Two billion people eat insects and you can too
Edible insects have long been a part of the human diet and are commonly consumed as a food source in many regions of the world, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). It is estimated that currently consume insects as part of their diets. Insects may be an increasingly important source of protein because of the rising cost of animal protein, food insecurity, environmental pressures, climate change, and population growth.
often contain high-quality protein, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids for humans. According to the FAO, insects have a high food conversion rate鈥攃rickets need 12 times less feed than cattle, four times less than sheep, and half as much feed as pigs and broiler chickens to produce the same amount of protein.
Crickets and other edible insects provide food at low environmental cost, contribute positively to health, and are abundant throughout the planet. Insects are extremely efficient at converting feed into food. While 0.454 kilograms (one pound) of beef requires 11.35 kilograms (25 pounds) of food, 0.454 kilograms () requires a mere 0.908 kilograms (two pounds) of feed.
Edible insects can also be more environmentally friendly than livestock. They emit fewer greenhouse gases and ammonia than conventional livestock and can be fed on organic waste streams.聽
Many companies are developing insect products because they can be delicious, healthy, and sustainable.聽Food Tank has compiled an exciting list of companies and organizations that are leading the insect revolution:
鈥擜ll Things Bugs sells finely milled cricket powder, marketed as , which can be used to make sustainable food products thereby improving food security and health.
鈥擝ig Cricket Farms, founded in 2014, was the first American insect farm to obtain food-grade certification from the United States Food and Drug Administration and the Ohio Department of Agriculture. Their crickets are grown using organic and sustainable feed in Youngstown, Ohio and are raised exclusively for human consumption.
鈥擝itty Foods makes cricket flour and cookies from sustainably raised crickets. All of their products are free of processed sugar and grains and are dairy-free.
鈥擝ugsolutely touts crickets as the 鈥減rotein of the future.鈥� They sell cricket pasta made from crickets raised for human consumption in traditional Thai farms.
鈥擳he Utah-based company Chapul prides itself as being the original cricket bar. Chapul founder Pat Crowley started making bars out of environmentally friendly crickets to lessen the water footprint and conserve water for generations to come.
鈥擳he Thai company located in Chiang Mai works only with local farmers and is fair trade and certified organic. Products include dried crickets and four different flavors of cricket flour.
鈥擡dible Inc. makes mealworm cookies, silkworm biscotti, energy bars out of grasshopper flour, and nuts and bugs. The Seoul-based company was inspired by Korea鈥檚 food history and formed to increase sustainable eating practices.
鈥擡xo became a reality after a successful Kickstarter campaign by two Brown University graduates. The New York City-based organization sells protein and savory lunch bars made from crickets.
鈥擥athr鈥檚 Crobar is manufactured in the United Kingdom and uses cricket flour from crickets that consume a diet of organic nuts, fruits, and seeds. The 91 percent raw, high-protein bar contains about 32 crickets and is completely gluten-free, dairy-free, grain-free, soy-free, and GMO-free.
鈥敵野饷垛�檚 cricket bars are made by two cousins in France聽who wanted to create a product that was聽nutritious, sustainable, and free of refined sugars, GMOs, and preservatives.聽
鈥擧opper Foods sells high protein, gluten-free granola made from cricket flour, sustainably farmed in Austin Texas.
鈥擳he Netherlands-based company combines crunchy cereal with insect flour to create a sustainable granola bar.
鈥擳he French company Kinjao has a whole line of sports nutrition products based on edible insects, including high protein pasta made from cricket flour and spirulina and cricket protein bars.
鈥擳he Ontario-based bug shop sells gluten free and non-GMO lines of insect flour in addition to organic crickets and roasted and seasoned crickets and mealworms.
鈥擲ix Foods, named after insects鈥� six legs, was started by three women wanting to create a buzz in the food system. Six Foods offers Chirps鈥攃ricket chips made out of beans, chia seeds, corn, peas, and cricket flour.
鈥擳iny farms is an edible insect consulting firm based in California鈥檚 Silicon Valley that uses data to design efficient and scalable insect farms.
This article first appeared at .
