There actually are circumstances in which if human flesh is eaten, it is not a crime (first link). Outside of such emergencies, though, the practice is strongly frowned-upon. That's partly because it is typically associated with killing someone, and THAT is much-more frowned-upon.

Well, what if no-one got killed? Natural deaths do happen, and the body must be disposed-of, one way or another. But now another significant objection arises. Consider that we can eat beef rare, but we need to eat pork well-cooked. That's because humans and cattle have few diseases in common, while humans and pigs share quite a few diseases. If just about any disease some human has is something you could catch, you might decide to be VERY wary of eating human flesh!

But now see the second link. In an appropriately sterile environment cells can be protected from diseases, and can multiply to yield many identical cells. In the future such cells- as- food will be offered, that originated from all the usual candidates, like chickens, fish, lobster, sheep, and so on.

We can be very sure other and less-common types of cells will become available, too, simply because the animals don't need to be raised! Only a few cells from one of them (available from a zoo, right?) need to be raised. So be on the lookout for cultured bald eagle cells, dolphin cells, seal cells, panda cells, snow leopard cells, and so on.

Is there any LOGICAL reason cultured human cells shouldn't be on the menu, too?
-- Vernon, Dec 31 2015

Emergency https://en.wikipedi...des_flight_disaster
As mentioned in the main text. [Vernon, Dec 31 2015]

Lab-grown meat http://news.nationa...r-eat-meat-science/
This will become a big business. Who needs thousands of square miles of ranch land, when meat can be grown in factories in cities? [Vernon, Dec 31 2015]

Vegetarian Black Pudding Vegetarian_20Black_20Pudding
[calum, Dec 31 2015]

Non-vegetarian cannibal black pudding Black_20Pudding_20Making_20Ballet_20Shoes
[calum, Dec 31 2015]

The Food Of The Gods https://en.wikipedi..._Gods_(short_story)
No matter how clever you are, Arthur C. Clarke was there before you ... [8th of 7, Dec 31 2015]

A Modest Proposal http://en.wikipedia...i/A_modest_proposal
An old chestnut [8th of 7, Jan 02 2016]

Monty Python's 'Funeral Arrangements' https://www.youtube...watch?v=Ce0UEb05DXI
Burn 'er, bury 'er or dump 'er. [DrBob, Jan 02 2016]

Haha you have baited your troll trap with the human cannibalism idea again.

Logical: Food isn't repulsive. Human flesh is repulsive. Therefore HF not food.
-- guncandy, Dec 31 2015


Your mere CLAIM that human flesh is repulsive is not a thing of "logic". Indeed, some human flesh is often considered quite attractive by various humans (manly pectoral and abdominal muscles, womanly curves).

Also, I don't recall seeing this Idea, regarding lab- cultured human cells, anywhere else before, so what do you mean by "again"?
-- Vernon, Dec 31 2015


I meant 'a gain' a benefit for the website. Logic is lots of things. Logic is lots of things but one of the useful things for logic is to make good decisions. Start at a bad outcome such as a greater incidence of people desiring to eat human flesh, and the cultural referent of acceptable flesh eating and the relationship between such a referent and precedent setting in rational behavior. If you know that setting a precedent in an amoral way may have the outcome of immoral actions that may use that justification, it is logical to say precedent is used to justify rational action, human flesh will be consumed with rational justification in reference to the original precedent even if it is detached like eating an abandoned baby.
-- guncandy, Dec 31 2015


I don't think legality is the primary obstacle.
-- tatterdemalion, Dec 31 2015


Who cares if there's a LOGICAL reason or not? Logic is only one ground of objection, and why should we be so limited? I wouldn't eat your Kuru-brand cultured human meat because there are less revolting sources of protein around.
-- the porpoise, Dec 31 2015


Is it illegal to cut a steak from your own flank, cook it and eat it?
-- pocmloc, Dec 31 2015


[guncandy], the "logic" you presented is very much like logic used to ban guns. "Somebody MIGHT shoot someone!!!" Are you not aware that in Switzerland, most families have things like grenade launchers in their homes? Most adult men were in the Swiss military, and remain in the reserve forces. There was a reason why Germany in WW2 didn't make any serious effort to conquer Switzerland.

The relevant fact is, where are all the news stories of guns getting mis-used in Switzerland? The country has firearms training to a degree that the USA should seriously copy. EDUCATION is the answer to your irrational objection.

[the porpoise], Kuru is one of the diseases that would be strictly kept out of lab-grown meat. Duh!
-- Vernon, Dec 31 2015


haha but you missed something, that logic is not needed. Just by feeding people a substance they will feel desire to eat it without any rational justification. Have you had lychee fruit before, I only ask because it is somewhat exotic. If you have not had it you will not desire it.
-- guncandy, Dec 31 2015


The whole idea is a semantic trap. Cells grown in a meat factory are no more human than a bag of peas. Even if they once were derived from human material, they lack any human quality. So eating them is not cannibalism at all. And likewise, calling the resulting substance "meat" does not make it meat at all, neither pork nor dog nor rat.
-- Toto Anders, Dec 31 2015


Uh, the idea of eating cultured cells is not new. You may recall, not so long ago, a lot of publicity over a vat-grown burger.

The main problem is that cultured human cells (or pig cells, or any others) tend to have very little flavour. Having miscalculated when mouth- pipetting HeLa cells (grown in suspension), I can tell you that they taste of almost nothing, other than the salts and foetal calf serum used as a culture medium. Or maybe Henrietta Lacks was just unusually bland.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Dec 31 2015


You all make very soylent points.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Dec 31 2015


<link>
-- 8th of 7, Dec 31 2015


[guncandy], you are making the unwarranted assumption that just because something was available and desired, it will become unavailable while still being desired. While I do know such things tend to happen to some extent, the situation is seldom permanent (else "retro" stuff would never see a revival).

Since food is pretty important stuff, it really can only become unavailable if the processes by which it is generated stop working. Farmers may grow less wheat in a drought, but they don't CAUSE the drought.

Factory-grown meat would be as reliable/available as the production technologies used. If critical food- production technologies failed, we would be looking at the overall collapse of civilization. At which time rules against cannibalism are likely to be moot. (And the cannibals will likely suffer from the diseases problem previously mentioned, so even if it happens, we can expect it to be localized and temporary.)
-- Vernon, Dec 31 2015


Is there a closed loop problem here? Devouring flesh too close to ones own makeup might make the body a bit confused on what is self and what is not.
-- wjt, Jan 01 2016


[+] I'm pretty sure we've done soylent clone before, but the pictures this post brought to mind... Cajun cooking shows featuring real Cajun, people complaining about MSG in their Chinese, hommeburgers, what wine goes best with Norwegian ? steak Tartar ...
-- FlyingToaster, Jan 01 2016


... squeal like a pig ...
-- 8th of 7, Jan 01 2016


Lady fingers and hot lips.
-- the porpoise, Jan 01 2016


//g the unwarranted assumption that just because something was available and desired, it //

No I wasn't, I was just speaking generally and not in economies. In economies something can become unavailable when money is unavailable. But generally speaking increasing the desire for human flesh will increase the general consumption of human flesh.
-- guncandy, Jan 02 2016


That depends on supply. Many people would purchase a flying car if they were available. Despite demand and available funding, there is as yet no supply.
-- 8th of 7, Jan 02 2016



random, halfbakery