I will try anything once when it comes to food and I love my grub, so when a group of daring diners invited me to tuck into some real grubs during a Christmas lunch with a difference at St Davids' Grub Kitchen I accepted with enthusiasm.

It was only later, when I found out that my fellow diners were being sponsored to eat this entomophagy extravaganza that alarm bells started to ring; would lunch really be that difficult to stomach that I would need to be sponsored to eat it? Could I swallow a silkworm or munch on a mealworm with the best of them?

My fellow diners were employees from Landmarc Support Services and the Defence Infrastructure Organisation. They were raising funds for Little Troopers; a charity supporting all children with parents serving in the British Armed Forces, providing fundamental resources, initiatives and events to ease and aid repeated separation periods.

Landmarc invested in Grub Kitchen at its inception through the Landmarc 100 scheme; a fund created to help grass roots innovation in rural communities.

It decided on the sponsored lunch to celebrate Grub Kitchen's first year of trading, raise awareness of alternative sustainable foods, and raise cash for Little Troopers.

We were welcomed to Grub Kitchen with a glass of mulled wine which somewhat eased the pre-insect eating anxiety.

Head chef and entomophagy enthusiast, Andy Holcroft, further bolstered our confidence, telling us that our diet already consisted of some strange stuff (prawns are just sea insects after all) and we would be joining the two billion people on the planet who regularly tucked into an insect or two for tea.

"Insects are a lot healthier," he told us. "They are low in saturated fat and high in good fat. They are really good for you."

"The main challenge we have here is getting people over the fear factor which shouldn't be here but is part of the I'm a Celebrity culture.

He added that tucking into live insects I'm a Celeb style is "really unethical", like going up to a cow in the field and taking a bite.

Andy also told us that entomophagy, or insect eating, would also provide a sustainable food source for the future, as the planet's population increased and we needed to explore alternative sources of protein.

Enthused by Andy's Pep talk we eagerly awaited our starters; a bug tasting board, featuring a bug burger bite, bug bhaji, toasted mealworm hummus and black ant chilli cheese pate. The burger was between 60-70 percent bug while the bhaji was 30 percent and bound together with cricket flour.

As a starter this was the perfect introduction to entomophagy, it looked and smelled divine and the bite sized portions made everybody brave. The bhaji tasted just like a good bhaji should, the hummus was delightfully garlicky, the ants infused the cheese paste with a smoky citrusy flavour and the burger was meaty and robust.

Once I had got over the unusual experience of seeing actual bugs in my starter I wolfed it down and my clean plate was just one of the many at our table.

The main course was Grub wellington with wild mushrooms, spinach, toasted sago and silkworms, crickets, grasshoppers and butternut squash in puff pastry, with a peppercorn sauce. Again this was beautifully presented with all the traditional Christmas dinner trimmings and two soy and honey glazed locusts.

The locusts were surprisingly pleasant as was the Grub wellington. However I didn't manage to finish my main course, practically unheard of, for three reasons: 1) insects are surprisingly filling; 2) I had gorged on pigs in blankets and the most delicious roast potatoes EVER and 3) I peeled back my pastry to reveal just how many bugs were in my wellington. It's so true that this insect eating is mind over matter, once I had a visual image of the bugs under the pastry I found it more difficult to eat.

Having said that mine was one of the few non-empty plates on the table and the flavour of the wellington was really very good.

There followed a cheese board with a selection of fabulous cheeses and crackers with not an insect in sight. After all the entomophagical excitement of the last two courses this almost seemed rather too safe.

The meal was rounded off with a coffee and one of Grub Kitchen's famous cricket cookies. Described by Andy as a "good way in" to eating insects these biscuits are a combination of cricket flour, peanut butter and chocolate chips. Served warm out of the oven they were melt in the mouth scrummy and incredibly more-ish. I managed to take two of these home for the kids who fought over every last crumb.

I drove home feeling sated, satisfied and not at all averse to repeating the experience. I would definitely recommend a trip to Grub Kitchen and will be returning with the kids for more of those cookies.

Landmarc employees hope to raise £500 through the Great Grub Challenge. To sponsor the daring diners go to https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/landmarcgrubchallenge.