History Main / AdoptTheFood

Compare with PredatorTurnedProtector and contrast with EmergencyFoodSupplyAnimal. See also LetsMeetTheMeat.

Compare with PredatorTurnedProtector and contrast with EmergencyFoodSupplyAnimal. See also LetsMeetTheMeat. See HousepetPig for a specific kind of livestock animal that may sometimes be kept as a pet instead of its normal purpose as food.

* In 2017, the government of UsefulNotes/{{Venezuela}} proposed a plan to solve the nation's hunger crisis by giving rabbits to the populace so they can breed them and slaughter them for their meat. They figured that, because rabbits were [[ExplosiveBreeder Explosive Breeders]], that it would be an easy way for people to have more meat to eat. This "rabbit plan" eventually backfired, however, as many Venezuelans grew attached to their rabbits and began putting ribbons on them, giving them names, and keeping them as pets.

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Compare with PredatorTurnedProtector and contrast with EatTheDog. See also LetsMeetTheMeat. See HousepetPig for a specific kind of livestock animal that may sometimes be kept as a pet instead of its normal purpose as food.

Sometimes, people raise animals (or plants, or [[IAmAHumanitarian people]], [[ExtremeOmnivore or whatever]]) with the intention of eating them afterwards, only for them to come to view them as a pet or child. In certain circumstances, this can even extend to AnthropomorphicFood. The reason for this can vary, but it usually boils down to one of the following:

* Website/YouTube Let's Player and comedian Ross "[=YourPalRoss=]" Botsford revealed in a video with LetsPlay/SkyDoesMinecraft that he once made a sandwich with the intention of eating it, but for an unknown reason jokingly kept it as a pet for several weeks.

Note that this only applies to animals that were raised with the intention of being eaten, not animals that are normally eaten that people specifically chose to raise as a pet. If someone forms a relationship with an animal that's already cooked and ready to eat, that belongs to the trope CompanionFood.

Note that this only applies to animals that were raised with the intention of being eaten, not animals that are normally eaten that people specifically chose to raise as a pet. If a relationship forms between an animal that's already cooked and ready to eat, that belongs to the trope CompanionFood.

* In Literature/BewareOfChicken The pigs Chunky/Chun Ke and Peppa/Pi Pa were originally intended to be raised as food however they were accidentally [[UpliftedAnimal uplifted]] into Spirit Beasts due to eating qi-infused food. When Jin finds out he's a bit disgruntled because he wants his pork dinner eventually but gets over it and the pigs become part of the family.

* ''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon'': Ichiban finds a Japanese crawfish crawling on a bridge in one substory, and throws it into the river, thinking he's helping it. Then a homeless guy runs up to him, crying, because that crawfish was his pet, Nancy-chan. This causes Ichiban to go off on a quest to find her and return her. [[SubvertedTrope Turns out, the homeless guy was keeping her as a pet to fatten her up before making her into a meal]], but Ichiban, horrified at the thought of Nancy-chan being eaten (the homeless guy was actually going to share her with Ichiban), trades him a premium sushi plate for her, at which point she becomes a Poundmate that he can summon in battle.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E7LisaGetsAnA Lisa Gets an A]]", Homer buys a small lobster to raise in an attempt to avoid having to pay for a full-grown one (ignoring the fact that such a thing would be more expensive in the long run). He comes to view it as a pet he calls "Pinchy" and spoils it, but accidentally cooks it alive when it gets dirty and he makes it a hot bath. The episode ends with him tearfully eating the lobster, not letting his family have any, because "it's what Pinchy would have wanted".

* In the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short, "A Mouse Divided", a drunken DeliveryStork delivers a baby mouse to Sylvester and his wife. While Sylvester's wife is happy to have a baby regardless if it's a mouse, Sylvester tries to eat the baby mouse at first despite his wife's objections. Sylvester soon becomes fond of the baby mouse when he calls him "Daddy", then [[PredatorTurnedProtector protects him from the other cats who want to eat him]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' episode "[[Recap/RugratsS4E13TheTurkeyWhoCameToDinner The Turkey Who Came to Dinner]]", [[ThanksgivingEpisode it is Thanksgiving]] and the store has run out of turkeys, so the adults send away for one but get a live one. The babies befriend the turkey, which the adults eventually think is too cute to let them kill it.

* Megumin in ''LightNovel/{{Konosuba}}'' had very little to eat growing up and only took in her cat Chomusuke so she could make a meal out of her if the need arose. She would eventually grow fond of it and make it her familiar.

* In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', Yondu claims that young Peter Quill was supposed to be dinner for his crew before he intervened and raised him like a son, as a way of guilt-tripping Quill into doing things for him. [[spoiler:It later turns out that Yondu actually took Peter in order to bring him to his father, but grew to care about the boy and worried that if he delivered him to Ego, he would die, as most of Ego's children had.]]

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* The Creator/{{Pixar}} short ''WesternAnimation/{{Bao}}'', which was a tie-in for ''WesternAnimation/Incredibles2'', has a Chinese-Canadian mother suffering from empty nest syndrome. One day she makes a dumpling that ends up coming to life. She ends up raising the dumpling as a child, caring for it and watching it grow each day. However, she starts being an [[MeddlingParents excessively overbearing mom]] as the dumpling son enters his rebellious teenage years. Eventually, the dumpling son comes home and introduces a girl to his mother with the intention of moving out and marrying her, which the mother forbids [[MalignedMixedMarriage due to her being white]]. After a struggle in trying to get him to stay, she eats the dumpling son in anger, but is immediately horrified over what she did. Soon after the mother's real son returns and his appearance resembles the dumpling, [[AllJustADream revealing the whole sequence was a dream she was having]]. He then apologizes to his mother and offers her the same treat she had offered the dumpling, leading the two of them to make-up and the mother accepting her daughter-in-law.

* On the ''LetsPlay/DreamSMP'', while building his holiday home away from L'Manburg, [[AnimalLover Tommy]] adopted three cows, Henry, Harold, and Harvey, because he got too attached to them before he could kill them for food. It's especially prominent in the latter two, as Tommy immediately refused to kill them after they stared at him in the eyes.

* The Creator/{{Pixar}} short ''WesternAnimation/{{Bao}}'', which was a tie-in for ''WesternAnimation/Incredibles2'', has a Chinese-Canadian mother suffering from empty nest syndrome. One day she makes a dumpling that ends up coming to life. She ends up raising the dumpling as a child, caring for it and watching it grow each day. However, she starts being an [[OverprotectiveDad Overprotective Mom]] as the dumpling son enters his rebellious teenage years. Eventually, the dumpling son comes home and introduces a girl to his mother with the intention of moving out and marrying her, which the mother forbids [[MalignedMixedMarriage due to her being white]]. After a struggle in trying to get him to stay, she eats the dumpling son in anger, but is immediately horrified over what she did. Soon after the mother's real son returns and his appearance resembles the dumpling, [[AllJustADream revealing the whole sequence was a dream she was having]]. He then apologizes to his mother and offers her the same treat she had offered the dumpling, leading the two of them to make-up and the mother accepting her daughter-in-law.

Compare with PredatorTurnedProtector and contrast with EatTheDog. See also LetsMeetTheMeat.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E7LisaGetsAnA Lisa Gets an A]]", Homer buys a small lobster to raise in an attempt to avoid having to pay for a full-grown one (ignoring the fact that such a thing would be more expensive in the long run). He comes to view it as a pet and spoils it, but accidentally cooks it alive when it gets dirty and he makes it a hot bath. The episode ends with him tearfully eating the lobster because "it's what Pinchy [the name given to the lobster] would have wanted".