| abstract | - Baby Farming (an abuse) is the purposeful producing of human infants for the purpose of human consumption, generally as a foodstuff. This should not be confused with the closely related and much larger industry of baby harvesting, which is the gathering of unintentionally produced and generally unwanted infants for human consumption. Additionally, neither baby farming nor baby harvesting should not be confused with baby stealing, which is the theft of wanted infants for the purpose of consumption. Baby farming includes infants produced for both sale and personal use. The idea of using babies for foodstuff was first put forth by Johnathan Swift in his satirical work "A Modest Proposal" in 1729. Baby farming is an industry worth approximately $125 million per year, producing over 250 thousand infants in 2006. In addition, some 50 thousand infants were produced for private consumption. The typical selling price of a baby is about $50, depending on weight, race, and gender. Some specially grown and bred gourmet babies can sell for several thousand dollars. Unlike baby harvesting, baby farming has been practised in relatively few areas of the world. The high costs of baby farming combined with the near-universal surplus of unwanted infants has rendered it unprofitable except when baby flesh is a highly sought after luxury food.
* industrial baby farming, also called plantation-type baby farming, in which several infants are produced on a large "farm" in an industrial setting for the purpose of sale
* non-industrial baby farming, or more precisely, commercial non-industrial baby farming, also called cottage-industry baby farming, in which a single female intentionally produces a baby for the purpose of sale
* non-commercial baby farming, in which a baby is produced for the purpose of personal consumption. Today, almost all commercial baby farming, industrial or otherwise, occurs in the four nations of Cambodia, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam. In former times, it was also practiced in most of eastern Asia and Ireland. Although almost all farmed babies are Asian, there is a niche industry in Vietnam in white and black babies, which were bred from captured soldiers from the Vietnam War. In addition to their use as foodstuffs, babies are also used to create baby-leather and their organs are often transplanted into more desired infants. In southern Africa, babies are used as a traditional "cure" for aids, the effectiveness of which is questioned by modern science.
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