Next Millennium Farms‘ own Ento-Chef, Caryn, mixed up a batch of Chocolate Chirp Cookies- that’s right Chocolate CHIRP Cookies and Brownies- What makes them ‘chirp’ you ask? Well, a little bit of cricket flour, of course!
Due to the delicious aroma that floated from the kitchen, she had to bat off her family from the cookies as they came out of the oven so she could save them for the competition. She got her favorite friends together for an evening of food and fun. When dessert rolled around, she told her guests that she had a batch of soft, delicious, chocolatey cookies that had been enhanced with cricket flour, and asked them to please do a her a favor- taste the cookies, and give her some feedback- “yuck” or “yum”. And, of course, the most important thing she asked them to do was, ‘to be honest’!
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, right? This little guy has a pack of crunchy wax worms at his house. Not only does he love them, but he uses every opportunity to sprinkle them on his food, or just eat them by the handful.
This morning he starts his day off right with some cereal, enhanced with a handful of crispy wax worms- adding crunch, a nutty roasted flavour, and a power punch of iron, protein and amino acids that will give him the energy that he needs to play and be happy all morning long!
It took zero convincing to get this cutie-pie to eat healthy foods this morning.
For those of you who still need a bit of convincing, and can’t imagine being as brave and daring as our friend here, start with some of the cricket flour or mealworm flour, then visit our recipe section, and make yourself a delicious dish that incorporates the flour into cuisine that you are more familiar with. Start small if you have to. Just start.
We are asked this question quite a bit and the answer is both yes and no. Certain insects are edible according to God as it is written in Leviticus, however this does not by virtue make them what we refer to today as “kosher.”
After extensive research the answer is best supported by a passage from the book: “The Diet of John the Baptist,” by Mohr Siebeck. In the chapter titled: “From Leviticus to Moses Maimonides: Locust Eating in Jewish Literature and the Ancient Near East,” pg 41, the author writes:
With regard to the eating of locusts/grasshoppers, Leviticus 11 allows the Israelites to consume four different kinds of ‘leaping’ insects: [20] All winged insects that walk upon all fours are detestable to you. [21] But among the winged insects that walk on all fours you may eat those that have jointed legs above their feet, with which to leap on the ground. [22] Of them you may eat: the locust according to its kind, the bald locust according to its kind, the cricket according to its kind, and the grasshopper according to its kind. But all other winged insects that have four feet are detestable to you. (Lev 11:20-23)
There are Jewish communities as well as Muslims who eat crickets and grasshoppers because they recognize the passage from Leviticus as a claim for being kosher and halal.
A Geoentomarian is a person who chooses a better, more sustainable and certainly delicious protein alternative, so that we can help to leave the planet in a better place by doing everything we can to reduce our carbon footprint!
By being Geoentomarians , we will:
Decrease in overall greenhouse gases.
Decrease destruction of land for chicken farming
Decrease destruction of land for pig farming
Decrease destruction of land for cattle farming
Diminish land mass destruction as the most stringent limitation in feeding sustainability for the world
Conserve fresh water
Feed populations in developing countries
Decrease E U (Energy Units) consumption related to the production of consumable protein
Maybe you plan on reflecting on what Earth Week means to you, maybe you plan on taking a walk outside in a green space, maybe you haven’t thought about it yet.
I have an idea for you. To celebrate Earth Day and Earth Week, show your dedication and support of our Earth by eating an insect. Just one to start.
Changing our protein consumption from livestock to insect for just one day a week will have exponential benefits for our Earth’s resources.
Insects are delicious, full of nutrients and protein, low in fat and calories, and the production of insect protein is much gentler on the Earth.
Visit our store, eat a few bugs, and show your commitment to our planet.
I just watched this brilliant TED talk; “Why Not Eat Insects” delivered by Marcel Dicke. (Screenshot taken from TED talks above)
I watched it. I watched it again. Then I read the transcript, so that I could see the stats again that outline the personal and global benefits of entomophagy (eating insects).
Here are some highlights:
10 kg of feed produces 1 kg of beef protein (and 9 kg of waste!) However, 10kg of feed produces 9kg of insect protein
If you’re the kind of person who watches calories, 1kg of crickets has the same amount of calories as 10 hotdogs!
There are more than 1,000 species of insects being eaten all over the globe! Think of the culinary options!!
We will have issues feeding the people that live on Earth as the population increases towards the projected 9 billion +
So, ya, I eat bugs, and I hope to soon hear you saying that, too! Check out some of these awesome recipes that we have- start with something like these amazing Blueberry Crumble Muffins
If you need a place to get your insect flour, you can get it here at our store
A recent post on The Future of Edible Insects posits whether the burgeoning Entomophagy industry could fall victim to food recalls. From the beginning Next Millennium Farms has put incredible effort into following and/or setting industry best practices when it comes to farming, processing and packaging our products. Continue reading →
