WHAT are you having for dinner? Is there a cut of steak defrosting in your sink or chicken marinating in your fridge?
How about a plate of 'synthetic meat'? While it hasn't hit Australian shelves just yet, it could be just around the corner if the push for lab-grown meat continues to gain momentum across the globe.
Three weeks ago, a parfait made from Japanese quail cells became the first Australian lab-grown meat to hit the world market - the second cell-cultured meat product to become available in Singapore.
In December 2020, the country became the first in the world to approve synthetic meat, followed by America in 2023.
With carbon emissions, vegan movements and Bill Gates' bug buffet push, the reality of not-quite meat is quickly gaining interest amongst the Greenies of the world.
While I squirm at the idea of eating something, allow me to play Devil's Advocate.
Sure, the introduction of fake fillets could put a small dent in environmental impacts or perhaps lower the cholesterol scores on some of our red-meat loving friends' blood tests, but there is a blatant cost here.
While I empathise and love animals wholeheartedly, I may be biased. I come from a meat-eating family of hunters and fishermen, and spent many trips with my dad pig hunting, fishing or roo shooting as a kid.
My dad was a butcher, my mother was a farm girl (her parents began Colkerri, Dalby) and I was raised on a classic meat and veg diet. It did me no harm - except that I cannot abide by an overcooked steak.
But I digress. I watched the vegan documentaries. I welled up at the images of sickly animals trapped in steel prisons. I even tried the vegan lifestyle on for size - mind you, only lasting a day before I enjoyed a piece of meat to 'feel better'. I have heard all the arguments, while some seem painfully political, profiteering or prejudiced. Yet, I still eat meat.
It's not just a part of our culture, a necessary part of a well-rounded and nutritionally-adept diet and downright delicious - it's a huge part of supporting a large swathe of our rural communities.
As it often the case, it is the farmers who will pay.
In November 2023, Italy banned lab-grown 'meat' in support of farmers and in defence of Italian tradition - a nod to the country's internationally renowned cuisine.
"Italy is the world's first country safe from the social and economic risks of synthetic food," Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida said.
The parliament vote was contentious, met by rallies for and against the ban, with a scuffle breaking out between some MPs and farmers.
Coldiretti farmers' organisation, Ettore Prandini, confronted two MPs from the opposition More Europe party and called them criminals for opposing the ban on lab-grown meat.
Australia's food regulator will decide by the end of the year whether it will give the green tick to the introduction of 'cell-based meat' on Aussie shelves, after Sydney-based cultured meat company, Vow, passed the first step in the Food Standards Australia New Zealand approval process last December.
There are four cultured meat companies in Australia and New Zealand, with Vow producing over 100kg of 'meat' cells every month - set to increase.
Soylent Green, anyone?
