MEAT MEETS MEAT

countryside, landscape

Castiglione d’Orcia, Italy

Spring 2021 in collaboration with Liam Baker advised by Luca Ponsi of Studio Ponsi https://www.borgo-digitale.com/sp21-project-1

Due to 1990s livestock epidemics like the classical swine fever and avian flu, it is now almost impossible for humans to continue slaughtering animals at a small and humane scale. Europe has one of the highest meat consumptions compared to the global average. Once considered a luxury, meat is now very affordable. With this new accessibility comes many risks to our bodies and the environment: high risk of cardiovascular diseases, type two diabetes and colon cancer; the negative impact of the cattle’s ecological footprint on the global landscape. With the perpetual increase in meat consumption, large scale slaughterhouses or kill factories appear to continue to rise with no plans of stopping.

Meat Meets Meat proposes a cellular agriculture lab and humane slaughterhouse on the Castiglione d’Orcia site. Cellular agriculture is a solution that reduces both the violent meat consumption and release of cow waste (methane) in the air. This project aims to be the first initiative of clean meat production in Italy while simultaneously preserving old traditions. Meat consumption is deeply rooted into Italian culture, however, and it is very difficult for them to abandon their tastes. Thus, this project continues to produce meat the traditional way from real animal flesh while also offering a cleaner, more innovative option. With cellular farming and the slaughterhouse, we are able to maximize all the animal resources, which include the meat, internal organs, and cells.