The 5 most bizarre moments from Gregg Wallace's human meat mockumentary

2023-07-25 19:29

Channel 4's The British Miracle Meat, has stirred up a divisive response online after Gregg Wallace and Michel Roux Jr seemingly tuck into human steaks – but it isn't all that it seems. The Masterchef judge and Chef Roux Jr visited a factory in Lincolnshire where they "engineered human meat" in a mission to solve the cost of living crisis. The pair met with so-called low-income donors who were selling their flesh to the company, Good Harvest. Later in the show, the pair unknowingly chowed down on toddler meat at a restaurant. Baffled viewers were quick to turn to social media to understand what was going on, with one calling it the "sickest thing" they've ever seen. Another called the show a "dystopian hell." Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Meanwhile, a third quipped: "I hope Ofcom have some extra staff on tonight." But, there's a huge plot twist: The show is completely satirical and fictional. The mockumentary intended to show the measures people would go to to make ends meet amid the cost of living – which, clearly, many viewers missed. Here are five nuggets that should have given the game away: The donor signup process The British Miracle Meat shares the Good Harvest company's realistic-looking submission form, in which donors 'sign up for extraction.' "Good Harvest encourages people who need the income to sign up, select their own extraction site and get paid within the week," Wallace explains. Among the extraction options were: 'buttock, thigh, belly, rib, wing and shoulder.' The mock page shows the 'buttock' selected, which rewards £250 in cash. Human skin can be lab-grown into a '30kg protein cake' within hours While visiting the lab, Wallace is shown how the 'human meat' is grown. The thin slices of flesh start off in a 'nutrient vat'. The scientist told Wallace it will grow into a cake over 24 hours – thanks to the nutrient solution it's immersed in. When Wallace asks why human meat, as opposed to animal, the scientist responds: "We've got centuries of knowledge of human medicine on our side. We know more about humans than we know about animals, so we've mastered engineered human cells to make these structured flavours we expect from steaks we eat." The 'taste test' Wallace takes his new findings to Chef Roux Jr at a fine dining restaurant in Mayfair. The chef is taken aback by the package's logo "made by humans, from humans" and the cost of just 99p a slice. "These come from three donors in the north-east of England," Wallace responds to which the chef quips: "Wow, I wonder if that affects the flavour." The blind taste test showed the chef cooking up three different steaks from different people across the UK. They then had to guess where it was from. Upon tasting one of the steaks, Chef Roux Jr says: "If it was 100 per cent pure beef, I'd say it was an animal that's got a certain age, and maybe a little stressed as well." Wallace revealed the person to be 45-year-old Alison, an NHS nurse and part-time delivery driver. 'You know there's something wrong when you have to jump on a bus and have some flesh scooped out of your arm for money' Wallace met with donor Gillian, a retired receptionist who looks after her housebound husband and grandson. Speaking about her situation, she said: "When the prices shot up, well... It buried us." When asked whether she was happy about taking part in the clinical trials, the 67-year-old confessed "no". Wallace went on to say that Gillian would be able to cover two weeks of energy bills following her donation. He spoke with other people in the waiting room, asking what they'll be spending their money on. "Black mould in every corner of the house," one elderly man responded, "I'm going out to earn money so I can repair it." The launch of Good Harvest's premium range The company shared a promotional video for their upcoming premium range, which the boardroom was ecstatic about. The secret? "Well-fed children under the age of six." One of the workers told Wallace "they recover quicker than adults," before offering him a portion of toddler tartare. He then went over to visit the children's medical complex which saw toddlers playing with toys while sporting stickers that read: "I'm beating the cost of living crisis." Following the show, Wallace took to Instagram thanking people for watching. He jokingly added: "I really enjoyed my first acting job!" He went on to share a photo of himself, writing: "Satire. See Jonathan Swift 'A Modest Proposal'." Swift's 1729 satirical essay suggested the Irish may have overcome their financial troubles by eating their own children. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Channel 4's The British Miracle Meat, has stirred up a divisive response online after Gregg Wallace and Michel Roux Jr seemingly tuck into human steaks – but it isn't all that it seems.

The Masterchef judge and Chef Roux Jr visited a factory in Lincolnshire where they "engineered human meat" in a mission to solve the cost of living crisis.

The pair met with so-called low-income donors who were selling their flesh to the company, Good Harvest. Later in the show, the pair unknowingly chowed down on toddler meat at a restaurant.

Baffled viewers were quick to turn to social media to understand what was going on, with one calling it the "sickest thing" they've ever seen. Another called the show a "dystopian hell."

Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Meanwhile, a third quipped: "I hope Ofcom have some extra staff on tonight."

But, there's a huge plot twist: The show is completely satirical and fictional.

The mockumentary intended to show the measures people would go to to make ends meet amid the cost of living – which, clearly, many viewers missed.

Here are five nuggets that should have given the game away:

The donor signup process

The British Miracle Meat shares the Good Harvest company's realistic-looking submission form, in which donors 'sign up for extraction.'

"Good Harvest encourages people who need the income to sign up, select their own extraction site and get paid within the week," Wallace explains.

Among the extraction options were: 'buttock, thigh, belly, rib, wing and shoulder.'

The mock page shows the 'buttock' selected, which rewards £250 in cash.

Human skin can be lab-grown into a '30kg protein cake' within hours

While visiting the lab, Wallace is shown how the 'human meat' is grown.

The thin slices of flesh start off in a 'nutrient vat'. The scientist told Wallace it will grow into a cake over 24 hours – thanks to the nutrient solution it's immersed in.

When Wallace asks why human meat, as opposed to animal, the scientist responds: "We've got centuries of knowledge of human medicine on our side. We know more about humans than we know about animals, so we've mastered engineered human cells to make these structured flavours we expect from steaks we eat."

The 'taste test'

Wallace takes his new findings to Chef Roux Jr at a fine dining restaurant in Mayfair.

The chef is taken aback by the package's logo "made by humans, from humans" and the cost of just 99p a slice.

"These come from three donors in the north-east of England," Wallace responds to which the chef quips: "Wow, I wonder if that affects the flavour."

The blind taste test showed the chef cooking up three different steaks from different people across the UK. They then had to guess where it was from.

Upon tasting one of the steaks, Chef Roux Jr says: "If it was 100 per cent pure beef, I'd say it was an animal that's got a certain age, and maybe a little stressed as well."

Wallace revealed the person to be 45-year-old Alison, an NHS nurse and part-time delivery driver.

'You know there's something wrong when you have to jump on a bus and have some flesh scooped out of your arm for money'

Wallace met with donor Gillian, a retired receptionist who looks after her housebound husband and grandson. Speaking about her situation, she said: "When the prices shot up, well... It buried us."

When asked whether she was happy about taking part in the clinical trials, the 67-year-old confessed "no".

Wallace went on to say that Gillian would be able to cover two weeks of energy bills following her donation. He spoke with other people in the waiting room, asking what they'll be spending their money on.

"Black mould in every corner of the house," one elderly man responded, "I'm going out to earn money so I can repair it."

The launch of Good Harvest's premium range

The company shared a promotional video for their upcoming premium range, which the boardroom was ecstatic about.

The secret? "Well-fed children under the age of six."

One of the workers told Wallace "they recover quicker than adults," before offering him a portion of toddler tartare.

He then went over to visit the children's medical complex which saw toddlers playing with toys while sporting stickers that read: "I'm beating the cost of living crisis."

Following the show, Wallace took to Instagram thanking people for watching. He jokingly added: "I really enjoyed my first acting job!"

He went on to share a photo of himself, writing: "Satire. See Jonathan Swift 'A Modest Proposal'."

Swift's 1729 satirical essay suggested the Irish may have overcome their financial troubles by eating their own children.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.