The success of the programme lead to a general acceptance amongst the public that a generation would be lost for the good of mankind. Young people resented being transformed but had little choice in the matter.
The programme grew and eventually expanded into new areas. In 2014, it was announced that treatments had been developed which would transform a human into a plant-like organism. Overpopulation and deforestation are significant contributors to climate change, and this was a natural move. Some would become trees; others fruits and vegetables. The size of human beings compared to normal fruits and vegetables was so much larger that transformed individuals could provide huge amounts of food.
Huge gardens and greenhouses were built to accomodate these semi-human crops. Being given a vegetable was much harder to take for most youngsters. Whereas a chicken or pig might not be used for food in certain cases, or at least enjoy a fair life prior to being processed, there are only so many uses for a pumpkin (and most of those involve cutting it open).
***
Grace was a typical 18 year-old girl. Blonde, attractive, well-adjusted. But one morning, she received a red letter. She thought knew what that meant. "Great, I'm going to be a stinking cow or a fat pig!" She cried. Her mother tried to console her. "It's okay, dear," she said. "You're a beautiful girl. They wouldn't assign you some filthy species like a pig or a cow. You'll probably be a beautiful pony or a cute little kitty."
But she hadn't even opened it yet- and the news inside was worse than they thought.