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Confronting the reality of meat with Sophie Faldo’s ‘Travels With A Goat’

‘The Great British Bake Off’ winner heads to Kenya to live with a goat destined for slaughter. Has it changed her mind on meat?

Since Sophie Faldo won The Great British Bake Off in 2017 she has been getting stuck into what we eat.

In new series Travel With A Goat, she and fellow foodies chew over our relationship with food and how it changes when we’ve been with an animal from field to plate. It’s not about making everyone veggie, says Faldo, but aims to reconnect us with the ethics of our eating habits:

We were then faced with the choice of allowing the animal to be killed or to save it

“Our mission was to travel through Kenya and live with an animal for a few days. We journeyed with a goat from a farming community to a slaughterhouse, where it would ordinarily be killed for meat. We were then faced with the choice of allowing the animal to be killed or to save it.

“When travelling with the animal I encountered two very different perspectives of how people view animals that are bred for food. On one hand, we encountered traditional, rural-dwelling people who believe the animal is a spiritual being. On the other hand, the people we met in a more metropolitan, urban area were only really concerned with the amount of meat the animal had on its bones.

“In Britain, I think it’s fair to say that consumers don’t appreciate where their meat comes from and what’s involved as it goes from field to plate. People don’t really want to think about the ‘icky’ part of killing what they’re consuming. We’re quite happy to have the food presented in plastic trays ready for the frying pan or oven.

“The idea behind Travel with a Goat is to shine a light on the arguments about meat consumption. The show asks the audience if they would reconsider their eating habits when faced with the consequences of them.

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“By travelling, living and spending time with one animal that is potentially going to slaughter, you form a bond and relationship that you would never usually experience. On a personal level, the show has made me more aware about the welfare of animals bred for meat.

“We’re taught at an early age where our meat comes from. But when you get close and personal with the animal, and have a say in its death, it forces you to confront the reality of how meat arrives on your plate.”

Travels with a Goat is showing exclusively on Insight TV from January 14 at 8pm. @SophieFaldo

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