Teesside burgers 'n' bangers firm slashes meat for mushrooms

A Teesside burgers 'n' bangers firm has slashed meat content for mushrooms - and students get to try them out. Darlington-based firm Myco has launched a new range of hybrid foods

to do their bit for the environment and it's being supported by Teesside University. Now the 50/50 burgers and sausages - half meat, half mushrooms - are set to be supplied to over

20,000 students after the company secured a deal with the university. It's all part of the business' new ‘Save the Earth’ hybrid range of burgers, sausages and mince. The carbon

footprint-friendly range is a 50/50 split of meat and 'Hooba' – which is made from vertically farmed oyster mushrooms – and aims to encourage people to ‘painlessly’ eat less meat

to help slow global warming. The deal comes as the university utilises the firm's expertise in computing and sustainable technologies to support its development of the innovative food

range. “Young adults are the generation driving forward the meat reduction movement, and by giving students access to the ‘Save the Earth’ range, we hope it will mean less meat consumed –

which is great news for the planet,” said Myco’s chief operating officer, David Wood, who revealed the company was also in talks to supply several other universities. As part of their

ongoing partnership Myco and Teesside University have collaborated with the university’s food scientists helping Myco refine its ingredients to make them more sustainable. The catering

outlet in BIOS, Teesside University’s £36.9m cutting-edge science building which houses its food science laboratories, will serve the Myco products. Darren Vipond, director of Campus

Services at Teesside University, said: “As a University which puts sustainability at the heart of its mission, we’re delighted to be able to help our staff, students and visitors reduce

their carbon footprint by offering these reduced meat products in our outlets. In particular, it’s fantastic that we’re able to offer a product which has been developed with the help of our

own academic expertise and which is destined to have a major impact on changing people’s eating habits.” For Myco, the goal with the Save the Earth range is to enable even the strictest

carnivore to have a positive environmental impact – without compromising their requirement to eat meat or the associated taste and textures that come with meat. “The world is warming at a

rapid rate and the sad and scary fact is we are facing a race against time for the planet’s survival,” added David. “Meat production is one of the biggest contributors to global warming, yet

the average UK adult eats almost 100lbs of meat each year which the planet simply can’t sustain. However, we also have to be realistic. "For years, have tried giving up meat and

struggled due to the taste and texture of alternative. And by working with, rather than against the meat industry to create hybrid options like our Save the Earth range, we are finding tasty

solutions that for carnivores, still feel like meat.” And perhaps even more crucially, hybrid products could be a gamechanger for the UK Government which is facing an uphill struggle to

reach its 2050 Net Zero goal. “Be it kebabs or a juicy burger, the joy of hybrid products is they allow people to continue eating what they like – and helping to give everyone a future in

the process,” added David. Launched last year, Hooba is produced at one of the most sustainable food production units in the UK. Made from oyster mushrooms farmed vertically inside the

Leeming Bar site, the unique process previously resulted in the Hooba quarter pounder being dubbed Britian’s ‘greenest burger’. FOR TEESSIDE UPDATES AND BREAKING NEWS DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX

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