Meet the Meat

The weekend before last our family made its annual pilgrimage to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, which is much more fun than it sounds. In addition to the loads of sheep and their attendant wool, there are alpacas, llamas, border collie demonstrations* and music.

There is also, of course, a great variety of yummy lamb entrees, many of which are grilled directly across the way from the sheep exhibit halls. Depending on prevailing winds I wonder how that must seem to the sheep.

I am a carnivore but I like a little distance between source and plate, so when Laura sent me a link to the festival's Carcass and Performance Contest even I flinched a bit. Fortunately the contest is an analysis of live lambs using ultrasound and other technologies, and it kind of reminded me of the Restaurant at the End of the Universe in the eponymous Douglas Adams book, in which a live cow presents itself at the dinner table, suggests which parts of itself would be best, then goes back to the kitchen to shoot itself. (At the beginning of the scene Zaphod Beeblebrox declares, "Let's meet the meat," hence the post's title.)

*NOT the kind where they march and chant "What do we want? KIBBLE!"...

Update: I can't believe I forgot to mention my new favorite profession, which I learned about on that site: Meat Scientist! JJV regrets that no mention of this was made at High School Career Day.