Controversial Reality Show Makes Family Adopt Farm Animal Before Forcing It To Slaughter

What we eat has become somewhat of a controversial thing.

If you eat meat then, in some people's eyes, you're harming the planet and have blood on your hands; but if you're vegan then, in other people's views, you're nutrient deficient and are hellbent on disrupting society.

While those are some extreme views, there's no doubt that what we put in our gobs have become quite the topic of conversation.

PA

As a result, British channel Channel 4 has decided to test the waters on what people find acceptable and whether they truly believe in what they think.

Meat The Family will follow four meat-eating families adopt different farm animal and raise it like a dog or cat for three weeks. Sounds pretty adorable, right?

Well, when the time comes, the family will be forced to send the lamb, pig, chicken and calf to be slaughtered and then cook and eat it. They can opt out of this only if they commit to being vegetarian forever, which means the animal will get sent to a sanctuary.

Red Arrow Studios has written about the show: "How much do we really know about the animals we put on our plates? Why would we eat a lamb, but not a dog? This noisy new social experiment sees four meat-eating families welcome the animal they most frequently serve for dinner into their homes: from chicken and sheep, to pigs and even cows!

"During the experiment, the families travel around their own country and abroad to learn about animal welfare, farming and production, food processing, and the impact eating animals has on the environment and our health."

Red Arrow Studios

The four families will be encouraged to take their animal for walks and get to 'understand its intellectual and emotional capacity, and to see if living with it makes it less palatable to eat!'.

Sounds pretty brutal, especially if these families have young children who will no doubt be crushed when their Little Miss Piggy gets sent away to make for some delicious bacon bits and ribs.

Analyst Virginia Mouseler told the Guardian: "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?"

Channel 4 says the episodes will confront 'the reality of an animal's journey from field to plate'. They've sent out a casting call for 'warm, opinionated...real food-loving families'.

Topics: Entertainment, TV and Film, Animals

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

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