“got breastmilk?” Get a Lawyer!

A few months ago my kindergartner took a field trip to a farm. She came home excited to tell me all about how the baby cows are separated from the mama cows so the farmer can collect the cows’ milk for humans to drink. When I expressed my horror at little calf nurslings being separated from their mothers, my daughter insisted, “But it’s okay, Mom! They get powdered milk and they love it! I got to feed a baby cow a bottle and she sucked it right down!” I tried to wrap my head around the irony of baby cows getting formula, and I tried to explain to my daughter that the calves would prefer to drink their mamas’ milk, and that that milk is specially designed for them, and has all the antibodies and nutrients that they need. “No really Mom! They love the formula!”

As if that wasn’t enough to make me think twice about my own cows’ milk consumption, now there’s even more reason to question it. The Lactivist just posted about how the California Milk Processor Board is threatening legal action against a breastfeeding advocate who printed up 10 onesies with the slogan “got breastmilk?” The Board claims that “got breastmilk?” infringes on the trademark “got milk?” Because we all know how easy it is to confuse milk from a breast and milk from a carton at the grocery store (two vastly different kinds of milk “jugs” folks!) And because we all know how difficult (for the Board at least) it is to understand the concept of a parody. Apparently the Board did not benefit from the National Pork Board’s run-in with The Lactivist over “The Other White Milk”.

Read the original news story here. Then if you are so inclined, get in touch with the California Milk Processor Board to share your views on the matter. The board’s phone number is (949) 481-6620. The fax number is (949) 481-6680.