A couple of days ago Bugburger got a new follower on Instagram: @bugrecipes. My first reaction:
”Great logo!”
Reply:
”Thank you! Drew it ourselves.”
A couple of hours later I went to Twitter and found them again, this time with a link to their Youtube channel. I was blown away. These guys have something great going on. ”I’ll have to interview them, was my first thought”. I sent them some questions. You find their answers below. But first lets watch their statement:
Bugburger: You just posted your first two videos on YouTube under name Bug Recipes. First of all: Who are you and how did you come up with the idea for the project?
– We are Better Universal Grub (BUG for short) and are comprised of two founders Leo and Aaron. Both of us are keen environmentalists and we absolutely love our food! Aaron’s always been interested in the natural environment, particularly insects and now works as an entomologist. Leo’s background is in architecture so he brings the design head to the team, and being half Thai has grown up in South-East Asia where eating insects is relatively common.
The idea to start BUG was really a combination of our respective academic backgrounds, passion for food and sustainability and an understanding of what we believe needs to happen to grow wide scale adoption of insects as food.
Bugburger: The first videos are really ambitious, and it surely makes me hungry for more… tell me more about your plans for the future. What is your masterplan?
– We hope to be releasing content every week that is fun, provocative and quirky- hence our hashtag #DONTBEAMUG. Our goal is to fundamentally change people’s perceptions on insects as food, and we think social media is the most scalable and accessible tool to do that. Our challenge is to make insects look like the sexy, delicious grub they are, and to build curiosity and awareness around edible insects. Put simply, we are in the business of food porn for bugs.
Leo and Aaron the founders of Better Universal Grub (BUG)!
Bugburger: If a Bugburger reader today becomes a Bug Recipes YouTube subscriber: How many films will you get the next couple of months?
– We would love to have Bugburger readers visit us. We aim to post on a weekly basis, so keep your eyes peeled for awesome recipes as well as cool animations and fun gifs! It is also worth mentioning that we are in the process of identifying and testing the most viable platform to grow our following- which possibly wont be YouTube- so please also check out our Instagram, Facebook and Twitter pages under the handle @bugrecipes!
Bugburger: Is this a project that will keep on giving for many years, or is there a finite number of films and then its over…
– We are passionate about having a positive impact on society so are committed to building our message and sharing it across the world for as long as possible. Changing the world takes time!
Bugburger: What do you think are the top three reasons for eating insects?
– We would say: Incredibly good for the environment, super healthy, and most importantly tasty af!
Bugburger: Which are your favourite insects?
– Our favourites are fresh locusts by far. These guys taste awesome, if you like prawns, you like locusts. They are ludicrously similar in taste, if anything, more delicate and refined. Would highly recommend!
Bugburger: Something you would like to tell the world?
– We feel the industry is tied down to a monoculture of products at the moment, and many of these products are missing the point on a number of levels. Most products currently available follow an inherently a top down growth model and are still really seen by consumers as a novelty. We want to show people that insects are actually just an undervalued and under appreciated ingredient. By challenging people’s perceptions with fundamentally useful and engaging content we believe we can empower people with our knowledge and passion for edible insects to see much needed growth in the industry from the grassroots.
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I couldn’t agree more Aaron and Leo, and maybe thats why your project makes me so enthusiastic. Looking forward to many more cool videos and recipes from Better Universal Grub!
Världens bästa bok om ätbara insekter?Kan du läsa svenska? Grattis då kan du läsa:
Äta insekter: Entomaten och det stora proteinskiftet. Den går att köpa i vanliga bokhandlar, hos förlaget, på Adlibris och Bokus. Läs mer om boken och köpställen här!