Yes, absolutely!

To deal with the growing shortfall and adverse impacts of cultivating livestock, scientists are turning to a less utilised form of protein to foot the bill: insects.

How would you feel about eating a sausage or ice cream made from maggots?

What about other insect larvae and even whole insects like locusts?’

Whilst researchers are pretty sure that food made exclusively from bugs might not get people’s mouths watering, experiments have shown that chicken products containing up to 15 percent ‘larvae meal’ don’t have any noticeable impact on the flavour, tenderness, aroma, or nutrients.

So surprise, surprise a South African company rejoicing in  the name of GOURMET GRUBB has just launched an ice cream made from the larvae of black soldier flies and in both Canada and especially, France gourmet insect burgers are available.

Gourmet Grubb sells its insect ice cream at a weekly market in Cape Town. 

One customer said the flavour was organic, rather like how you’d expect a vegan ice cream to taste whilst another said it was pretty good and just how ice cream should be!

Thomas Bartleman, head of business development and strategy at Gourmet Grubb, believes products like ice cream are helping to make insect food acceptable to western tastes.

He said: “You think ‘insects’ – and a lot of people have a mental barrier associated with that.

“But the ice cream has played a significant role in helping, especially western consumers, overcome that mental barrier.”

He said the firm had plans to open its first shop and hoped to expand the business to Europe and the United States.

I can’t wait!

In the second hour of today’s show Margaret Mills stopped by to give us a brief lowdown on THE MOOT HALL in MALDON.

Listen again here to what Margaret had to say on this subject: –

See you again next week,
Scott