If I was aboard a federation starship and wanted a human flesh sandwich - would the computer replicate it for me? It is an approximation rather than the real thing so what would be the problem?
You might have to program the replicator with the recipe. And whether you want it as a hoagy, open-faced (mutiple possibilities), barbecued, or as a French dip. And then whether with whole wheat, Italian, sourdough, or kaiser roll.
I suppose if you deactivated the Don't Be A Mucky Bugger subroutines.... Then it's Tits On Toast for breakfast and Hairy Arse Soup for lunch!
It's a good point, replicators can make meat, and it's not cannibilism if the officer asking for it isn't human.
I think people will be effectively able to try this out before too long, given that 3D-printed meat is currently being researched. Apparently we taste like pork, hence the name "longpig". [/Captain Obvious]
I like how in the future you can be a vegetarian and still tuck into a juicy steak. TOFU WILL BE EXTINCT!!!
It will still exist in asian dishes. I just got excited there for a moment. And you know this should/could kill the whole meat industry. Why make animals suffer and die when you can eat re-sequenced protein versions?
If it comes out of a hole in the wall, then your passover meal didn't come from a unblemished, one year old male lamb.
You would know it wouldn't. And you'd be in the same territory Australia is now with its live sheep exports for halal meat. I'm sure there would be colonies of luddites who wanted to embrace a lifestyle which included real meat, whether for religious reasons or not.
I'm sure that if wafer and wine can become the body and blood of Jesus Christ then printed meat can be invested with the essence of one-year-old-male-lambdom.
Apparentally it has. When Chief O'Brien said his mother used actual, non-replicated meat in her meals, Keiko was surprised she would do such a thing.
Personally, I'd have the replicator make me some of the original Coca-Cola, the kind that actually had cocaine in it, but that's just me.