Video: Scottish charity Bugs for Life create mealworm haggis

A SCOTTISH charity has created a haggis made of edible bugs for Burns Night - to highlight worldwide issues of malnutrition.

The mealworm haggis created by Bugs for Life

Bugs for Life, based in Edinburgh, say edible insects are a nutritious and sustainable way for communities around the world to help fend off starvation.

The main ingredient of the haggis is mealworms - larva of the darkling beetle - which were farmed at charity founder Craig MacFarlane’s home in the city.

In order to make them fit for human consumption, the worms were fed on a special vegetarian diet.

The Bugs for Life charity team

The charity work in the Atakora region of Benin in West Africa, where 50 per cent of the children are chronically malnourished.

They train with insect farmers in Thailand to introduce sustainable farming methods to Benin and run classes on the body and nutrition in schools and health centres in the region.

They also give talks at festivals and events across the UK.

Craig said the mealworms had an “earthy flavour, a bit like wild mushrooms”.

He added: “Insects are like the seafood of the Earth. Prawns, lobster, crickets, beetles- They are all Arthropods. So, in the way that prawns taste of the sea, bugs taste of the earth!”