Some cultures, as Kathy Dettwyler points out, never drink the milk of
mammals past weaning.  Other groups of people subsist upon yogurts and
cheeses from the milk of yaks, cows, goats, or sheep.  Through most of human
history, people ate what they had.  In the industrialized world, variety may
turn out to not be such a good thing, and processing and genetic engineering
have certainly altered the nature of what we think of as "food".
The implications of this are not fully known, but are certainly of concern.
I am personally interested in these discussions on on Lactnet on a
scientific, anthropoligical, and legal basis -- esp. so long as there is
evidence that it impacts my work as an LC. For instance, I am concerned
about the implications of the spread of mad cow disease. .

I find that I start to react with annoyance on a personal, emotional basis,
when people start lecturing about diet using moralistic terms that imply
that only self-destructive idiots would eat-drink-ingest foods commonly
found on my table. While I doubt that is anyone's intent, I can't help it,
that's how it FEELS to me.  Inspite of the fact they may be sharing in the
spirit of telling me something for my own good, it feels prostelitizing and
puts me off.  I rather suspect that mothers may feel similarly controlled
and micro-managed when a care-giver's strongly held beliefs about taboo
foods are commuicated as pre-requisites for breastfeeding.  This is not to
say that we shouldn't investigate diet when there is a PROBLEM during bfg,
or when careful history taking justifies bringing up a food-specific
caution.  I guess my point is to say, esp. to newcomers,  this is not a list
where we all have to consent to share the same beliefs about food.

At our house, we have only one rule about food:  If you don't like it, don't
eat it.

Barbara Wilson-Clay BSEd, IBCLC
Austin Lactation Associates
http://www.lactnews.com

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