A Chinese cosmetics company is using skin harvested from the corpses of executed convicts to develop collagen for beauty products to sell in Europe. It’s traditional – but I’m sorry, it’s too much ick for me. Maybe time to hold up on scheduling that swollen lip look, ladies.

I began to wonder where US collagen comes from? A brief look says “bovine dermal” – cowskin? – as well as human. Ok, do they test for mad cow? Where do they get the human? Is someone donating skin? Is collagen used only for injections and other medical applications? It seems to me I’ve seen it as an ingredient in skin cream and even shampoo. I don’t think I really want to smear smooshed dermal layers of anything else on me. Correct me if my initial impression is mistaken.

I’ll also skip the tortured St. Bernard entree or, for that matter, veal (when I was a kid, I wondered where all the veals lived). I’m even going to have to re-evaluate yummy duck and goose foie gras.

I’m not a vegetarian, but I agree with most of the arguments. Once I tried cutting out all meat, but then I had dreams of veggies screaming. Now I simply recognize and am thankful for the sacrifices that uphold my continued existence, and I try not to be greedy. I’m not entirely comfortable with it, but in my selfishness I do love ribs and steak. I’m thinking that maybe I should eat them now, while we still can.

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself where certain things come from? As a former Jehovah’s Witness, I was still a bit leery of the blood transfusion that helped to save my life a few years ago, but I had taken a Rhogam shot to counteract an RH incompatibility without thinking about it. My mom, the former nurse, had to tell me that actually Rhogam is a human blood product too. Of course. It just never occurred to me. How about insulin? Is that a human product and if so, where do they get it? I have no idea.

My husband’s insurance company told him that they wouldn’t pay for emergency blood, but the hospital sure charged for it. When I was pregnant, a now-defunct company tried to get me to store the cord for stem cells. When I said no, the hospital just took it away. I would have been more comfortable if they’d given it to me, along with the placenta. It’s mine. Was it sold, and if so, who made a profit on the primal connector between me and my son?

I am sure that there are bioethicists considering these and other related questions. I’ve been thinking about these kinds of topics since we saw The Constant Gardener the other night. Guess I’ll add another topic to my reading list.