Wasn’t there an “I don’t eat Babe” campaign back in the day to get people to associate fictional characters with the food they’re eating? You’d think that sensationalist vegans (who are very much a minority, and this article is deliberately reinforcing the stereotype) would take this as a starting point for a conversation and run with it.
It’s Ermintrude from The Magic Roundabout. Glad the show’s still being used as a pop-culture reference in places.
Rumor is, the character was modelled after male genitalia. Once you see it you cannot unsee. You’re welcome! Do not tell the kids.
I eat meat occasionally and can defend that decision. We are omnivores, take it up with nature if you think that was a mistake 
. The ethical problem is not with eating animals because all animals must compete for resources and every single ATP conversion in your own cells is energy nicked from another one. Whether you are vegetarian or not.
The ethical issue is with the treatment of living animals.
So yeah, don’t hide the truth of what meat is and where it comes from and what the problems are with the industry around it. Not even to kids. You don’t have to be a rabid vegan to get that.
I’m not a developmental psychologist but would a kid young enough to watch Peppa Pig and to not know the connection between bacon and pigs not also be too young to get the abstract visual gag on the chalkboard?
Also, is there an age one tells children about meat production? I can’t remember not having known that meat comes from animals.
Are there any kids that aren’t aware where meat comes from? They may not make the association with ham/bacon etc, but with chicken and fish - where the meat has the same name and (often) shape as the namesake animal - it’s pretty obvious what it is even to a child. The only animal product that grossed me out as a kid was brains, which I was thankfully only served once.
Could we have a Zebedee kebab to put a spring in our day?
Winnie the Poo hasn’t been able to find Piglet recently. Has anyone seen them?
Or Pinkie and Perkie from The Good Life. Though don’t let on that you aren’t the originals.
I wouldn’t count on it. The bacon is probably poor quality, microwaved to death and served on soft white bread in small quantities, along with margarine and supermarket own-brand ketchup.
I have no reason to assume that, in the same way the newspaper quoted has no evidence of anyone who ever complained about the chalkboard.
Not only that, but how do Edinburgh vegans manage to go anywhere in the city without encountering challenging evidence that other people eat meat, and are allowed to buy and sell it in public? Edinburgh centre, like most British town centres, is made up almost entirely by fast food outlets, very few of which serve falafel and tabbouleh. Those poor parents – the ones that weren’t made up by a reporter sitting at his desk – must have to make their way around town blindfolded, leading blindfolded children by the hand.
You need to be careful in those restaurants
Continentals seem to be less squeamish about this sort of thing. I still remember the butcher’s in a small French town whose sign featured a picture of a smiling horse.
The real Pinky and Perky haven’t been seen recently either. Time to rectify that.
There’s a whole (defunct but still up) blog about this trope – “suicide food” about signs and advertisements where animals seem happy to be eaten
It sounds like the “controversy” was that people were upset the restaurant owner removed the sign they had placed in a public right-of-way after someone complained, up to and including accusing the owners of being ISIS sympathizers who should go back to Palestine. I don’t understand being offended by the sign, but it seems that in the name of free speech some people wanted to force a private business to put out a sign because it offended someone, which is bat shit crazy.
Obligatory:
Oh.the. horror.
OH, well, if we are gong to talk about pigs eating meat… I have to share this.
Ah - I still need to see this movie. City of Lost Children is one of my top 10 films of all time.
Off-topic, but a group of college-aged friends dressed up as Les Troglodistes for Halloween that year. It was so funny if you got the reference, but most people were left scratching their heads.
