DStv Channel 403 Sunday, 10 November 2024

Invasive species on the menu at London restaurant

LONDON - A London restaurant is exploring whether eating invasive species such as grey squirrel, American Signal crayfish and Japanese knotweed could help fight their spread, but scientists remain sceptical. 

The idea behind several "invasive species supper clubs", the last of which was served on Tuesday at "zero waste" Silo restaurant in east London, is to "creatively popularise species that are detrimental to the environment", chef Douglas McMaster, who runs the establishment, told AFP.

The omnipresent grey squirrels, signal crayfish and Japanese knotweed are all "forces of destruction" that squeeze out local populations, but all are edible and "delicious", he added.

The invaders are the subject of a recently published report under the aegis of the UN, which gave rise to calls from experts to "wake up" to the "scourge".

McMaster would like a legitimate supply chain and for the species to become "an accessible resource" for chefs.

But the idea "isn't to popularise these invasive species so there's so much of a demand that we allow them to become more invasive", he stressed. 

"That would be a terrible thing to occur."

He hopes instead to "bring back balance within the ecosystem and then we stop eating them".

But experts fear that the remedy will simply aggravate the problem.

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