UCD students are being paid to eat beef. Yes, you read that right. Paid to eat beef.

Last week the Institute of Food and Health at the Dublin university put out a call for healthy male volunteers to come and eat three different types of beef – from grass-fed, concentrate and silage-fed cattle.

Each volunteer will be given a burger made from one of the different types of beef and then have their blood drawn every hour for three hours.

The aim of the study, being run by UCD and Teagasc, is to assess the difference in fatty acids and other health parameters in the burger eaters. This will help the researchers to compare the potential health benefits of grass-fed beef over the rest.

How times change

Back in the Dealer’s days at UCD, students would have happily given blood in return for a decent beef dinner. Fast forward to 2017 and the students are being reimbursed for their trouble.

Next thing you know, they’ll want to be paid for their shift in the lambing shed at Lyons.