# “Milk and Honey are the Only Foods that weren’t Originally Alive...” **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 30, 2018, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milk-and-honey-are-the-only-foods-that-weren-t-originally-alive/811473 "2018-03-30T13:49:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milk-and-honey-are-the-only-foods-that-weren-t-originally-alive/811473/41 "2018-03-30T18:04:59Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > This is the version of this I’ve heard (on _Good Eats_, maybe?). Milk and honey are the only edible things on Earth whose sole purpose is to be eaten. **Colibri** may have a point about egg yolks. Maybe they should be added to the list. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milk-and-honey-are-the-only-foods-that-weren-t-originally-alive/811473/42 "2018-03-30T18:06:11Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > This is the version of this I’ve heard (on _Good Eats_, maybe?). Milk and honey are the only edible things on Earth whose sole purpose is to be eaten. Are you saying that Guacamole is inedible, or that it has some other purpose? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milk-and-honey-are-the-only-foods-that-weren-t-originally-alive/811473/43 "2018-03-30T18:11:58Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Are you saying that Guacamole is inedible, or that it has some other purpose? Thr discussion is about unprocessed substances created by nature, not human processed end products. If you’re going to include guacamole then you’ll have to include most of what’s for sale in a supermarket and the whole discussion becomes meaningless. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milk-and-honey-are-the-only-foods-that-weren-t-originally-alive/811473/44 "2018-03-30T18:19:07Z")
What about processed substances created by nature, like honey? ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milk-and-honey-are-the-only-foods-that-weren-t-originally-alive/811473/45 "2018-03-30T18:20:52Z")
Bird nests were originally twigs and stuff. That was a living tree or bush at one point. Fruit was also part of the tree. Hell, if you’re going to count fruit, why not count any part of the plant? Or really all vegetables as well? If fruit counts, why should nuts and grain not count? And if they count, we have to count a lot of simple breads. And fruit is just the fleshy ripe ovary of the plant. So why would that count, but animal organs do not? Cow tongue? Liver? Is it because it’s made of cells? There are cells in milk and honey was created by pollen, which was made of plant cells. So, if we’re not counting the cellular level, where do we start? Not cells? What about tissue? If cells and tissue doesn’t count, then unfertilized eggs should count, right? If those count, then fruit would count as well. If that’s the case, one can include almost anything. What about placenta? Water and Salt seem to fit the “not alive” part, but they arguably are not “food”. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milk-and-honey-are-the-only-foods-that-weren-t-originally-alive/811473/46 "2018-03-30T19:09:59Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Thr discussion is about unprocessed substances created by nature, not human processed end products. > > If you’re going to include guacamole then you’ll have to include most of what’s for sale in a supermarket and the whole discussion becomes meaningless. I was replying to the blanket claim, “Milk and honey are the only edible things on Earth whose sole purpose is to be eaten.” which has none of those caveats. There are many edible things on Earth, and many of them do not have a secondary purpose. And both milk and honey are processed. They are processed by animals other than humans, but they are not just found in some lake somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milk-and-honey-are-the-only-foods-that-weren-t-originally-alive/811473/47 "2018-03-30T19:16:48Z")
I call BS on the bird’s nest soup as food, anyway. Just because someone eats something, doesn’t make it food. People will eat anything. [Japanese Restaurant Serves Meal of Dirt — for $110](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/01/30/japanese-restaurant-serves-meal-of-dirt-for-110/) ---
**Author:** ![Zyanthia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Zyanthia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyanthia)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milk-and-honey-are-the-only-foods-that-weren-t-originally-alive/811473/48 "2018-03-30T19:34:04Z")
I have to disagree with water not being food. Snow is one form of water, and I love me some snow cones. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milk-and-honey-are-the-only-foods-that-weren-t-originally-alive/811473/49 "2018-03-30T19:36:00Z")
> [@Zyanthia](#): > > I have to disagree with water not being food. Snow is one form of water, and I love me some snow cones. Unless you like them sans syrup, then the ice itself isn’t a food. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milk-and-honey-are-the-only-foods-that-weren-t-originally-alive/811473/50 "2018-03-30T19:40:09Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > There are cells in milk and honey was created by pollen, which was made of plant cells. Honey is primarily from nectar, which is not made of plant cells. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milk-and-honey-are-the-only-foods-that-weren-t-originally-alive/811473/51 "2018-03-30T19:45:02Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > If we’re talking about salt then we should also mention baking soda, baking powder, and alum. > > What may be unique about honey and milk is that they are created by the bees and mammals specifically to be used as food. I can’t think of anything else we eat where that’s true. Some species produce [trophic eggs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trophic_egg), that is, eggs intended as food for offspring rather than to produce offspring. But I don’t see any species listed in the link that people commonly eat as food. Domestic chickens are sort of but not really leaning that way, given they’ve been bred to produce a lot of eggs whether they’re having sex/fertilizing them or not. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milk-and-honey-are-the-only-foods-that-weren-t-originally-alive/811473/52 "2018-03-30T19:53:42Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > Bird nests were originally twigs and stuff. Not the [kind we eat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edible_bird%27s_nest). > [@caligulathegod](#): > > I call BS on the bird’s nest soup as food, anyway. Just because someone eats something, doesn’t make it food. Bird’s nest has been considered a delicacy since the Ming dynasty. It’s a popular item in high-end Chinese restaurants, and readily available in markets around Asia, and even in the US at specialty markets and mail-order. If that’s not sufficient to qualify as food, then what is the necessary qualification? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milk-and-honey-are-the-only-foods-that-weren-t-originally-alive/811473/53 "2018-03-30T21:40:37Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Alcohol, too. And since we’ve already cleared fruit, we’re well on our way to a no-kill margarita. Fruit has to be disqualified - fruits are composed of living tissues. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milk-and-honey-are-the-only-foods-that-weren-t-originally-alive/811473/54 "2018-03-30T21:43:06Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Fruit has to be disqualified - fruits are composed of living tissues. But not fruit juice. Fruit juice may be produced by living tissue, but does not contain any. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2018, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milk-and-honey-are-the-only-foods-that-weren-t-originally-alive/811473/55 "2018-03-30T21:59:03Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Are you saying that Guacamole is inedible, or that it has some other purpose? That’s an interesting example to use because Avacados evolved to be eaten by an animal that doesn’t exist anymore, the giant sloth. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milk-and-honey-are-the-only-foods-that-weren-t-originally-alive/811473/56 "2018-03-31T00:41:59Z")
[Salt] > [@Czarcasm](#): > > Used as an ingredient in food-yes. > Used as a food…? > [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > Water and Salt seem to fit the “not alive” part, but they arguably are not “food”. Salt is definitely classified as a food. In fact, people get sick and die if they don’t eat enough of it. So salt is technically not a spice. (Though here in Minnesota, folklore recognizes only 2 real spices: salt & sugar. That’s what you add to pork to get Spam.) ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milk-and-honey-are-the-only-foods-that-weren-t-originally-alive/811473/57 "2018-03-31T01:12:07Z")
I think part of the vegan objection to milk is the the heifer must be bred to produce it. Some of the calves are kept, but almost all of the males get surplused. Milk often involves killing the critter that would have been drinking it. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milk-and-honey-are-the-only-foods-that-weren-t-originally-alive/811473/58 "2018-03-31T01:48:10Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > But not fruit juice. Fruit juice may be produced by living tissue, but does not contain any. If fruit juice doesn’t contain any bits of tissue, it’s because they’ve been filtered out. And even then, it almost certainly contains at least some cells from the fruit. Probably lots more than milk has of cells from the teat. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milk-and-honey-are-the-only-foods-that-weren-t-originally-alive/811473/59 "2018-03-31T07:41:41Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I think part of the vegan objection to milk is the the heifer must be bred to produce it. Some of the calves are kept, but almost all of the males get surplused. Milk often involves killing the critter that would have been drinking it. But that’s silly. They live for at least a few months, and would have died anyway, eventually. Plus they wouldn’t have existed at all if the cow had not been bred. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2018, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milk-and-honey-are-the-only-foods-that-weren-t-originally-alive/811473/60 "2018-03-31T10:43:10Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > But that’s silly. > They live for at least a few months, and would have died anyway, eventually. Plus they wouldn’t have existed at all if the cow had not been bred. A few months? A few days for some, a few weeks for others, maybe a few months for grass fed. Some are kept for veal, which is pretty controversial anyway, as heavily restricting diet and movement is common, as muscle growth and eating solid food affects the meat taste and texture. It’s not always economically viable to bother with that even, many calves are simply slaughtered at birth. I’m not vegan, but that does not seem a very good argument anyway; imagine the response if someone tried to argue it was a good plan to kill human newborns rather than use contraception because at least they get to exist that way, and they would have died eventually anyway. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milk-and-honey-are-the-only-foods-that-weren-t-originally-alive/811473.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/milk-and-honey-are-the-only-foods-that-weren-t-originally-alive/811473.md?page=4)