“Fetal bovine serum, you say”

A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with bio-artist Oron Catts which probably rates as one of the strangest I’ve ever had. I used the words “fetal bovine serum” far too often for somebody who writes about food. He spoke of his work as “semi-living” where I might have used the term “undead”. His art left me with the dissonant feelings of both complete repulsion and the obsessive desire to find out more.

So this week over at SBS, I take on ethicist Peter Singer and PETA regarding their support of laboratory-grown meat. Why not take on some big targets?

It’s as goddamn weird as food gets.

My head on SBS

A while back I foretold a grim future where bloggers would be hired up by major media players. That future is this afternoon. I’ve just started work on Special Broadcasting Service’s new (as yet untitled) world food blog. The site is still a bit shaky – no commenting/trackbacks/RSS yet – but it’s a start on the weird geometry where the line between journalist and blogger ceases to be meaningful.

This week, I cook lamb mechoui from the Food Safari back catalogue and conjecture on the size of Maeve O’Meara’s hands.

Addendum (10 May 2008): Comments are on, no RSS, social sharing buttons still a bit patchy.