大象传媒

Dr Sarah Beynon runs a farm in St Davids in Pembrokeshire with a difference. The Bug Farm is a nature reserve, a visitor attraction, and a working farm. Alongside growing crops, Sarah and her husband, Andy Holcroft, also educate visitors to the farm about the importance of insects in our ecosystems, and they create insect based foods.

In this programme, Mariclare Carey-Jones visits the farm to find out where Sarah鈥檚 passion for invertebrates comes from and why she wants to share her love for bugs with visitors to the farm. Sarah says, 鈥淕rowing up on the farm here in St Davids, we鈥檇 take our little bug collecting pot and we鈥檇 go on mini safaris and just developed that love for the natural world. And then when I was at Oxford doing an undergraduate biology degree, I went to the Natural History Museum and I remember having a tour of the insect collections and being blown away! And I wanted other people鈥檚 eyes to open up to this incredible world."

As Mariclare and Sarah explore the farm, they discuss the various projects Sarah is involved in, all with the aim of increasing insect populations. They talk about the practical steps she takes which she believes allow her to farm alongside nature. 鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 farm without nature鈥�, Sarah says, 鈥渨e are 100% reliant on it. That鈥檚 what I want to showcase, little elements of how farmers can incorporate nature on their farms鈥�.

Mariclare will also talk to Sarah and Andy about Grub Kitchen - the on-site cafe at the bug farm, where insects are always on the menu, as it is the first edible-insect restaurant in the UK. 鈥淵ou might say its unusual now鈥� Andy says, 鈥渕aybe in five or ten years time it will be a bit more of a normality鈥�.

Presented and produced by Mariclare Carey-Jones