couldn’t breastfeed.
Anyway, her pregnancy was quite complicated and during her time in hospital she became great friends with the woman in the room next to her who volunteered to help with the breast feeding. She couldn’t keep it up indefinitely because she had two hungry newborns of her own to look after, but luckily they found someone else who could help.
Glad a milk bank was available to you! I think there is judgement on both sides unfortunately. We are a society of extremes and this is not different. So many people respond with “milk is the ONLY way or you are killing your child” or “Ewwww….gross!!!” both of which are unhelpful to the conversation. Thank you for sharing your experience so hopefully others can see that even if it isn’t for them, it is still a valuable and important service.
Exactly, very well put, and I’m happy to read of such kind acts by strangers to help out others in need. I wish breasts wouldn’t be as sexualized in Western society, then maybe breastfeeding wouldn’t be so “taboo and grooss”.
sanctimommy.
This phrase needs to die. It’s sooo overused. She wants to provide a certain “lifestyle” (sorry CB!) for her child, and help others who think the same way as she does. It’s not like she’s hanging around outside Babies R Us preaching to people who emerge with formula.
She lost me forever with feeding her kid from her mouth. As far as Im concerned the milk sharing is no where near as bat s@*t as that.
Also, shes aging terribly. Maybe she doesnt smoke, drink and whatever else but she sure looks it.
After I saw her regurgitate for her son I just cant with her. Full on bat s**t crazy.
Yup. Was just going to say this. Anyone who chews up their food and then led their kid eat directly out of their mouth is looney tunes. She can keep her vegan breastmilk bank.
You know before packaged baby food, that’s how everyone did it, for thousands and thousands of years. I did it too, how else is a baby with few or no teeth supposed to eat solid food. I am pretty sure most Mom’s do that.
Um….I don’t know even ONE mom who did that. Gross. And AS is, and always has been, a nut job. And P.S> I breastfed both of my babies so I ma all for mother’s milk. Just not mother’s chewed up food.
Myname is, are you crazy? You steam or bake food, then mash it up. Believe it or not, this is possible without a Beaba BabyCook (although I had one of those and it was okay) or even a food processor. I think things like a potato masher or food mill have been (and still are) used.
This actually transfers the bacterial flora from your mouth to the baby’s and can increase their risk of cavities, according to lectures I’ve heard from a professor of dentistry. so I would think twice about pre-chewing your baby’s food. The kind of thing you could get away with in a pinch but not highly recommended.
@mynameisstolen……Yes, penguins have been regurgitating for their babies for thousands and thousands of years. Thas is true.
But, since we all arent on Club Penguin…and Im not a penguin…are you a penguin? No? Your a human? ……Ok, let me present the age old, tried and true Mortar and Pescle…….Im pretty sure this has been around since the stone age…..NOT regurgitation. In humans, anyway.
She’s really into a healthy lifestyle – I’m not (wish I were) and I don’t get why people want to take her down for it.
Is it healthy to put a kid on a vegan diet?
And I don’t think vegans and vegetarians are necessarily on a healthier diet. Moderation is key.
It certainly can be healthy.
I don’t know, are vegetables, tubers, legumes, grains, and fruits generally considered healthy? This is not sarcasm but a serious question.
Provided that there isn’t an underlying condition like Celiac’s then feeding children adequate amounts of all of the whole plant based foods listed above is very healthy. The only thing that has to be added to the diet is vitamin b-12. This is a bacteria that occurs naturally in the soil and is required for normal human functioning. Omnivores also need to get their b-12 and possibly supplement the same as vegans because most farmed animals no longer have access to fresh grass in adequate amounts for it to get passed along in their consumption. Vitamin b-12 is often added to non-dairy milks and breakfast cereals but everyone’s ability to absorb is different. This is the only nutrient that cannot be obtained from a well balanced, whole foods, plant based diet and sometimes from vegetarian and omnivore diets as well.
It’s not the easiest thing to keep growing kids on a vegan diet and get all the proper nutrients, but it’s possible.
The German Association for Food explicitly advises against putting children on a vegan diet. I tend to believe them because it is a widely accepted organisation and their recommendations are based on science and not on a lifestyle or ideology.
B-12 is synthesized by bacteria, but B-12 is not the bacteria itself.
I have a vegan friend who said she plans to raise her children vegetarian, but not vegan. I’m not a vegetarian, but I try to get everything as natural and local as possible.
My niece went vegan at 16 for a whole year. She ate tons of sugar and soy burgers to fill up. Her mother and father both working, had no time to do a specialized diet (and being a healthy vegan is a lot of work in the kitchen). Within a couple of months, she was sleeping 13 hours a day, had dark circles under her eyes, her grades in school fell, and she screwed up her SAT and lost her scholarship. Also, it dramatically affected her beautiful skin and hair, she looked sallow and her glossy thick brown hair started falling out. It took me a year to talk her into changing to vegetarian and eating eggs and dairy, and that seemed to give her a lot more energy and she started getting better. I wish she would eat fish for the healthy oils. Some PETA person at her school was giving out pamphlets that said your parents are murderers for giving you meat etc and urged them to watch those revolting slaughter house clips, which she did and really freaked her out. Her poor parents were frantic. PETA really tries to get their converts young, which is why I don’t like them. I’m all for changing the way food is produced in this country, but not for brainwashing other peoples kids.
Could the German Association for Food possibly have an agenda? As in sponsorship/support from dairy/meat industries, etc.
I don’t think people are down on her for the vegan diet per se. Just that she’s so obsessive about it.
Jane16-your niece’s problem wasn’t a vegan diet. It was all that sugar and soy burgers (processed food without as much nutrition as they claim, depending on the brand) and lack of the real nutrients she would get in a real vegan diet. And eating vegan certainly does not require a lot of time in the kitchen. I should eat vegan (allergic to dairy and eggs) and so often go for long periods eating vegan. I am not a cook. I just toss stuff together. I hardly ever even take the time to boil pasta… I often eat very simply, takes a few minutes to prepare. Fruit, veggies, nuts, seeds, legumes are easy to eat with no or little prep. Or even less if I buy bagged veggies. Scoop out some peanut butter and pull out a bunch of baby carrots. Takes more time to find a clean plate. Rinse canned beans and poof, you’re done. Add to anything, salads, sandwiches (mashed, or buy refried beans and add some chopped onion or whatever). I often just eat them all by themselves. The most time I’m likely to spend on food prep is if I’m cutting up a lot of different veggies for a salad and to store in the fridge for easy eating later, or washing some fruit, or opening cans and storing portions in fridge or freezer. Anyway, eating vegan is easy and cleanup is even easier. People think it’s exotic because our culture is so meat-and-dairy centered and wrongly assume you have to eat special meat-like products or read special cookbooks. Sure, if you like to cook more complicated foods, you can do it and there are plenty of cookbooks to show you how. But you can also eat simply and well. Fact is that all the essential amino acids for humans are plentiful in plant sources, and the body quite happily breaks down plant protein to stockpile those amino acids over the course of a day or several days and then uses them to build our own proteins.
I guess, but ahem, she dyes her hair? Is that healthy? And sorry, she looks sallow to me.
Good question! I stopped getting highlights when I was preggers and breastfeeding myself.
She always looks so angry/uncomfortable in photos. Girl needs a steak!
Yep, a steak will make everyone happy and cheery no matter whats happening!
What an idiotic and rude thing to say.
Oh my God you’re annoying.
Is human breast milk vegan?? Haha, just a joke, people!!
As long as the cow gives it freely it’s all good 😉 (i actually had this convo with my vegan SIL once)
Nothing from a cow is vegan…vegan means not coming from an animal.
But I do wonder if it could be seen as vegan when it does come from a person!
Was a joke, i’m referring to the milk producer. My hubs and i joke about me being a milk cow all the time as i am a super producer. Obviously cow milk is not vegan in any circumstances.
If I needed a milk sharing program, I would want a donor whose lifestyle was similar to mine, so I get it. I thought that premasticating food was nuts, but whatever, it’s not my baby and it’s not hurting anyone.
I am a milk donor for an organization that dispenses milk to sick babies with a dr prescription. The amazing properties of breastmilk are well documented. It’s really nice to see supportive comments of breastfeeding in general here..
I think I’ve wanted to +1 everything you’ve said on this thread, but “but whatever, it’s not my baby and it’s not hurting anyone” is my favorite comment on here today.
Animal made milk is not vegan. Humans are animals. However, I’m not vegan myself so do what you want with your own kid. Nobody really should say what you cannot feed your baby with, within reason.
The vegan objection to cow’s milk (for example) is generally that it displaces the calf (who should be getting mom’s milk) and results in the death of most male calfs, typically after a short and uncomfortable life if they are destined to be eaten as veal. There are other aspects of the dairy industry that can be troublesome, particularly in large operations. Many vegetarians will try to get their dairy products from nicer operations that treat the cows better (and quite a few meat eaters try to do the same, vegans and vegetarians aren’t the only ones who worry about treatment of the animals), but the male calfs seem out of luck regardless as far as I can tell. I’ve heard that goat’s milk is actually closer to the composition of human milk than cow’s milk and may be less of an allergy problem for humans.
There is no vegan objection to human milk, which is provided for human babies and is hopefully a volunteer operation all the way. Also babies are not killed to provide the milk for another species. In other words, it is not the fact that it is of animal origin that is really the problem (since humans are also animals) but the fact that the animals involved are non-volunteers who have not given informed consent…
I can imagine that some people with vegan beliefs would feel able to eat dead animals who died accidentally (e.g. roadkill) or of natural causes, since the real ethical problem is the intentional killing of other animals. This is related to other people’s concerns about eating meat only from animals who were well treated and quickly killed under as stress-free circumstances as possible. Maybe this is why there are vegetarians who eat fish? Dunno, I find meat yuck and I’m probably allergic to seafood…. There are health issues involved with eating too close to your own species, however (sharing parasites, for example), and other reasons to doubt that eating animals (fish and birds included) and their eggs or milk is a great idea for humans even though we can manage to digest them. So there are also vegans whose eating choices are based on health concerns rather than ethical concerns.
Humans have been eating meat, fish and eggs since before we evolved from our ape ancestors, so not only are we “able to digest” meat, our bodies are designed to digest it. Our teeth, enzymes, digestive system and metabolism are all based on a meat and vegetable diet, as hundreds of thousands of years of evolution has reinforced. So choose to eat meat or not, but please leave off any pseudoscientific reasoning.
I think part of the problem we have when we discuss health is that students aren’t taught enough critical thinking and reasoning skills to allow them to read advertisements, blogs and books that cherry pick information to promote a fad without being able to evaluate that information realistically. Eliminate meat and eggs and dairy, cool, but realize it’s simply a diet choice you’re making and not any kind of evolutionary imperative.
Oh, also – you don’t “share parasites” from eating too close to your own species. I’m not even sure where that story might have come from. Parasites simply follow whichever part of an organism’s lifestyle allows them to come in contact with you – for instance cows (vegans) will get them from eating grass, standing near their own poop, etc., and humans will get parasites from getting stung by mosquitoes, standing barefoot on dirt, standing passively in water that has a certain kind of snail, drinking unfiltered water, biting nails without washing hands — far more often than they will get parasites from eating them in any kind of meat. Parasites don’t have to do with how evolutionarily close a species is to its prey. Parasites normally come to us from interacting with other organisms far, far from us on the tree of life.
Its a personal decision but I caution everyone who is considering it to not make assumptions about donors (like the idiot in the TV news story this morning) Only get through a properly screened source.
Based on my lifestyle most people would never in a million years guess I had a communicable disease. Im attractive, health conscious, successful and a mom. i do though. Dont make assumptions, ever.
Are you sure this is aimed only at vegan moms? Breastmilk sharing is a wonderful much needed thing amongst moms in general and I would strongly applaud her actions. Assuming it is only for vegans may be a disservice.
There are milk banks available to anyone. I think Alicia’s point was making a milk bank by vegans for vegans. But yes, milk banks have been around for a while now. It was just starting up when my daughter was a baby and she’s 11 now. At that time, there really wasn’t much out there but people were starting to wonder how to get them started. Sounds like they are picking up speed now which is great for those who need them.
I thought breast feeding was gross and would never do it because I didn’t want my boobs to sag. My son is 9 months and we’ll hopefully make it to at least a year of breast feeding. For years I simply adopted my mom’s beliefs and those of society thats says its gross. If you have a child you can decide for yourself. I judged and I am a hypocrit. Things change. Do what works for you. I don’t eat meat and I’ve thought about this very topic and I think it’s a good idea. I have her book and did not enjoy the recipes.
I’m glad you were able to change your mind. My mother (and grandmother) was unable (or discouraged?) to breastfeed so she was fascinated when I nursed my children. It’s not for everyone and support is essential to success. Glad you were/are successful!
Good for you! Informed decisions are the best decisions. I honestly don’t care how people choose to nourish their kids, but I do hate to see people just blindly following misinformation and prejudice, be it as a FFer or BFer.
Word. I’ve seen some bf’ers around certain websites prostelitizing about how formula is worse than breastmilk from a woman who is smoking crack. There is plenty of dumb on both sides of this, flying in the face of logic and reason. In general, i find it weird to obsess over how other people feed their offspring.
I don’t care if someone’s child is breastfed or not, I do care that the child is not put at risk.
While sharing is fine, I’d heavily screen the applicants, medically not just a questionnaire to ensure nothing was transmitted from a “clean, glorious, vegan mom”
Thanks grumpycat for sharing on ‘stereotypes and being honest’.
As for Marie “finding out” (Post #1) I hope she gets the opportunity but some women never do.some chose not to and some lose or never have that option even if they want it. that will change your perception. Lighten up on Jade, you don’t know where she’s coming from. Maybe ask her why she thinks that.
Vegans are allowed to breastfeed?
Are you serious?
I think the point of being vegan is to not consume from animals because they have no choice in the matter whether they give or not, and their treatment is less than stellar, and really, their milk is meant for their own babies. Breastfeeding is fine because it’s how nature intended to feed infants, and the parent does so willingly.
*deleted*
Andrea asked an innocent question….no need to get all sanctimonious about it.
There. That was MUCH nicer than my original comment.
Kitten the question did deserve an “are you serious”. Unless the kid chews off her breast and swallows it (thereby consuming meat), it’s vegan. It is a bit of a silly question.
Pandy, cow (or goat or sheep) milk is not Vegan even if we don’t bite off a piece of the cow. And sometimes little breastfeeders can be a bit rough, especially when they are just learning or getting teeth (I’ll stop there so as not to be too graphic but I think you get the point) – so the Vegan laws you describe do not necessarily hold up.
I have read several comments here about how breastfeeding is gross. Must be a cultural thing, then, because in my glorious corner in good ol’ Europe, breastfeeding is seen as nothing but natural. No one I know would blame anyone for not breastfeeding (for whatever reason), nor would they glorify the fact that they do. It is just something that (many) people do, when they can.
Honestly, this is the first time I’ve ever heard anyone say breastfeeding is gross and I’m an American. This totally baffles me. What is gross about it?
I’m honestly not into the whole premastication, vegan breast milk thing. I breast fed my son for a few weeks until poor milk production and a terrible case of mastitis made me stop. I will say though that I find Alicia’s enthusiasm and whole grain attitude kind of adorable!
She looks sick.
Anyway, most of the milk at milk banks is pasteurized to get rid of diseases and bacteria.
The only way I would use donor milk is if my baby couldn’t tolerate formula. I certainly wouldn’t get the milk straight from the source because I’m a worrier. That woman may think she is disease free but what if her husband is cheating on her, exposing her to diseases?
Isa, what does cheating have to do with sharing breast milk?
Cheating could lead to the husband picking up sexually transmitted diseases that the wife would not be aware she was being exposed to.
That’s how I read it.
Yes, that’s what I meant. The chances are probably slim, but like I said I’m a worried.
Yes, that’s what I meant. The chances are probably slim, but like I said I’m a worrier.
Not to sound condescending or anything, but people that find breast feeding (by mother only, or as a shared responsibility) gross….but still drink milk/consume dairy products are being gigantic hypocrites.
I don’t think they are. I like a nice rare steak myself, but don’t want to see it hacked off the cow. I could get a blood transfusion if I needed one, but would be uninterested in seeing the blood pumped out of the donor’s body before being put in my own. And, in a less blood&guts example, I used to love the salad dressing at a particular restaurant until I glanced in the open door of the restaurant kitchen once to see someone dispensing it from the gigantic bucket it was transported in.
Sometimes being too close to the “source” grosses you out, even if you know intellectually where the product comes from. It doesn’t mean you find the product gross, just that you’d like to be a step removed from it to enjoy it.
Love this. As a milk-donor myself, I have seen first hand how hard it is for nursing mothers to come to terms with the fact that they can’t make enough, or maybe have lipase problems. I think it’s a very sweet and selfless gift, and I know the mama I donate to is VERY thankful that she doesn’t have to purchase formula.
For someone being fed such a healthy diet, that toddler looks a bit wan and sickly.
Hope she’s making sure that her baby is getting all the macro-nutrients he needs to build a healthy body and immune system.
I only know her from Clueless, Blast from the Past, and that one show I can’t even remember the name of that she was the star of for a season or two. It was cancelled quickly. Her vegan lifestyle is the only thing keeping her in the news these days. I don’t know what happened to her career. She’s not the best actress, but she made Clueless a hit, and I saw better gigs for her. I guess she never really broke out into more serious parts in Hollywood.
I’m just happy to see a “celebrity” using a refillable coffee mug 🙂
Totally! I saw that and I think it’s great. Say what you want about her opinions on child-rearing but this woman is consistent about caring for the earth and the animals that inhabit it.
For that reason alone, I can’t hate on her.
I’m not a mom, but this sounds like a great idea.
I must be unique in that I’m one of the few non-Moms who isn’t grossed out by breastfeeding or breast-milk. And no, I didn’t grow up watching my Mom breastfeed, I’m the youngest. I mean, I’m not ne of those people who is like, “OMG WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MOMENT! IT’S SO BEAUTIFUL INCREDIBLE, MAGICALLY FANTASTICAL SUPER SPECIAL AWESOME!!!” To me, it’s a meal. That’s it. Pure and simple. No more, no less. Nothing to be grossed out about, any more than any other meal. I think chugging a 32 oz milk shake is a lot grosser than breastfeeding.
I’m not a Mom and it doesn’t gross me out so you aren’t the only one:)
What grosses me out are people on either side who are extremely judgmental. People need to just live and let live. How other people feed their kids is no one’s business unless the kids are being neglected.
Bear Blu. What a name for a kid.
meh, i plan to donate my frozen stash. i’m moving across the country and can’t take it with me
Comparable to the ages-old idea of having a nurse maid. As a mother with children who were breast fed, I don’t find it gross at all. It’s a hell of a lot healthier than processed formula in my opinion, though the $#it storm that may follow with that statement may possibly convince many otherwise.
I’ve always liked this actress. She seems so down to earth.
If I had a baby and we were all starving or something & I couldn’t make breastmilk, I would be glad to have it. Other than that though, can’t imagine wanting my baby to drink someone elses milk unless I knew that woman was extremely healthy and had a good diet. I don’t consider vegan diets to be healthy, especially for babies and children. All of the vegans I know eat tons of soy as a filler and to get some protein. Babies & kids need a lot of protein. Soy is one of the most f’cked up crops in America, lots of GMO, also its really, really bad for the environment. There are of course vegans who do it properly, but it takes a lot of time and work, soaking the right beans overnite, a lot of veggie cooking, etc. I know a couple of middle aged people who do this, but the other vegans I know are busy people and just buy processed vegan food at Whole Foods or Gelsons. And while getting rid of animal cruelty and unhealthy animal practices (shooting them up with hormones, antibiotics, etc) is a worthy and necessary goal, there are lots of humane and organic options. I think buying locally produced food is very important so we don’t let the big agra companies completely destroy what little is left of Americas topsoil…but thats another rant.
Why is it bad for the environment? I’m off to google.
Here you go: http://worldinfo.org/2012/01/food-for-thought-soybean-endangers-brazil-amazon-rainforest/
You just don’t know the healthiest vegans… 🙂 See my post above about how vegan eating can take a lot less time than carnivore eating, no fancy cooking required. Definitely you don’t need to rely on soy. There are many other legumes and other foods that will provide plenty of protein, including for infants, children, and teenagers. There are many living examples of this. I often don’t eat soy at all for long periods, and it is hard not to get plenty of protein on a vegan non-soy diet (even gluten-free). Soy is pushed because it’s a major crop and because its amino acid profile has almost all the human essential amino acids in reasonable proportions to match our needs. But our bodies take the amino acids from all the food we eat and mix them to make our proteins. The body can store amino acids from various sources long enough so that if you eat a varied enough diet, you’re fine without soy. The worst that might happen is that we waste a few leftovers sometimes. We don’t have to carefully combine proteins as some thought back last century (the first Diet for a Small Planet book was wrong).
+1
There is nothing wrong with eating plants, legumes, tubers, nuts, fruits, and whole grains. These are not evil and generally do not cause harm, barring allergies.
I do not and will not ever understand why someone would think that an animal product is nutritionally superior to a vegetable or whole grain. The idea of a specifc part of food like protein being more important than the entire food is ridiculous. Just because a steak has protein does not dismiss the fat that comes along with that protein. Same with calcium and milk. If you look at the whole food, greens are a much better source of calcium than milk or cheese, less allergies to them, less fat, no saturated fat, less calories and so on. It is all about the whole impact food will have on your body not single specific nutrients of complex food items which is a complete construct of the food industry to sell more junk and nowhere near reality.
isn’t breastfeeding the antithesis of vegan?!
Not unless the kid chews off her breast and swallows it …
I really admire her. I appreciate it when people are true to themselves no matter what people’s opinions are.
as far as i can tell, she is always consistent
unlike goop who fears gluten then puts pizza in her book etc
This is the silliest, most elitist idea I’ve heard in ages!
Milk is an excretion from a human body, and needs to be sterilized and tested before being put into someone who doesn’t share your DNA. Donate your milk to a HOSPITAL, so it can go to babies who desperately need it- not just amongst a back-patting circle of vegans who believe their “lifestyle” is somehow magically superior.
News to Alicia- you know what breastfeeding women have eaten since the dawn of time? Meat. Milk. Cheese.’Vegan’ milk is not magically superior.
I cannot wait until her kid is a teenager and throws her a double-hand-F-you by scarfing down a Big Mac.
It’s not just vegans there are groups such as human milk for human babies out there that do the same thing.
Also, some milk banks pasteurize the milk to get rid of anything harmful. It gets rid of some of the immunity properties too in the process, but not all of them.
Why would you consider a vegan mother wanting to share milk with other vegans so awful and judgmental? The foods the mom eats have enough of an effect on the milk that baby can taste the difference (and may not like some things) and allergists recommend that mom refrain from eating the baby’s known allergens or potential allergens in a baby at risk for allergies. So a vegan mom might understandably want to feed her baby vegan-produced milk. Just because it doesn’t matter to you doesn’t make it silly.
+1
i am not sure if the phrase “precious boobie time” makes me want to laugh or hurl
and…just a note: vegans aren’t “extreme.” Not eating meat or dairy is no more extreme than the rampant “I don’t eat bread or anything with a grain in it” diets. I buy non-leather bags and shoes, and I try to buy household and personal products that don’t test on animals or contain animal products. It’s consumer choices I make for personal value reasons. How is that extreme?
I don’t find her stance or her language about breastfeeding to be sanctimonious or overly obnoxious, just really enthusiastic- but what does strike me as sanctimonious is the insistence that it being vegannnn and “clean.” That’s where the holier-than-thou thing gets obnoxious to me- milk-sharing, while sure, it should be screened for communicable diseases, seems like a kind and sharing kinda thing to do- but being all, “ewww, your breast milk is not up to par for myyyyyy baby cuz you ate a bowl of cheerios!” seems kind of obnoxious.
anyway, i don’t at all agree with the poster above who said she isn’t aging well. i think she looks terrific. she’s natural, for crying out loud, that’s what actual women look like when they’re, like, not wearing tons of face-paint, and are extremely healthy and take care of themselves and stuff. she kinda makes me think of nicole kidman or liz phair- about a thousand years ago, of course.
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She doesn’t look sickly or sallow. She’s not wearing makeup.