An Idaho lawmaker introduced a cannibalism bill Thursday she said would keep human flesh and bone out of the food supply and it appears the legislator based her proposal on a reality show prank.
Rep. Heather Scott, a Republican, introduced a bill that would expand the states existing criminal cannibalism law to prohibit any person from willfully provid[ing] the flesh or blood of a human being to another person to ingest without such persons knowledge or consent. Idahos cannibalism law already outlaws the willful ingestion of the flesh or blood of a human being.
The official statement of purpose of House Bill 522 states that the expanded law has no fiscal impact, because it causes no additional expenditure of funds at the state or local level of government, nor does it cause an increase or decrease in revenue for state or local government.
On the legislative floor, Scott said she had two reasons for introducing the bill: to prevent human composting, and to ensure that duping people into eating human material is not normalized.
I know this seems a heavy topic, Scott said as she explained her proposal, It might seem kind of gruesome. It kinda is.
First, Scott discussed the dangers of human composting.
In 2019, I heard that Washington state was starting to do human composting, and that disturbed me, she said. So, I wanted to address this because what I didnt want to see is bags of compost with human bone fragments.
I didnt want to see that in my Home Depot stores, Scott said.
In 2019, Washington became the first state to legalize human composting an environmentally-friendly burial practice in which people can be buried without embalming, caskets, or headstones. Since then, other states have allowed green cemeteries as legal burial alternatives to traditional cemeteries.
The practice does not involve either the bagging or the consumption of human remains, nor is composted human material used in food production; accordingly, it is unclear at best how Scotts proposed legislation relates in any way to the practice.
Next, Scott moved on to warning that society is moving toward normalizing using human flesh as a culinary ingredient.
She said that on a flight, she watched a video of some food show, and that on the show, contestants were told that human flesh was a possible ingredient in the food.
I thought this is going to be normalized at some point, Scott said. The way our society is going, and the direction were going, this is going to be normalized.
There is a lot of documentation out there, Scott insisted. If you just google it, people showing it, and how theyre doing it.
In reality, according to the Idaho Statesman, the video Scott saw was not footage of anyone ingesting human flesh. Rather, it was an almost decade-old episode of comedian David Spades prank show Fameless, which uses improv comedy to test how far real people will go to be famous.
Participants on the show are led to believe they have been cast on a reality show, then subjected to outrageous conditions by improv performers. In a 2015 episode, a contestant was served a sausage by a chef who claimed the meal contained human flesh. A few moments later, the host informed the relieved contestant that she was part of a prank for Spades comedy show.
It is unclear at present whether the bill will get a public hearing
Per Scotts official bio, she has a bachelors degree in biology from the University of Akron and was a professional aquatic biologist.
Idahos original cannibalism law was adopted in 1990, after a series of investigations of satanic rituals nicknamed satanic panic swept the state.
At least this is a step up from the attempt in the Idaho state legislature to define "terrorism" as only being foreign terrorism, thereby making their GOP militia buddies "not terrorists".
---
"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." -- 1984