Instead of adding strips of tofu, chicken or beef to your stir-fries for dinner, why not add tiny worms?
A new Kickstarter campaign created by a group called LIVIN Farms wants to produce the first edible insect desktop farm, and it has raised $65,000 of its $100,000 budget so far.
More: Top 10 strange foods from around the world
That’s right — portable worm farms are ready to slot onto your kitchen counter, in between the toaster and the blender, so you can begin incorporating mealworms into your diet as your main source of protein.
With factory farming and the dine-out, eat-out culture we currently live in, it’s difficult to keep up with what’s actually in our foods and where it comes from, says designer Katharina Unger.
And since many of us live in apartments or smaller properties, the idea of raising our own protein sources is near impossible. But Unger says that’s all about to change, especially if you can stomach the idea of little worms on your dinner plate, in your salad and on the end of your fork.
The United Nations even suggests that eating insects is the perfect answer to feeding the world’s growing population.
It’s expected that by 2050 there will be 9 billion people on the planet, according the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization report, Edible Insects.
To cope with that population growth, current food production would have to double — something that would contribute to environmental issues, pollution and land scarcity.
“We need to find new ways of growing food,” the U.N.’s report said. But are bugs really the answer?
More: Top 10 weird foods you should try
It certainly seems like a good option, especially since bugs don’t emit greenhouse gases and can survive on organic waste, meaning they don’t contribute to the huge resources needed to farm grains, which feed livestock.
“One third of valuable fertile croplands are currently used only to feed the grains harvested to animals,” the Kickstarter campaign reads.
“While seeking alternatives to industrially produced foods, many of us would prefer to avoid GMOs or pumping animals full of hormones.”
Some restaurateurs have even caught on to the idea, with Britain’s first insect-only restaurant opening in Wales this month.
The aptly named restaurant Grub Kitchen promotes the use of sustainable local produce as well as the use and consumption of edible insects. It hopes to give people a “full understanding of the nutritional benefits and positive environmental implications behind this novel and innovative new food.”
What do you think? Would you give edible insects a go? Let us know.
More Stories from Food & Recipes
Leave a Comment