ASK AN ECO ACTIVIST This month Dr Sarah Beynon, founder of The Bug Farm and Bug Farm Foods

WHY SHOULD WE EAT INSECTS?

The world’s population will reach almost ten billion by 2050. If we try to feed everyone using our current farming system, wildlife will be severely threatened. As insects naturally cluster together, they can be farmed efficiently without compromising their welfare. Insect farming also has a low environmental impact in terms of the amount of food, water and energy needed, and the amount of greenhouse gas that’s produced. You can significantly cut your carbon and water footprint if you swap intensively farmed meat for one or two insect-based meals per week.

WILL ANYONE REALLY TRY THEM?

Insect-based diets might sound odd to us, but two billion people in places such as South America and South East Asia eat grasshoppers and crickets in stews or fried.

WHICH INSECTS HAVE YOU EATEN?

My first bug-based meal was a kofta kebab with mealworms made by my husband Andy Holcroft. He’s a chef and founder of restaurant Grub Kitchen, and has been experimenting with insects for years. Now I eat a lot of crickets and buffalo worms. Crickets taste malty, while buffalo insects taste like cereal. Powdered versions work well in baking, but I also like them whole.

WHERE CAN YOU GET THEM?

We sell a whole range online (bugfarmfoods.com), as well as serving insect-based dishes at Grub Kitchen. Goat’s cheese rolled in zesty black ants and bug Wellington (like beef Wellington but with bugs as a meat substitute) are both popular.

WHAT SPARKED YOUR INTEREST?

I grew up on a farm and my grandmother would take me on wildlife walks. I then read biology at Oxford University, before doing a doctorate on dung beetles. Andy and I launched The Bug Farm and Grub Kitchen in 2015. Despite the name, we don’t farm bugs commercially – it’s a research centre open to the public. We founded Bug Farm Foods two years later, making food using insects.

WOULD YOU EAT A DUNG BEETLE?

No, I know what they feed on! You shouldn’t eat any insects straight from your garden as they may have come into contact with pesticides, but when they’re produced for human consumption, they’re regulated like any other food.

WHAT ARE THE HEALTH RISKS?

Like shellfish, insects are arthropods, so the allergens are similar. If you’re allergic to shellfish or dust mites, you might also be allergic to insects, but not always.

CAN WE MAKE BUGS APPEALING?

We’ve developed a ‘mince’ called VEXO made from insect and plant protein, which we’d love to see on school menus. Adults could incorporate insects into food they eat – try our cookies made from cricket powder (available at Selfridges).

HOW NUTRITIOUS ARE THEY?

Gram for gram, insects like crickets offer similar amounts of protein to beef but require up to 25 times less feed than intensively farmed beef. They can also be high in vitamin B12 and iron, and contain all the essential amino acids, which help our bodies build muscle. They fuelled a friend through a 186-mile ultra-marathon.

WILL WE ALL EAT BUGS ONE DAY?

In ten years’ time, I’d love to see insect-based protein in every supermarket, but we can all start now.