Future Of Food: Insects On The Menu
With world populations soaring, food production is set to see a bigger demand in our lifetime. But with land scarcity, overfishing, and threats from climate change, traditional animal farming is unsustainable, and organizations such as the United Nations believe it imperative to find new ways of sourcing food. Could the answer lie in insects? It’s certainly stacking up to beef in terms of nutritional value and sustainability, as these companies are trying to answer the question “what will we do about our food crises?”
Tortilla “chirps”
This company is saying, quite simply, eat bugs! Redefining the tortilla chip, Chirps Chips uses crickets milled into a flour to create crunchy, healthy, and eco-friendly snacks. Using only one gallon of water per pound of crickets compared to 2000 gallons for beef, and with more protein and less fat, this is proving to be one alternative to the devastating effects of cattle farming. The company is reducing land use, farm to table distance, and using excess product as cricket food, helping to reduce 60 million tonnes of food wastage per year in the US. This is definitely something to be chirpy about.
Insect Balls
After two years of frying and trying, Swiss startup Essento has created, what it is deliciously calling the Insect Burger and Insect Balls. Based on protein-rich mealworms, the innovative products are set to start a food revolution and its products are already being sold in the Swiss supermarket chain, Coop. The soon-to-be-famous Essento Insect Balls are made up of flourworms (Tenobrio molitor), as well as chickpeas, onions, garlic, and spices like coriander and parsley, and can be served up in pita bread. Bon appétit!
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