Emma Cooper

As gardeners we’re all familiar with finding caterpillars in the cabbages, but we’re also adept at removing them before we cook up our feasts (or, in my case, feeding the whole lot to the chickens). But what if we didn’t? There are plenty of cultures around the world in which insects provide a valuable source of protein, and even in the Western world our food processing systems don’t guarantee us insect-free food, so we’re all eating them unwittingly anyway. (Although, apparently, the idea that we eat spiders in our sleep is an urban legend.)

I have composting worms disposing of my kitchen waste for me (and you can do the same with black soldier fly larvae apparently). I feed dried mealworms to the chickens (as well as live insects and bugs I find in the garden) – they even had live mealworms for a while, and you can breed your own at home if you need a regular supply for bait or insectivorous pets. I know squeamish people who would find all of that impossible, but I imagine I also know adventurous travellers who have scoffed insects in the deepest, darkest regions of exotic countries.

Still, edible insects are still a step too far for me, which is why I have arranged a chicken sitter and booked us in for the Natural History Museum’s Edible Insects evening next week. Alongside a tour of the museum insect collection and talks from three experts, they’re serving up a tasting menu of edible insects. I am sure Pete will manage to try them all, but will I?