Would You Like Crickets With That?

From chocolate desserts to flour, there is a group of companies who are trying to convince you and me to give up our cerberean desire for meat. Imagine sitting down to a family BBQ and rather than saying, “pass the hamburgers” you say “pass the insect burgers!” It could be a reality on a plate near you soon.

It matters to climate change.

Meat takes many resources to create. Animals need lots of feed, water, and care. Insects like crickets and mealworms take far less water, food, and maintenance to create something like the new “cricket burgers” over regular beef. We don’t know how much longer we’ll be able to produce animal meat at the efficiency and prices that we do for so many people to enjoy. Animal protein is also hard on the climate. Not only do animals produce waste from their processing but they are also taking up the aforementioned resources which may become scarcer and scarcer in the near future. Reducing our consumption of traditional animal meat proteins may be a crucial part of solving the climate change problem. What is even better is that insect protein products provide plenty of protein which is crucial to insects becoming a dietary staple. According to the UN, 2 billion people already have insects as a part of their diet already. But now the challenge is to convince Westerners, who tend to squish bugs, not eat them, to give insect based foods a try. Right now a handful of companies are trying to get people to give insects a try and if the appetite can grow then the market can grow exponentially.

I think this is a great alternative to meat if it can be flavored properly and the companies involved can reduce the stigma around insects being “dirty” and diseased.” I’ve tried chocolate covered crickets in the past and it was not bad. There was only a slight crunch and it was like eating a truffle. I haven’t given any raw products a try or insect burgers but I think it would be a great addition to our palate as well as helping resource the amount of resources we use for food. I don’t think my vegan friends would indulge as it is still an animal, but you never know, they might decide to indulge in a nice, juicy cricket.

What do you think? Would you serve insect products at a meal?