Student eating habits don’t always get a good rep (pizza for breakfast is acceptable right?).For those of you who go self-catered, the student budget and your ever creative kitchen skills inevitably mean that, on the odd occasion you’ve probably had some, let’s say, ‘interesting’ meals spring onto your plates…noodles with baked beans anyone?
But the creepiest of foods may not have tingled your taste buds yet, and two second year engineering students at Durham want to change this! Npower Future Leaders finalists Sam Shuttleworth and Finlay Milner have become advocates for the consumption of insects in everyday diets through The Student Grub campaign. The students believe that insects are a great option to include in our meals because of the health, economic and environmental benefits.
In a video (which you can watch here) to promote the campaign, Finlay stated that insects are ‘high in vitamins and low in fat’, and Sam continues to suggest the economic benefits of the movement stating that production ‘doesn’t require that much technology’, and that insect rooms could be ‘replicated all over the world’. Another benefit of the diet choice, which was perhaps key to the pair getting to the final of the npower future leaders competition, seems to be the minimal impact the diet has on the environment. For instance, to give just one example, insects emit fewer greenhouse gases, which hugely contribute to global warming, than most livestock.
So what’s not to like: a healthier diet, saving some cash along the way, and being a bit greener for the earth? Well all of this sounds fab but some of you may still be grimacing at the idea of chowing down on the odd Eency Weency Spider or Jiminy cricket! Is this simply a western taboo? The Student Grub campaigners think so. Namely they argue that, despite some people seeing insects as dirty creatures, they are actually delicacies in other places the world such as Asia. Sam even compared the food to lobsters, which used to be lowly valued but are now an expensive treat for many.
So, fancy dabbling in the world of insect cookery? Chocolate covered crickets galore and more of the classmates’ recipes are available here!