Freeze-Dried Bodies.The Return of Powdered Human Milk

Abstract

It’s 2021 and powdered human milk is all the rage. Not powdered coffee, powdered soup or powdered cow’s milk, but powdered human milk. Powdered human milk sounds like an infant food tech revolution, but actually, it is at least over a century old. The global comeback of powdered human milk is tied to the renewed awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding for infants and the accompanying expansion of donor human milk services globally. It is also a story about gender, science and money. What has changed in 2021 from 1909 is that women are increasingly reclaiming milk technologies for their own needs and interests. A decade ago, Harvard University historian Jill Lepore argued that the generalisation of breast pumps turned American women into their own wetnurses. With the increasing availability and affordability of freeze-drying, they may now become their own infant formula manufacturers.

Note: Originally published in Counter Magazine, reposted with permission.

Keywords: lactation, breastfeeding, human milk, breast milk, lyophilization, freeze-drying, donor human milk, human milk bank

JEL Classification: I, I3, Z18