This week's Last Supper focuses on the Portland Meat Collective and their summer schedule of whole animal butchery and charcuterie making classes. What interests me most about the PMC is that they are teaching a skill that at one time was in danger of being lost to most Americans. But knowing how to break down a whole pig seems like a good thing, if not just for gaining more self sufficiency, then to better understand where your meat is coming from.

But we all should be more aware of where our food is coming from—even those of you who don't eat meat. And with that in mind, I offer the following: According to a report in Time magazine, scientists have cracked the code to creating a chicken meat analogue that actually has the texture and flavor of real chicken meat. Check out the video to see how it's made.

Personally, I find the process a little off-putting. Then again... What's more unpleasant: A machine pinching a loaf of fake chicken that tastes like the real thing, or a living creature slaughtered and bled. I'm not sure I'll have made a decision until I've tasted a side by side comparison of real and fake coq au vin. Also, wouldn't increased soy production to create this fake chicken be agriculturally detrimental?

Your thoughts, Blogtownies?

[Via]