We desperately wanted to be there. Alas, our calendar conflicted with the Feb. 15 Canada Agriculture and Food Museum lecture, “Cricket Farming: A New Source of Protein.”
How could you resist such Ag Museum come-ons as thinking “outside the lunchbox”, “Would you like crickets with that?”, and “Find out what all of the buzz is about.” Think of the reduction in acreage required in cricket farming, not to mention minimal feed, equipment, housing, and other inputs.
And how could you resist cricket patty with sardines, macaroons made with roasted whole crickets, or cricket powder blueberry crumble muffins? As a quick snack, how about barbecue, chili lime or honey mustard crickets? And bug supplements can also be mixed into livestock feed.
The selections are on the website for Entomo Farms of Norwood, Ont., where brothers Darren, Ryan and Jarrod Goldin operate 60,000 square feet of cricket production. And if crickets aren’t the ticket, the brothers can set you up with mealworms, waxworms or super worms.
The concept of lunching on crickets and other bugs wasn’t just portrayed as a cutesy, quirky fad. Ag Museum guest speaker Darren Goldin described it as an emerging food trend representing a great source of protein and a possible solution to food sustainability issues around the world.
Crispy insects already feed about two billion people a day; eaten whole, mushed into powders and pastes, insects are an important source of protein, vitamins and minerals. In fact, edible insects were named one of the top food trends last year.
Entomo Farms wants nothing less than to be respected worldwide for leading the “insect protein revolution” as well as an authority on the dissemination of insect farming methods.
Let’s all raise our super green cricket powder kale smoothies in a toast to that!
