Recent advances in tissue engineering have enabled us to grow meat without the expense, cruelty and traditions of rearing the whole animal. This project examines how we might choose to give shape, texture and flavour to this new sort of food in order to better remind us where it came from.
Introductory animation
Cow Gone Abstract – an introductory animation (after Roy Lichtenstein). Requires Flash.
In-Vitro Cultured Meat
Winston Churchill once said: ‘Fifty years hence we shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium.’
It is now possible to grow edible meat from a small sample of animal tissue. Imagining a world where traditional livestock farming has disappeared, the following design proposal explores how our relationship to farm animals would change and how we would choose to give shape to this new sort of food.
The MRI steak – an anatomically complicated piece of meat.
The mobile animal MRI [Magnetic Resonance Imaging] unit scours the countryside looking for the most beautiful examples of cows, pigs, chickens and other livestock. Once located, the creature is scanned from head to toe, creating accurate cross-sectional images of its inner organs.
The most interesting and aesthetically pleasing examples of anatomy are used as templates to create moulds for the in-vitro meat (we wouldn’t choose to eat the same old boring parts that we eat today). The result is a satisfyingly complicated and authentic form of food.
A cross-section though a cow’s stomach and a piece of meat being moulded.
The completed dish ready for eating
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