The world’s first insect-based restaurant has opened: “Tastes like meat and mushrooms”

In London have the Yum Bug restaurant just opened the doors. The world’s first restaurant with an insect-based menu.

– The big challenge with insects in the West is the cultural barrier. We are here to change people’s perception of insects, says Leo Taylor, founder of Yum Bug.

But eating insects in itself is nothing unusual. In approximately 120 countries, it is common to consume insects as food and more than 2000 species of insects are estimated to be edible.

Insects – the protein of the future?

But those who shy away from putting a caterpillar or a cricket on their plate may have to reconsider their habits in the future.

The World Economic Forum has presented three reasons why insects could be the protein of the future:

Higher protein content than meat

The edible insect industry is now expected to grow by 50 percent by 2032, much to the delight of many climate scientists. Edible insects is considered a “superfood” as they are extremely high in protein, with low fat content and a high proportion of amino acids.

A recent study also showed that insects contain between 9.96 and 35.2 grams of protein per 100 grams, compared to between 16.8 and 20.6 grams for meat.

Insect farming causes less deforestation

According to the World Resources Institute nearly 10 billion people will live on Earth by 2050. The demand for protein will then exceed our ability to obtain it.

This means that humanity needs to increase food production and reduce carbon dioxide emissions at the same time.

The fact that insects in particular are now being looked at as an alternative for climate-friendly food production is due to insect farming taking up less space and causing less deforestation and emissions than livestock farming.

But what does it actually taste like? See what the restaurant’s guests think of the food in the video above.