Just look at this hipster-meat connection

It would seem that the era of trendy vegetarianism is over, and we are entering a world owned by hipster meat lovers.

Just the other day, I was commenting on the amount of new hipster cafes (small, boutique, cafes furnished ironically with op shop furniture, decorated ironically in 1970s kitsch paintings of horses and kittens, usually manned by an owner/chef desperate to make their mark with slightly unusual fare and decent coffee). The worrying thing, for me anyway, is the latest generation of these pioneers seem to be obsessed with rejuvenating the public's love affair with meat.

Now, I have no problem with the idea of tip to tail meat production. In fact, I applaud it. If you're going to eat an animal, you should find ways to savour the whole being and not put a single bit to waste. My favourite cooks all revolve around this principle - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Stephanie Alexander, Matthew Evans - even Jamie Oliver gets in on the act.

It's the fervour with which this new movement seems obsessed with 'reclaiming' the right to eat and love meat that scares me. Take for example a small cafe in Hight St, Northcote. There are crocheted cuts of meat hanging from the roof, old paintings of the Virgin Mary with legs of lamb painting on top and a heavily meat-centric menu. Yes, there were several non-meat options, but they centred around odd ingredients and weird combinations. It seems the standard vegetarian option couldn't possibly be designed for a simple vegetarian - it would have to be for a meat eater looking for something 'different'.

I suspect this move has not come from the clientele - it is a new generation of chefs who are interested in renewing interest in meat dishes. The New York Times has looked into this new sector that demands detailed knowledge of butchery in order to gain street cred. It's a younger generation of more culturally aware culinary experts who are eager to push aside the stereotype of the fat, blue and white striped apron-wearing butcher who sells chops to middle Australia.

If this results in a better understanding of the sustainability and ethics of meat eating, then I'll happily shut up and leave it to be. If it means people choose an ox tongue sandwich or a slow cooked sheep brain stew, that will be one more part of an animal used to the full extent, and hopefully one less animal slaughtered. However, I suspect it will do nothing of the sort. It is a difficult lesson to teach, touching on personal ethics, cultural differences, agricultural and pastoral politics, especially when you go into the finer detail of organic, free range, sustainable stocks, animal treatment, proper land-use, transport and import/export issues.

Call me paranoid if you will, but I see a battle on the horizon. I see large sections of the public who are pissed off at vegetarians telling them off for eating animals. I see people mobilising and reclaiming their right to kill and feast livestock. I see a future where people say 'screw you, hippy - I'm eating veal!'

And I don't like it.