Mobile Meat Cute

Role: concept, project management, budget, branding, food safety, shtick, paintings

Mobile Meat Cute is a roving cart-based interactive experience centered around trashy meat: hot dogs, lunch meat, Spam, and yes, mechanically-separated chicken. So often, the discourse around "low-quality" animal-derived protein engenders disgust, yet through the lens of sustainability, we can regard these products in a new, positive light.

The project began with the exploration of highly-processed commercial meat products and a monthlong quest to purchase a consumer-level quantity of mechanically-separated chicken from a source that wouldn't require special paperwork, licensing, several hours of driving, or industrial quantities (27 tons—a full shipping container's worth—is the standard minimum order from most vendors). After the meat was acquired, we experimented with recipes and techniques to ultimately create an experience where participants would "turn trash meat into new animals" by molding it into animal shapes with cookie cutters, which we would then cook for audience consumption. 

Other, more-mobile, experiences run by the team (with the help of a Jackery power station) included: cutting and microwaving hotdogs into octopus shapes, assembling Spam musubi, and live-slicing a deli chub of head cheese, all while facilitating conversations around the meat industry, food waste, and ethical consumption.