From bean burgers to Quorn sausages, a huge range of options are now available for Brits trying to reduce their meat intake.
But the latest option isn’t for the faint-hearted, and is even likely to get a few stomachs churning.
An urban farm in Ealing has developed a burger made from worms, and claims that it’s even tastier than beef.
Horizon Edible Insects has created the burger in the hopes of promoting a more environmentally-friendly and sustainable source of protein.
While worms aren’t exactly appealing, they’re packed full of protein, omega-3 and vitamin B12, and are also very low in calories.
According to Horizon Edible Insects, the worms have a ‘nutty to earthy flavour’.
Tiziana Di Costanzo, founder of Horizon Edible Insect, said: “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 a production of 100kg per week in the next 6 months, all of this with zero waste”.
The worms are farmed in plastic trays and when they outgrow them, they’re relocated to a purpose-built wooden outbuilding- and all with zero-waste.
Mealworms for example, do not require any water to survive so farming them is a help to the planet's water crisis.
The farm also uses donated fruits and vegetables that cannot be sold, as feed.
The farm is also organising a cooking event at the end of the month, where attendees will try and learn how to cook a cornbread bruschetta garnished with crickets, curry and coriander mealworm fritters, a mealworm burger, crispy chocolate mealworm cupcakes and cinnamon and raisin insect biscuits.
