New reality show asks families if they love meat enough to kill ‘pet’
CANNES, FRANCE : It is one of the most shocking ultimatums ever delivered on television: Go vegetarian or we kill your pet.
But a new taboo-smashing British reality TV show called Meat The Family goes even further. Not only will a family of unrepentant carnivores have to let an animal they have adopted and grown to love go for slaughter if they refuse to stop eating meat, they will be asked to cook and eat it.
With experts saying we have to eat less meat to stave off climate change, Channel 4 has made the dilemma stomach-churningly stark. Four heavy meat-eating families have to take home and look after the "animal that ends up most often on their plates".
Analyst Virginia Mouseler called the show "the most transgressive" of the year at MIPCOM, the world's biggest entertainment market in Cannes, France.
"It is not sex or drugs anymore. Meat is becoming the next taboo. The question they are asking is how can you cuddle your dog while you are putting another animal in the oven?"
The first episodes involve a lamb, a pig, a chicken and a calf.
"They have to treat this animal like a member of the family for three weeks," Ms Mouseler said, adding in the end, they have to decide whether to put it in the oven or take it to an animal sanctuary. - AFP
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