When I first heard about the idea of home meat-growing I was skeptical, but the more I thought of it, the more sense it made as a way to challenge the systems that guide the meat industry. I’ve been growing my own vegetables for years, so growing meat wasn’t unconceivable, and I really enjoy the sense of independence it gives me. The family agreed to attempt cutting back to eating meet once a week, which turned out a lot easier than expected, and now the growing kit caters for all our needs. It makes us feel like we’re doing our bit for the environment - no longer do we need to subscribe to bad systems. No more industrialized feedlots, no more methane release, no more waste and environmental damage.

However complicated the technology and lab techniques might sound, the kit makes it really easy and enjoyable to cultivate meat at home. As with everything else these days, the internet is just brimming with instructions, tips and recipes from meat-growers worldwide. Although the growing process was a bit puzzling at first, as I started to understand what was going on biologically, it became fascinating to watch as the cells duplicate and then turn into muscle cells that need exercise.

Once a month I pick up cells and growth medium from my local. I usually harvest the meat and set up a new growth cycle Sunday mornings, ensuring fresh meat for the family feast that evening, which has become a much anticipated event. When my wife Sally is cooking, she usually tries something fancy arguing that something taking so long to grow deserves to be prepared in a special way, but I prefer sticking to tried and true traditions such as beef with mash and onion gravy.

I got home today, after spending the night away again, only to find dead worms everywhere. Disgusted by the horror scene, I proceeded to clean up the mess while contemplating how and why they escaped. They’d managed to squeeze themselves out of their dark, moist home during the night to brave the Sahara conditions of my flat. Sadly all but one perished on their journey to freedom.

Eventually, I brought myself to looking inside the wormery to check on the remaining inhabitants, who seemed happy enough.

A temporary solution to control the rogue worms involved making a moat around their box.

Later in the evening I transported them to my boyfriend’s garden (I don’t have any outdoor space), so I can monitor their progress without too much mess.

It’s been a blow to my attempts at achieving no food waste, but I haven’t given up quite yet.

I have previously only put ready to eat things in the box, but today I put a couple of lemons that needed eating soon along with some apples, and everything was gone by the time I got home tonight. Wonder what they were used for. Maybe someone took a lemon to compliment their fish and chips from next door?

The worms arrived yesterday. Not knowing what to expect I opened the package with great apprehension. To my relief, everything was neatly packaged, and relatively straight forward.

Note the box with ‘worms’ handwritten on the top. After preparing everything else - putting the sponge and soil into the box, etc, I carefully opened the ‘worms’ pot terrified that they’d all jump out and attack me. However, they were all hiding in the soil when I opened it, and only came out to say hello after a while. They moved so slowly, that I was much less bothered by them than expected.

I wasn’t quite ready to touch the inquisitive bunch, but I managed to pour them all into the wormery and carefully scrape the last couple out with a spoon. The instructions said to leave them in the bin with the lid open for a day or two in the sun and they would naturally bury themselves into the soil to get out of the light. So I left them to bask in the sun, on my desk next to the window, went out and spent the night at my boyfriend’s house.

Returning in the morning, they seemed to have happily buried themselves into the soil, so it was time to find them some food. As I open my computer to check if it’s ok to feed them moldy strawberries (which it isn’t - they’ll probably avoid the mold and other microorganisms will start to grow) I found this guy:

And my computer wasn’t on the desk - it was on the floor next to the couch. This little worm traveled over two meters to curl up on my keyboard. He started moving shortly after his high-tech hiding place brightened up and started humming. My fear of him damaging my computer was greater than my fear of touching him, and after brief hesitation I quickly picked him up and returned him home. Panic stricken I searched the rest of the room to see if they had infiltrated other dark and warm corners, including the bed, but luckily this little guy was the only one I found.

I’m not sure how easily I’ll sleep tonight…

Around a third of all the food we buy ends up being thrown in the bin and most of this could have been eaten.

Reducing food waste is a major issue and not just about good food going to waste; wasting food costs the average family £420 a year and has serious environmental implications too.

The Food We Waste Research Report

The Love Food Hate Waste campaign by WRAP gives some tips on how to reduce food waste, but mostly in the form of how to store your food appropriately, and to eat the right portions. However, is wrapping all your food up in plastic and putting it in a freezer that much better for the environment? It seems we often replace one bad thing with another. I think some radical changes need to be made before people are willing to change their habits. It’s also well established that we are hugely dependent on oil to produce our food and the amount of energy it takes to get the food to our mouths by far exceeds the amount of energy we gain from eating it. Perhaps we need a new system where food is priced in terms of energy instead of a market-constructed value. All of a sudden we would be much more careful about what we eat. It would encourage a more natural diet, less processed foods and less meat, thereby also helping solve the obesity problem.

It seems that no matter how you look at it, current methods of food production are bad. Whether locally grown or flown in from afar, according to New Scientist the bulk of greenhouse gas emissions happen during the production phase rather than in the transport or wholesale part of the food system.

New Scientist food chart

The article also argues that organic methods aren’t necessarily better than non-organic because organic farming yields aren’t as high, and therefore don’t offer a viable solution to feeding the earth’s human population, which has a growing appetite for meat. It’s difficult to break down the complexity of our current food production and distribution systems, but it seems that if we are not willing to cut back on meat consumption, alternatives such as lab-grown meat aren’t as absurd as they may seem at first glance.

My first test to see if the food box could work was carried out a little while ago. I hung the box out of the window with clementines and chocolate biscuits and recorded any movement around it with a webcam to see how people would interact with it. Quite a few people were curious, and seemed to enjoy the discreet spectacle. I’m curious to see how it will work when put out for a whole week, and with a range of different foods.

I’ve just ordered my wormery from West Country Worms for £15. Bargain! It normally costs £45, but islington council subsidise it as part of their recycling scheme. I’m a bit squeamish with worms, so I will learn to conquer a fear as well as reducing my food waste.

The zero food waste experiment.

Living alone I find it difficult to finish all the food that I buy. A study by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) “found that £9bn of avoidable food waste was disposed of in England and Wales each year” Every time I throw food away I’m frustrated by the thought that it will decompose in a landfill surrounded by toxic materials, ruining any potential for returning valuable nutrients back to the soil.

Hence, I’m exploring ways to achieve zero food waste. I will employ a wormery and implement  an ‘urban grazing’ experiment where I hang excess food that is still good out of my window for passers by to enjoy. My progress will be logged here as the project evolves. If you have food from the box or want to join in and make your own, I’d be very happy to hear about it.