Swedish behavioral scientist Magnus Söderlund said last week that humans must “awaken to the idea” of eating human flesh as a way to combat the effects of climate change.

Söderlund, a researcher at the Stockholm School of Economics, advanced the idea of eating people after they die Tuesday on Sweden’s TV4. He had earlier in the week held a seminar on the subject at the Gastro Summit fair in Stockholm.

According to Söderlund, as climate change makes food sources increasingly scare, people will have to learn to eat things that are now considered disgusting, including pets, insects, and most of all, human flesh, the Epoch Times reported.

MORE: Beto O’Rourke: Gun Owners Will Willingly Hand Over Their Firearms When I Ask Them To

A promotion for his Sept 2-3 talk read: “Is cannibalism the solution to food sustainability in the future? Does Generation Z have the answers to our food challenges? Can consumers be tricked into making the right decisions? At GastroSummit, you will get some answers to these questions―and also partake in the latest scientific findings and get to meet the leading experts.”





Söderlund, who is also a marketing strategist, told the audience that the main impediment to his proposal is the ancient taboo against cannibalism. He predicted that “conservative” attitudes would be an obstacle to its widespread acceptance in Sweden. But he said people could be won over gradually, starting with a tase.

On TV4, Söderlund said that 8 percent of seminar participants expressed openness to trying human flesh. Asked by the host if he was similarly amenable, Söderlund said: “I feel somewhat hesitant but to not appear overly conservative … I’d have to say … I’d be open to at least tasting it.”

President Donald Trump on Saturday retweeted a Breitbart News story about Söderlund’s comments.

Swedish behavioral scientist Magnus Söderlund has suggested that eating other people after they die could be a means of combatting climate change. https://t.co/pvK3F6XlRI — Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) September 7, 2019

Magnus Söderlund isn’t the only one mulling cannibalism for the climate

Söderlund is not alone in his musings about cannibalism. Last year, British scientist and atheism advocate Richard Dawkins suggested on Twitter that lab-grown meat might enable humanity to “overcome our taboo against cannibalism.”

Tissue culture “clean meat” already in 2018? I’ve long been looking forward to this.https://t.co/p41NR3NEZn

What if human meat is grown? Could we overcome our taboo against cannibalism? An interesting test case for consequentialist morality versus “yuck reaction” absolutism. — Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) March 3, 2018

Last month, British psychologists Jared Piazza and Neil McLatchie wrote in Newsweek that cannibalism is practiced by some animals, including mammals, and was part of some human cultures. Despite the taboo and health risks, the researchers said, “We suspect that we could adapt to human flesh if need be.”

MORE: Trump Enrages Critics by Tweeting Cat Video After NOAA Says He Was Right on Hurricane Threat to Alabama

Piazza and McLatchie also cited William B. Irvine, a Wright State University philosophy professor, who has argued that cannibalism is no more ethically problematic than eating animal meat.

Meanwhile, in May, Washington became the first state to legalize the composting of human bodies in the name of fighting climate change and being environmentally sustainable. Gov. Jay Islee signed the law in May, before he aborted his Democratic presidential big centered on the issue of climate change.

During CNN’s seven-hour climate change debate on Wednesday, a number of the Democratic presidential candidates issued dire warnings about climate change. Several proposed multi-trillion dollar plans to achieve net-zero carbon emissions in the coming decades. More than half endorsed taxes or fees on such pollution.

By one estimate, the Green New Deal championed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, would cost $9 trillion a year, or nearly double current federal spending.