From the Series
Insects have been touted as the next miracle super food and they are about to become more than a novelty dish during an adventurous night out. LIVIN farms have recently kicked off their Kickstarter campaign to fund the distribution of the world’s first desktop hive for edible insects.
The idea is to use the 61centimetres high hive to grow, farm and harvest a protein replacement: mealworms. Designed by industrial designer Katharina Unger, the hive was inspired by a need to find alternative food sources. According to Unger, people are in the dark about where their food comes from and how healthy it is.
“Insects were one of the future proteins that were very promising and perfect to create a solution for people to grow their food independently at home,” wrote the designer.
The mealworm is the larval stage of the meal beetle with a similar protein content to red meats like beef and the beneficial amino-acid profile of tofu. They are also packed with vitamins and enzymes.
With the Hive, the user can farm 200-500 grams of mealworms using vegetable scraps and a nifty harvest button. This replaces about the same amount of protein that you would otherwise consume in 500 grams of meat, animal products or other protein foods.
