THE HUMAN MEAT PROJECT! Yes, this article is for real; TRIGGER WARNING!

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

One body can feed up to 40 people*

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Together we could end world starvation, overpopulation, and climate change.

Based on average weight of 55kg/height 165cm

I am not sure what to tell you, community; there are some weird things happening in this world, and I am going to report something that most readers will find disturbing, weird, and extremely controversial.

I was sent a message from one of our readers about something they saw on Tik Tok that they thought I should investigate. It was a website called “THE HUMAN MEAT PROJECT,” yes, I just wrote that, and you just read it.

According to their website Human Meat Project, the practice of cannibalism is not uncommon in living beings. In both the animal kingdom and our human history, the consumption of one’s own species has existed. During the discovery of the New World, Christopher Columbus brought back what could be seen as early evidence of cannibalistic practices in modern civilization.

The word ‘cannibal’ comes from the name the Spanish gave to the Caribs (Cannibales). The Spanish accused the Caribbean tribe of ritualistically consuming their enemies, but modern-day scholars have doubts that it actually happened. They speculate the Caribs were engaged in an anti-colonial battle with a host of European powers. Many historians now argue that the cannibalism rumors were just a propaganda tactic by the Spanish meant to provoke fear.

On the website they state that “In order to save the planet from the impact of our modern civilization and lifestyle, we have to make a change in our ideas about consumption and our dietary choices. We face climate change due to waste, pollution, deforestation, and overpopulation problems.

By donating your body for human consumption, you are taking direct action to help others and lessen the damage of the industrial age. By consuming human meat, we create a change in both our life and the world. By improving the standard quality of life in every country and nation, we can give everyone in the world a good life.”

There is more; let’s keep going…

The website also states that, “Human meat often understated for its nutrition, human meat protein and fat density could have the same or better than other convenient meat products like beef, chicken and pork.”

They claim that human meat taste and texture is similar to pork, not to mention the quality could be more substantial (depending on Quality-of-Life ratings). One body could feed up to 40 people, and it is also the most attainable resource for meat and fat consumption.

The organization welcomes every nation to give back to the rest of the world. “We are calling you, humans, to wake up and take action now. We are not living individually and alone. We need each other to survive. Together we can create a world worth living for. Together we can build a world of humanity and solidarity. Every life is cardinal.”

Now, of course you know the fact check sites went off dispelling this website as being only a way for the artist of this project to develop their conceptual artwork. On the website it states, “Our goal is to create an artwork that represents the current society as true as possible and can be accepted by the art world and non-art world. We are aware there is a high rate of non-art people who are unable to understand, or relate with modern artworks, thus, we want to create an artwork that resonates with the public and change how art can be delivered and perceived without any art knowledge.”

I have searched the internet far and wide, and I was unable to find this conceptual artwork that they are talking about. It looks like Snopes.com tried to do the same thing I did, and according to their website, “Sadly, we were able to find no information at all about the artist(s) behind the Human Meat Project, but we reached out via the website’s contact form and will update this article if we learn more.”

Hmmmmm!

During my research, I found that The Human Meat Project is reminiscent of a 2001 internet hoax called ManBeef.com, a faux commercial website that promoted itself as “Your choice for quality human meats, and gourmet human meat products.”

On July 26^th, 2021, Stephanie Rogers wrote an article for Yahoo News about a company called BiteLabs.  They were looking to market human test-tube meat, and they’re hoping to get celebrities like James Franco, Ellen DeGeneres, Jennifer Lawrence, and Kanye West on board to donate tissue samples that will eventually become salami.

They describe a potential Ellen salami as “Black pepper and garlic with a playful kick of mustard [for] a highly approachable and well-rounded flavor,” J-Law’s as “Smoothed with notes of honey, and spiced with orange zest and ginger,” and Kanye’s as “Best paired with strong straight bourbon.” James Franco’s salami would be “Arrogant, distinctive, and completely undeniable.”

There is more; when artist Orkan Telhan exhibited steaks grown from human cells called “Ouroboros Steak” at the Design Museum in London, he received a flood of angry emails and social media posts calling him “wicked” and “pure evil.” According to Telhan, he wasn’t trying to encourage us to eat each other with his project, “It’s a statement on the fact that we can choose to use our own cells to produce lab-grown meats, but animals can’t provide the same consent.”

BiteLabs told The Los Angeles Times that its primary goal is to “Provoke discussion and debate around topics of bioethics and celebrity culture,” but also plainly stated that they’re gauging market interest for an actual lab-grown celebrity salami project. “We see inefficiencies, environmental hazards, and ethical problems in the world’s food production and distribution. There are exciting opportunities to disrupt these industries while opening new ways to consume celebrity culture.”

To be clear, none of the celebrities featured in BiteLabs’ promo materials are actually affiliated with the project, but the company hopes the public will help get them and others onboard by tweeting at them. Again, upon research, the website link provided was no longer working. Very interesting!

All right, last one; in June 2022, a vegan burger said to “taste like human meat” won a silver award at the annual Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. The human meat burger, made from: soy, mushrooms, wheat protein, plant-based fats and a secret spice mix, debuted during a 2021 Halloween festival in Stockholm, Sweden.

Regardless if it is in the pursuit of art, or making a statement, I do not understand why websites that parade cannibalism-normalizing trends are even being found on the internet. There is something insidious brewing; something that we definitely need to keep an eye on.