INSECTS ARE THE FOOD OF THE FUTURE.
Eating insects may be a bit weird, we are here to break that taboo! With cricket flour you will enjoy the many benefits of edible insects without even realising you are eating bugs!
Besides being highly nutritious, edible insects have an extremely small environmental footprint.
SUSTAINABLE
SUPERSTAR
Crickets are nutrient-dense, rich in complete protein, minerals, vitamins, essential fatty acids and natural antioxidants. In fact, gram for gram, crickets contain more protein than beef, more calcium than milk, more vitamin B12 than red meat, more iron than spinach, more omega-3 than salmon, more fibre than brown rice, and more potassium than bananas! They are a sustainable superfood!
Graph source: USDA – U.S. Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service
Protein per 40g
Small giants crackers
Ham
Average cracker crisps
HIGH IN VITAMIN B12
Vitamin B12 is a real powerhouse. It’s crucial for a healthy body and brain. Here are just a few amazing things B12 does for us: It helps to form red blood cells and to create and regulate DNA, boosts our immune system, and can even improve our mood! Getting enough B12 in your diet is essential, especially if you’re reducing meat, as it’s not found in plant-based food (unless artificially added).
Graph source: USDA – U.S. Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service
Vitamin B12 per 100g
Crickets
Beef
Salmon
INSECT PROTEIN IS A SUSTAINABILITY SUPERSTAR!
The climate is in crisis. One of the biggest contributors to climate change is animal agriculture!
“Animal agriculture makes a 40% greater contribution to global warming, than all global transportation combined.” – J.S.Foer. What if there was a protein source that only needs a tiny fraction of the natural resources used to produce traditional protein, eats bio waste, and can be farmed vertically?
Oh wait, there is…INSECTS!
GREENHOUSE EMISSIONS
Cows
Pigs
Crickets
FEWER GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
If cattle were a country, they would rank 3rd in greenhouse gas emissions competing with the USA for 2nd place.¹ Crazy right? A third of the planet’s arable land² is used for growing feed and grazing cattle. Global animal production requires about 2422 Gm3 (one gigametre equals one billion metres) of water per year, one third of this volume is for the beef cattle sector.³
The good news? Crickets produce less than 0.1% of the greenhouse gasses that cows produce and this is also true for feed and energy. Go bugs!
*In the graph: Greenhouse gases released per kg of live weight
Graph source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; Oonincx et al., 2010
WATER CONSUMPTION per gram of protein
Cows
Pigs
Chickpeas
Insects
LESS WATER
Crickets require only 20% of the water that cows need to produce the same amount of protein. Taking into account the huge amount of water needed for forage crops, cows require a staggering amount of water. Insects obtain hydration directly from food and use significantly less water than vertebrate livestock! Also compared to vegetables, they are much more efficient thanks to their incredible protein content. Let’s shout this out: crickets are sustainable food!
Graph source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; Miglietta et al., 2015
SMART LAND USE
One-third of the planet’s arable land is already occupied by livestock feed crop cultivation. According to the FAO report, each year, 13 billion hectares of forest are lost due to land conversion for agricultural uses as pastures or cropland, for both food and livestock feed crop production. Traditional livestock is a major threat to biodiversity requiring immense portions of land that often is obtained by clearing the forest. Farming insects is a more efficient alternative, by far, as they can be farmed vertically and almost everywhere – people can farm them in their kitchens, using food waste such as fruit and vegetable scraps.
Graph source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; Oonincx and de Boer, 2012
SQM per 1kg of protein
Cows
Pigs
Chicken
Crickets
GLOBAL POPULARITY
Insects are eaten by over 2 billion people worldwide. Found on dinner plates everywhere from “chapulines” in Mexico, to crickets in Thailand! People eat insects because they love them and they’re highly nutritious! World class chefs like; Carlo Cracco, and Alex Atala include insects on their menus. What do Angelina Jolie, Zac Efron, and Robert Downey Jr. have in common? They love eating insects!
DISCOVER EDIBLE INSECTS WITH OUR CRICKET SNACKS!
With all the world crises, food insecurity and climate change, eating insects won’t solve everything, but they can sure help!
By sourcing our protein from insects, we can decrease our carbon, land and water use, freeing up space for things like reforestation and food crops. We believe it’s easier to first try insects as a tasty snack with no visible insects – no yuck factor!
Sources:
1 – Gates Notes | Fonte: UNFCCC, Commissione Europea, UNFAO
2 – Bland A., Is the Livestock Industry Destroying the Planet?, 2012, Smithsonian Magazine
3 – Water Footprint Network