A customer finding worms or bugs in their food is often all the reason they need to whip out their smartphone and spread the news all over social media.
It’s a headache that most food establishments hope and pray they don’t ever have to go through.
Watch the video to find out more about these worm burgers.
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Video credit: Rumble
But one urban farm in Ealing, London, has actually made it their business to put worms in their food. Not in their raw form, of course, but served up as burger patties that the creator said are even tastier than beef!
This environmentally-friendly food creation is the product of experimental chef Tiziana Di Costanzo who is the founder of Horizon Edible Insects.
She has always wanted to offer a sustainable source of protein that doesn’t harm the planet which is why she has turned to worms and edible insects to create delectable but ecologically-friendly food.
Edible insects are actually a rich source of protein and also have a lot of vitamin B12 and omega-3. One added bonus is that they’re also low in calories.
According to Tiziana, the mealworms and crickets that she farms have a ‘nutty to earthy flavor’ and added that she can already feed her family of four using only bran and vegetable peels to produce enough of the insects for their needs.
She said: “Let them crawl into your menu once, and you’ll be hooked!
“Once you get past the ‘yuck effect,’ you’ll find that they actually taste really good.
“We are hoping to scale up the operation to production of 100kg per week in the next 6 months, all of this with zero-waste.”
The insects are first grown in plastic trays then transferred to a specially build wooden outbuilding once they outgrow the trays. All of this is done with zero-waste.
Because mealworms do not require water to survive, they don’t put a strain on depleted water sources. As a feed, the farm makes use of donated fruits and vegetables that supermarkets and groceries can’t sell. This is in stark contrast to the production process needed to grow, feed, and process beef.
In order to help spread awareness about this new way of food production, the farm will host a cooking event at the end of the month. Participants will be taught how to cook curry and coriander mealworm fritters, cornbread bruschetta garnished with crickets, cinnamon and raisin insect biscuits, crispy chocolate mealworm cupcakes, and a mealworm burger.
Replaced!