Future of meat: edible bugs as cheap, low waste, homegrown protein

Monica Martinez thinks Americans are ready to embrace entomophagy (bug-eating) and she's launched an edible bug food cart to prove her point. On her first day of business for Don Bugito (at the San Francisco Street Food Festival), she had a steady flow of customers ordering her wax moth larvae tacos and mealworm ice cream.

Martinez, originally from Mexico, didn't grow up eating insects, but for Don Bugito she is drawing from her country's prehispanic food culture for inspiration. And worldwide, our ancestors probably relied on insects for food, and today, 80% of the world's nations still count them as a protein source. 

Why eat bugs? One customer even questioned the question, "Is it weirder than eating a cow?". Given the expense involved in raising a cow (both the resources required to feed and house it, as well as the hormones and antibiotics used in conventional farming), it would seem that bugs (with the best feed-to-meat conversion ratio of any other edible creature) have an advantage over more traditional sources of protein. High in protein, low in saturated fats, packed with vitamins and minerals, edible bugs could become the next superfood.

Insect farming is also one of the easiest ways- particularly for urbanites and/or those worried about food safety- to actively get in touch with your protein. Bugs require very little space to live and not a lot of care. Martinez, who is also an artist dedicated to micro architectural structures (i.e. small farms), created a home mealworm farm called Wurmhaus.

Mealworms are very low-maintenance livestock: they eat simply oats (or other grains) and for water, they need just pieces of vegetable or fruit (Martinez uses carrots). Though it does take a year to complete their lifecycle stages between egg, larva, pupa and adult beetle and since only the larvae are eaten, this involves some moving of eggs/beetles between homes.

Original story here: http://faircompanies.com/videos/view/future-meat-edible-bugs-as-low-waste-hom...

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• meat
• protein
• edible bugs
• edible insects
• entomophagy
• bug-eating
• insect food
• wax moth larvae
• mealworms
• edible crickets
• home mealworm farms
• edible insect farms
• superfood
• don bugito
• monica martinez
• prehispanic cuisine
• sustainable meat
• factory farms
• sustainable farming
• wurmhaus

[sailing2kau]

I like the idea and I love your sailing video. But I have to disagree on the value. The best price I can find online Is about 3.50-5.00 an oz 200-220 dried worms per oz. I oz seems to be about 7 grams of protein.( which is comparable to chicken breast 25-28 gm protein per 4 oz.) The lady on the video said 250 for $ 8.00 ... 7-10 gms protein for 8.00. An egg costs .10-.15 and has the same amount of protein. If you eat only the white then slightly less. The cont...

[kirstendirksen]

@sailing2kau That's a great breakdown. I hadn't done the same thing myself. Though I think Monica's point is that it's technically a cheap source of protein. If more people were to eat this way and economies of scale go into effect, they can be very cheap to raise (or if you do it yourself as she does). Though you're right, right now, it's such a specialty item that they do sound expensive. I've thought about hunting insects in some clean rural area.. my daughter loves the idea of eating bugs.

[grarrs]

Thats pretty cool .

I just realised that I never ate an insect before. I wouldnt mind eating insects at all. But you cant find them at the grocery store :(

[kirstendirksen]

@grarrs I felt the same way before finding Monica to film the story. I was even considering harvesting bugs from my backyard, but I read that it's really important to know what the bugs have been eating and to purge them first, so I scrapped that idea. I did eat a couple of Monica's tacos and they were great. I wasn't bothered at all by the idea of bugs.. and I still get grossed out by chicken. I think you can order bugs online, but not sure there are any grocery stories. Hope that changes.

[RealityCheck05]

If you've already got the worms/larvae, I suppose it makes sense to eat 'em. However $8 for a mere 250 of those (far less than 1 lb) is very expensive compared to other kinds of meat. (especially since those other kinds are less taboo :P ) I imagine they'd need to be mechanically seperated from the substrate if raising insects for human consumption is to be made cost effective on a larger scale.

[kirstendirksen]

@RealityCheck05 It depends on what kind of meat you're used to buying. If you're buying grass-fed beef or are trying to buy meat that you can track where it came from (which cow, etc.. therefore local or smaller farms) then this would probably be cheaper, especially if you raise your own. Though even if you don't raise your own (I haven't yet as it does seem intimidating), you don't need that many to get a good dose of protein so even 25 (80¢ worth) or less would be sufficient for a meal.

[Malegnius]

I can definitely see the benefits of this kind of farming/consumption, but I think I'll stick to vegetarianism.

[Mikdeelo]

It tastes like pork??!!! Grind it up, make it into hot dogs, McRibs, mac-n-cheese or McNuggets, Americans will scarf it down!

They eat pig uterus, entrails, feet and head cheese that way, yeah!

[savemyplaylist]

Do they sell milk steak?

[rosegirl163]

Chopsticks 8I

[mellamosean]

@creapah

we are??

[Locrian08]

This makes perfect sense. Locally produced, interesting for foodies, and a great alternative for peple who want to take part in raising and slaughtering animals but live in apartments. It's definitely not grosser than eating cow flesh. What other protein sources are being wasted in urban environments? The average human male ejaculates several times a week. This great source of protein is often wasted on socks, towels and condoms. We should start collecting it and selling it at food carts.

[sailing2kau]

The way I figured out the protein content of the wax worms 15-24% protein by weight, and how many and price per ounce. Thanks I'll try it but it is not cheap.

[bosozoku1000]

Nope! I will never eat insects.