But while bugs may turn out to be a wonder food, the idea of eating them makes people in the UK squeamish. So Charlotte launches a campaign tempting people with tasty insects, garnering amusing reactions. To gain support for her cause, she hooks up with a rising global movement of bug cuisine lovers and meets Michelin-starred restaurant chefs, insect farmers and the entrepreneurs who are already producing mealworms and cricket energy bars in Britain. Charlotte joins the brutal training of CrossFit athletes to check on the health effects of their insect-rich Paleo diet and finds out about the sizable environmental benefits of farming bugs instead of cattle. As the climax of her campaign, she hosts the largest bug feast in UK history, aiming to catch people’s imagination once and for all.
But will people dare to accept bugs as a super food that we’ll need to survive and thrive in the future?
WHY NOW?
• Edible insects are an emerging trending topic, increasingly seen as cool and sophisticated.
• The content’s novelty and shocking nature is eye-catching and a conversation generator.
• Short excerpts of the programs have great potential for viral distribution via social media. The online audience could take on “bug challenges,” like posting images of themselves eating bugs.
• Edible insects are an emerging trending topic, increasingly seen as cool and sophisticated.
• The content’s novelty and shocking nature is eye-catching and a conversation generator.
• Short excerpts of the programs have great potential for viral distribution via social media. The online audience could take on “bug challenges,” like posting images of themselves eating bugs.
Presenter Charlotte Payne (Oxford, 1985) is a die-hard world explorer and holds fun events to promote insect foods in the UK. She has been a researcher at Oxford and Cambridge, with fieldwork around the world. Fluent in Japanese and Spanish, she also has presenter experience.
