The 1973 film “Soylent Green” is most notable for its quote, “Soylent green is people! They’re making our food out of people.” The plot of this movie revolves around a dystopian society, where only the rich can afford nutritious food, water and housing. The poor survive off manufactured food from Soylent Corporation, a manufacturing company that produces a new, high-energy plankton food product called “Soylent Green,” supposedly manufactured out of plankton from the ocean. The film’s finale ends with the chilling discovery that the Soylent Greens are made of human corpses.
The relevance and impact of this film from over 50 years ago can still be felt today. On Oct. 26, 2024, TikTok user kimmyk561 posted a video that has now garnered over 650,000 likes, showcasing a steak ordered from the chain restaurant Texas Roadhouse. The user shows herself spreading the steak with a spoon across the container, displaying a disturbing, mushy texture that spreads like cat food. The top comment reads: “Not to be that girl, but Soylent green anyone?” The original poster would reply that their son said the same thing. Similarly, in a YouTube clip of the infamous Soylent Green film scene where the cannibalism discovery is revealed, a few top comments read, “McDonald’s is people,” and “what do the food manufacturers sell us now that nutritious food is becoming scarce? The processed food they’re feeding us is trash and poison.”
Ultimately, what makes people of this generation so convinced that cannibalism runs rampant in the chain restaurants of our world? Is there truth to this sentiment? Circling back to the Texas Roadhouse steak, it appears that the steak was not actually human meat, but could be explained by another disgusting occurrence. Many commenters affirm that the steak is “abscessed,” referring to a piece of meat that contains a pocket of infection. The pocket was filled with pus, and the tissue decayed, making it unsafe for human consumption. Ultimately, this means that the handling of the meat was unprofessional.
Another fast food restaurant that has faced cannibalism accusations is America’s beloved McDonald’s. The root of these accusations comes from a 2014 article from the website Huzler, a satire writing website. The article claimed to have found human meat in an Oklahoma City Factory, and claimed McDonald’s uses human meat. Additionally, in Japan in 2014, a human tooth was found in a McDonald’s meal, which McDonald’s would apologize publicly for. Although the tooth’s appearance could not be explained, the Huzler article spun this incident into a satire article. However, netizens took the article seriously, genuinely believing cannibalism was occurring in McDonald’s. In defense of those who doubt McDonald’s authenticity, questions of quality and freshness of the meat have long surrounded McDonald’s. “Suppliers of beef to McDonald’s, Taco Bell and Walmart are sourcing meat from US farms using antibiotics linked to the spread of dangerous superbugs, an investigation has found,” according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Despite this, McDonald’s says that all of their patties are made of 100% USDA-approved beef.
In both the cases of Texas Roadhouse and McDonald’s, it’s clear that meat quality control and even customers’ personal preferences are contributing to cannibalism rumors, with no factual and hard evidence to support these accusations. It seems Soylent Green as a reality is still far into the future.
