Trope-a-Day: I'm a Humanitarian

I’m a Humanitarian: There is, of course, absolutely nothing special about the tissues of sophont species – yours or others’ – that stops them from being grown as fauxflesh in a carniculture vat in the exact same way that any other tissues can.

It’s certainly, ah, outré (I believe is the polite word), and often considered exactly as decadent as it sounds, but it’s hard to see from an ethical perspective (or at least their ethical perspective) what exactly is wrong with it (No sophonts and indeed no non-sophont critters were harmed in the making of this food.), or why it ought to be illegal.  (Except for the copyright issue, of course – don’t try setting up your own range of, um, celebrity restaurants without the proper licenses.)

So, yes, you can go to sophophage restaurants.  You can leave off some cell samples a month or two in advance and go to autophage restaurants (see: Autocannibalism).  And in other areas, yes, you can have leather made from cloned skin, the Banks-style “ownskin suit” and other such products.

But even in this society, most people still think it’s kind of kinky.