Whether it’s a traditional turkey or a meatless roast nut, there’s a lot to a good Christmas dinner.
But while competition in the supermarket or at the butcher’s is always high ahead of the Christmas season, this year is ending against the backdrop of Warnings of an impending food crisis in the UK.
A shortage of eggs, farmers say, could be just the start – while your much-anticipated Christmas dinner may be spared from what’s to come, Easter dinner may not be so lucky.
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Farmers union warning on food prices
Thankfully, there’s a potential solution all around us – some of them crawling under our feet, others buzzing overhead.
And before you say, “Bah, humbug,” I don’t want to suggest substituting insects for your lovingly prepared roast.
Cambridge-based Better Origin aims to make food waste part of the supply chain. With the United Nations estimating that 17% of the world’s food production is wasted, there’s work to be done.
That’s where insects come in: feeding them this waste can turn them into a nutritious alternative to the high-carbon soy and grains commonly used to feed livestock.
“The way to see this is insect protein,” says Fotis Fotiadis, managing director of Better Origin.
“The reason it’s great and nutritious is because its amino acid profile is very similar to meat. That could replace any form of animal protein in other parts of the food supply chain.”
Picture:
After the flies have been well fed with scraps of food, they are served to the chickens as a snack
How does this new supply chain work?
The supply chain ethos uses technology to mimic nature and turn waste back into food.
While you probably wouldn’t dream of eating a rotten apple, in nature it could make its way back up the food chain – either by being eaten that way or by being broken down and rebuilt by bacteria.
“The system is not sustainable or secure – as the pandemic has proven Russia’s invasion‘ says Mr Fotiadis.
“We must […] Transition from linear to circular. When waste becomes part of the input, you become more independent.”
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Picture:
The insects replace soy and grains in the chickens’ diet
Better Origin has developed what it calls an “automated factory in a shipping container” that stores waste and bugs at one end for consumption. Once set up, they can be fed to animals.
There is already a real-life example when Morrisons launched a line of “carbon neutral eggs” by feeding hens on its farms black soldier fly larvae fed waste.
“It’s a win-win for everyone in the supply chain,” says Mr. Fotiadis, as AI-driven algorithms are used to fully automate the feeding process in the bins.
Morrisons have been made available to 10 of the ‘insect mini-farms’, saving an estimated 3,000 tonnes of food waste and 2,810 tonnes of carbon emissions annually.
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Picture:
Storage containers like these are where the “magic” happens
How will it go beyond eggs?
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will your bug-powered Christmas dinner (unless you just eat bugs instead of your roast I guess).
Better Origin is working with regulators to expand the amount of food types they can feed to insects beyond existing fruit, vegetable and bakery waste.
The goal is to replicate the ‘insect protein’ feeding strategy for other animals, and the company’s plan has the support of the University of Cambridge.
While you may never want to include “all the ingredients”. Crickets, flies and mealwormsit may not be long before they play a big part in bringing your usual favorites to the dinner table.
