Trade unions are in an uproar after scientists from a laboratory in Maastricht announced their plans to cook the world's first genetically
engineered beefburger later this afternoon.
The meat industry is set to double by the middle of the century,
meaning livestock could be responsible for half as much climate impact as all
the world's buses, cars and aeroplanes.
But many in the meat industry are concerned about how this will affect
their future livelihoods.
Doctor McDonald, Professor of Bovine Studies at the University
of Moochester, has warned that the mass unemployment caused by such a scheme
would lead to an increase in social unrest and homelessness.
“Well the homeless bit
wouldn't even be the bad part. Cows pretty much spend all their time outside
anyway. I mean, why wouldn't they? That's where all the best grass is. But
without fences they could go anywhere. You might wake up with a cow in your
garden, in your house, there could be a cow sleeping with your wife right now”
Daisy from Derbyshire
told us: “My
family has been slaughtered for generations. My Mum's dead, my dad's dead, my
Granddad's dead. It goes back generations in a way humans just can't
understand. Without dying I might as well just kill myself.”
Whereas mum of two
Buttercup believes the government is responsible for not taking the issue seriously:
“I have two calves to feed
and there is no help for single mothers in this country. Literally nothing. I
went to the job centre the other day and they all just looked at me like I was
mad. Eventually they just shooed me out the door. It was humiliating.”
This is not the first
time cow unemployment has been in the news recently. Earlier this year a
scandal surrounding unregistered foreign workers in supermarkets had the bovine
community in uproar, many of whom have called for an EU referendum.
Words by Ben Gibson
