History Main / OnlyElectricSheepAreCheap

* In ''{{Manga/Clover}}'', one character owns an organic cat but disguises it as a robot so people won't steal it.

* German sci-fi movie ''Sturzflieger''. At the end, the protagonists grow rich when they discover a store room full of chicks (not as in TheChick).

* SoBadItsHorrible German sci-fi movie ''Sturzflieger''. At the end, the protagonists grow rich when they discover a store room full of chicks (not as in TheChick).

* In the Video Game tie-in to the {{Blade Runner}} movie, the player character Ray has an artificial dog named Maggie you can play with [[spoiler: {{Genre Savvy}} players probably realize it'll lead to an heart-rending {{Player Punch}} later]], and the crime Ray was initally investigating involves the slaughter of several real animals including a rare tiger. [[spoiler: Then it gets complicated, the shop owner was selling fakes but fudging records and tests so they considered 'true' (and more expensive) animals]]
** It's noted that in the game, and novel that animal life is held in higher regard then humans - considering Crystal's reaction is nearly identical to walking in on a murder of a child.

* FreeFall takes place on a planet being [[{{Terraforming}} Terraformed]] so organics are worth considerably more than [[WorthlessYellowRocks gold or diamonds]].

* In an inorganic variant, a bandit chieftain on the original series of ''DoctorWho'' was once seen to wax rhapsodic about the amazing treasures his group has stolen: precious items of iron, zinc, and even ''nickel!'' Needless to say, this scene takes place on a metal-poor planet, where only members of the elite [[spoiler: who got them by robbing and betraying an inoffensive alien ambassador]] can boast such prizes.

* In the distant galaxy of ''Kin-Dza-Dza'', one of the transplanted Earthlings discovers that the wooden matchsticks he's carrying in his pocket are actually the most valuable things in the system, as ''every last scrap of naturally-occurring organic or mineral material'' had long since been converted into one kind of fuel or another. Water is bought by the ''drop'', and food is made of '''plastic'''.

In many near-future dystopian science fiction settings, prices on some items, particularly natural things created by natural processes as opposed to created in laboratories via synthetic processes, are quite high. This is particularly the case if the setting is specifically shown to be one of severe environmental degradation, where agriculture is difficult or natural agricultural products unsafe, or where most natural-born animals are extinct. People just take it for granted that certain things are not to be had for regular folks, or that if they are, they're grown in batches in laboratories, or in the case of animals, they may be machines designed to look like the real thing.

** In the ''GITS: StandAloneComplex'' series, the robotic Tachikomas regard all-natural motor oil as a real treat, much better than synthetic oil. Batou treating "his" Tachikoma differently from the rest, by regularly treating it to natural oil, is a catalyst for the robots developing individuality and self-awareness. [[spoiler: That and the anomolies caused by the oil corroding part of it's circuitboard]].

* In the [[AdaptationDecay (alleged)]] film adaptation of ''A Sound Of Thunder'', a large male lion appears to stalk the lead characters, but turns out to be a hologram. Partially subverted, as lions have been extinct for so long that the female lead isn't scared for an instant, even though she hadn't expected to see a huge animal, holographic or otherwise.
** Which is a ShoutOut to another Ray Bradbury story, ''The Veldt'', about a holodeck depicting an African savannah.

!!Examples

* The vast majority, if not all, of food in JudgeDredd falls into one of three categories: Animals that we would not normally be considered food like rat, as most domestic animals seem to be extinct, extremely mutated plants (this is the source of most ''meat'') that can grow in the toxic environment of cursed earth or made entirely of chemicals.

* An early example of this is in the movie ''{{Film/Soylent Green}}'', where one character is excited about having "hundred and fifty bucks a jar of strawberries."

* In Demolition Man, society is entirely vegetarian. When they visit the 'scrap' society, he eagerly eats a hamburger. It's not beef... but at least it's not human. It's actually rat. He doesn't care and keeps on eating.

* Wild-caught fish, shellfish, and certain meats tend to be far more expensive than farmed, and are often more flavorfull.

* In ''Xenosaga'', we view one of Ziggy's memories in which he gives his son a robotic dog as a pet, as he was regretfully unable to obtain a real one.

** Back in the 19th century there was a rule in most prisons not to feed lobster to the prisoners more than a few times a week, since it was considered cruel towards them. SoYeah...

* The environment is fine in ''[[BabylonFive Babylon 5]]'', but space travel is still expensive and the titular space station is too far from Earth to ship much food out. They've got a positively huge artificial farm, but it only grows "essential foods" (And Takashima's (and later Ivanova's) illicit coffee plants). Even for the command staff, a shipment of real eggs is seen as an amazing luxury. At least they're not on a warship; One of the first things Captain Sheridan says when he arrives is "Do you have ''real showers'' here?".

* Inverted in ''Dies The Fire'' by S.M. Stirling, when the protagonists have a long gripe session about all the great junk food they miss, now they've been reduced to growing food naturally.
** Similarly inverted in the movie ''Zombieland'', where the drive of one of the main characters is to find a stash of Twinkies. After all, plants still grow after a zombie apocalypse, but with the Hostess kitchen shut down, snack cakes become an endangered species.