Future Hopes, page 16
Borneo’s dad handed me the portfolio folder he’d carried in, and set the grill down on the floor beneath the table. “I’ve got to get off to work now. Good luck, you two.”
I pulled out the green tablecloth I’d brought from home and covered the table. Borneo unpacked the food. We worked in concentrated silence. On the presentation board behind our table, I put up the sign I’d spent hours making. Below it, I pinned our recipe.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Nicki’s shrill voice carried across the hall. “BUG BURGERS!” she cried, reading our sign.
We ignored her and carried on getting our stand ready. We’d already decided to pretend we couldn’t hear or see her. We had our eyes on the prize.
An odd thing had happened during the week as we’d learned more about insects as food: Borneo and I had become convinced that they really should be the food of the future. Today was about more than football tickets, or beating Nicki. We wanted everybody to see that sustainable food is possible if they keep an open mind.
I heard the slap of Nicki’s shoes as she marched across the hall towards us.
“Nicki, our table is over here,” Helen called out weakly.
“Bug burgers! No one is going to eat those! That’s a disgusting idea.”
Borneo and I said nothing. I stapled my drawings of crickets around the edge of the board, while Borneo laid out his square Tupperware pots containing our ingredients.
Nicki read our recipe in a sarcastic voice. “One onion, one stick of celery, one medium carrot, one small courgette, all grown in Borneo’s nana’s allotment.” She broke off and winced at Borneo. “Isn’t that sweet?”
She went on, “Two large mushrooms and one clove of garlic from Organic Planet – the weirdest shop in the world. One hundred grams of homemade breadcrumbs. Ewwww! Fifty grams of mealworms farmed in Wales.” She stopped to make vomiting noises. “Fifty grams of crickets farmed in Wales.” More vomiting noises. “One teaspoon of sea salt, two free-range eggs from Windham’s Farm, and a teaspoon of chopped fresh parsley and thyme from Francesca’s garden.” She paused to watch Borneo plug in the electric grill. “That sounds DISGUSTING! You don’t expect the judges to actually eat this, do you? They’ll die of food poisoning!”
We said nothing.
The fuss Nicki was making was attracting other kids to our table. Soon there was a crowd.
“Have you really made a burger out of bugs?”
“Have you tasted it?”
“I’m not eating it!”
“I’m not scared. I’ll try anything. I’d eat a tarantula.”
Our table was getting so much attention that Miss Webb blew a whistle and ordered everyone back to their own tables to set up their food of the future. The judges would be assembling soon to sample our dishes.
Nicki and Helen didn’t have much to do. They had brought their flapjacks in baking trays and displayed them on a big plate. But Borneo and I had ambitious plans. We wanted to cook and serve our bug burgers hot.
Switching on the grill, Borneo took out the tray of burger patties from his little cool box. I set out the plates and homemade burger buns, going over the things the man in Organic Planet had told us about insects being the solution to world hunger. I wanted to get this right. Borneo emptied a packet of the lime and chilli-flavoured crickets into a little dish for a garnish.
“The judging has started,” Borneo said. I looked up to see Mr Burke, Miss Webb, Mrs Lemon and three other teachers at the first stand. “I’m going to put the burgers on the grill. They need four minutes on each side.” Borneo had practised and timed the cooking to perfection. There was a gentle sizzle as he lowered each patty onto the grill, and soon the smell of cooking was wafting across the hall. It smelled good. Other people had noticed and were looking our way.
“Are you ready?” Borneo whispered, as the judges finally approached our table.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” I nodded.
“Well now, what have we here? Bug burgers, eh?” Mr Burke sounded delighted. “I must say, they smell good. How do you make them?”
“We made the burger patties yesterday, sir, and kept them in the fridge overnight. I put all the vegetables and the garlic into a mixer” – Borneo pointed to the recipe on the board – “and whizzed them up for about ten seconds. Then fried them in a tiny bit of oil for a few minutes. The veg then goes into a mixing bowl with the breadcrumbs, salt and eggs. Next, I whizzed the crickets and mealworms together for a few seconds.”
“Interesting,” Mr Burke murmured. “And where did you get the insects?”
“We bought them in Organic Planet, sir,” I replied. “They come from an insect farm in Wales.”
“I added the blitzed bugs to the bowl with the vegetable mix in,” Borneo continued, “and combined them with my hands. Then I pressed the mixture into patties, dusted them with cricket flour and put them in the fridge.”
“And you’re cooking one right now?” Mrs Lemon asked, a horrified look on her face. She was obviously not looking forward to having to taste one.
“Yes,” I replied. “But whilst Borneo is making the burger, why don’t you taste one of these.” I held up the dish of sweet chilli lime crickets.
“They’re crickets!” She jerked back.
Mr Burke reached for one immediately and popped it into his mouth. “Oh! I must say, that’s really rather good!” He chuckled. “Come on, judges,” he cajoled. “Dive in.”
They each took one. Miss Webb ate hers immediately and I saw her eyebrows lift with approval. Mrs Lemon delayed but eventually braved the cricket. Whilst they chewed, I told them about how, if we thought about insects differently, they could be the food of the future and solve world hunger.
Borneo laid a burger on a bun, then added sliced onion, lettuce and tomato, and garnished it with a couple of sweet chilli lime crickets. “There you go, one bug burger.”
“Marvellous!” Mr Burke exclaimed, cutting it into six portions. Lifting his slice, he took a big bite. The hall fell silent as everyone watched him chew and swallow. “Delicious!” he proclaimed with delight. “Absolutely ingenious!” He beamed at us. “Come on, everyone, tuck in.”
Mrs Lemon’s nostrils curled as she looked at her slice.
“Do you like prawns, Mrs Lemon?” I asked her.
“Yes.”
“How about lobster?”
“Well, of course.”
“They are the invertebrates of the sea,” I told her. “The insects of the ocean.” I pointed at the crickets. “These are the invertebrates of the land. There really is no difference. If you are happy to eat one, why would you be frightened of eating the other?”
“I’m not frightened.” She eyed me indignantly, then lifted her piece of burger and took a tiny bite.
“It’s a bit like a delicious veggie burger,” Miss Webb said with a surprised smile. “This is some really impressive work you two have done.”
Borneo and I exchanged a smile.
The judges moved on and some of our class came over and asked to try our bug burgers. Borneo cooked them all. Within half an hour, we had nothing left. All of our insects had been eaten.
A tinkling sound drew my attention and I saw Mrs Lemon ringing a bell. The hall fell silent as Mr Burke stepped forward.
My heart was booming in my ears. This was it!
“We judges have been delighted by the food you have brought in today. It’s clear how hard you have all worked to understand where our food comes from and how important sustainable food production is going to be in the future. The judges would like to commend Harry and Ben for their mushroom stew, which really was fantastic. However, for inventiveness, sustainability and sheer innovation, our school winners, and the winners of the tickets to the League Cup final, are…”
All the children in the hall stamped their feet to make a drum roll.
I held my breath.
“Francesca Attsdale and Borneo Brown with their brilliant bug burgers!”
Everybody cheered. Borneo punched the air. I did my football goal celebration dance and grinned at Nicki, who was scowling.
Things were a bit of a blur after that. There was a man with a flashing camera who took our picture in front of our bug burger sign as Mr Burke handed us the tickets to the cup final. The story was in the paper a few days later.
Yesterday, Borneo and I got an invitation to cook our bug burgers for the council. We’ve got our fingers and toes crossed that they’re brave enough to eat them. I can almost smell those Albion FC season tickets. Bugs are brilliant. They’re tasty, they can stop humans starving and they got me and Borneo to the cup final!
EDITOR’S NOTE
In “Food of the Future”, we learn about the impact of what we eat on our planet. With so many different types of food being exported from countries around the world, most of us don’t eat very sustainably. But there are simple steps that we can take to help address that. As the characters discuss in the story, reducing our meat consumption is one easy way of reducing our carbon emissions. You could also try to buy fruit and vegetables that are in season and have been grown locally. Just like the characters in “Saving Olumide”, you could even try growing some of your own.
There are many fun skills we can learn that will also benefit our planet. From bike-riding and engineering, to dressmaking, cookery and gardening, there are all sorts of ways that we can make the most out of the resources around us.
It is natural to feel anxious about climate change and the future of the planet. If you are feeling worried, it might help to think of some simple steps you can take to live more sustainably. You might also want to talk about your feelings with your friends and family and encourage them to make lifestyle changes. It will all add up. Don’t forget that you aren’t responsible for fixing the planet – adults should be doing that, not kids! But we all have the power to make a difference. There will never come a point when it’s not worth still doing all we can to combat climate change.
AFTERWORD
by Lauren James
I hope that reading Future Hopes has left you with a sense of optimism for the future. I know it can feel impossible to comprehend the scale of the climate crisis or how to begin tackling it, but with these stories we have seen that there are real-world solutions out there.
This is just the beginning of your climate journey. A lot of the characters in this book found that taking action in their local community made them less anxious about the planet. Yeni helps with the gardening in her building’s rooftop farm in “Saving Olumide”; Remi and the Wildecrew from “The Lighthouse Keeper’s Garden” help to revitalize wasteland; and Ara helps the farmers in her local village to improve their farming methods in “The Drongo’s Call”.
Many of the actions we see in this anthology aren’t going to reverse climate change on their own. But, accumulatively, the little things all make a real difference. And for each amazing person in these stories, there are hundreds of people out there in the real world, battling climate change with quiet determination.
So what can you do right now, today? The easiest thing is to start a conversation about climate change. You’ll be surprised at how many people in your life are scared of talking about it. They don’t want to acknowledge that the world is in trouble, or they might be too overwhelmed to know where to begin taking action.
I know that the more I learned about climate change, the less scared I became. Instead of feeling powerless, I began to see glimmers of hope for the future. I saw it in the amazing scientists researching solutions to slow down pollution. In the new tech that will replace our energy-guzzling gadgets. For all of the bad news, there are positive breakthroughs being made all of the time.
Try discussing this with your parents, friends and teachers. Knowing someone who cares about the climate will make them care about it more too. Tell them that taking action in their local community will bring hope and help ease their fears. It might not have even occurred to them that they could be doing something to help.
One of the best ways you can tackle climate change is to help people imagine a world where everyone thrives – humans, animals and Planet Earth together, living in harmony. In the skies, oceans, landfill, fields and factories. We can get there, together.
There are some scary years ahead, but I believe in the goodness and strength of humanity. Even if it feels like we’re facing a time of disaster, there are so many bright and glorious possibilities for our future.
I promise it’s possible to save the world. You don’t even have to be a superhero to do it. You just have to have hope – and a dash of determination.
HOW TO LIVE MORE SUSTAINABLY
In order to help fight the climate crisis, here are some important changes that you, your friends and family can make:
– Replace garden lawns with wildflower meadows. You could take part in Plantlife’s No Mow May movement, letting your grass grow wild during the month of May.
– Switch to LED lightbulbs, and remember to turn off lights whenever you leave a room.
– Ask your family if you could take a train on holiday instead of flying – or pay for carbon offsetting for any flights you are required to take.
– When you start a bank account, make sure it’s with an environmentally friendly bank that doesn’t invest your money into fossil fuel companies.
– Drink oat milk or other dairy alternatives instead of milk from cows.
– If your family eats meat, could you have a meat-free day once a week?
– Try to buy seasonal and local food.
– Reduce waste by freezing fresh produce where you can, and composting the peelings.
– Ask your family about switching to a renewable energy utility supplier, if available.
– If your family are looking to buy a new car, suggest they consider an electric or hybrid one.
– Air-dry clothing instead of tumble-drying.
– Avoid disposable, cheap fashion made from synthetic fabrics, as these create microplastics when washed. Invest in long-term, quality pieces that can be worn for many years.
– Aim to rent, borrow or buy things secondhand as much as possible, especially tools that you might only use occasionally. For phones and other technological items, try to get refurbished ones rather than buying new.
– And, of course, plant trees wherever you can. They truly are the lungs of our planet. Depleted forests, savannahs, peatlands, mangroves and wetlands have the ability to grow back quickly, but we need to give them the opportunity to do that.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
– Which common climate solutions appear in multiple stories in the collection? Why do you think so many of the authors were drawn to similar visions for the future?
– Which of the solutions do you think are most and least likely to happen? What steps do you think we need to take now to make these futures a reality?
– Which future world would you prefer to live in? Which would you hate?
– In “Float” and “Dump Devil”, modern technology is used to control people’s activities. Carbon footprints are restricted, and augmented reality gives teenagers digital “childminders” who monitor their behaviour. Do you agree with these predictions for how technology is going to be used in the future?
– People grow plants in several of the stories, though for different reasons. Remi restores the landscape through guerrilla gardening in “The Lighthouse Keeper’s Garden”; the village farm to make income in “The Drongo’s Call”; and the community grow plants for food in “Saving Olumide”. However, all of the characters find comfort through connecting with nature. In what ways do you connect with the environment in your own life? Why is nature so healing?
– The stories take place across the world, from India in “The Drongo’s Call” to Scotland in “The Invisible Girl and the Impossible Otter”. Do the characters’ experiences match what you think the future might be like in these countries? Why does the location matter?
– In “Eyeballs, Tentacles and Teeth” and “Food of the Future”, living creatures are used in new and unexpected ways. Bacteria break down plastic in the ocean, and crickets are used to make flour for baking. Can you see these solutions being used in real life? What sort of issues might prevent them from happening?
– In “They Came Back”, Isla is frustrated that humans can’t use the land near her home, and that they have to grow everything from scratch, while her father doesn’t share this frustration. Why do you think Isla and her dad feel differently about these things? How do you think the world they live in has affected the way they feel?
GLOSSARY
Activism – purposeful action, through campaigning and other means, to bring about change
Adaptation – a process of change that helps living things to better survive in an environment
Atmosphere – the layer of gases that surround a planet
Biodiversity – all of the different types of living things in an area or ecosystem. The more biodiverse an area, the greater the variety of living things found there.
Carbon drawdown – the process of capturing carbon dioxide gas from the atmosphere and storing it away inside a carbon sink
Carbon emissions – the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere, primarily from burning fossil fuels
Carbon footprint – the carbon emissions caused by a specific person or organization
Carbon sink – something that stores a large amount of carbon dioxide, such as the ocean, kelp forests, rocks, woodland, cement, soil and fossil fuels
Carbon tax – a fee that some countries have introduced which is paid to the government by anyone who generates high carbon emissions
Carbon zero/net zero – the point at which the amount of carbon being removed from the atmosphere is equal to the amount of carbon emissions being released
