Classroom Update: Foods of the Future

Can you imagine eating crickets on the daily?

While learning about taboo foods and foods of other cultures, one of our classes watched the TEDx talk below regarding cricket consumption.   According to Megan Miller, co-founder of Bitty Foods, mass production of insects is by far more sustainable than mass production of meat, and we may be seeing more and more insect-related products in the years to come.

http://tedxmanhattan.org http://bittyfoods.com Megan Miller is founder of Bitty, a San Francisco-based food startup that uses high-protein cricket flour as the basis for a line of energy bars and gluten-free baked goods. Bitty seeks to remove cultural taboos around eating insects and popularize them as a delicious, sustainable ingredient that may help alleviate global food scarcity.

In her presentation, Miller notes that "by the year 2050, there will be an additional 2 billion people on the planet, and economists say that we are unlikely to have the food resources to feed everyone.”  Given that crickets have a “feed to meat conversion ratio 10 times more efficient than beef,” and that cricket production uses less water than all other protein sources, it is hard to argue against her points. 

The question is, will society be on board?  While discussing this video, some of our students mentioned that they have tried insect dishes while visiting other countries, but others were not so thrilled with the idea.  However, all agreed that something needs to be adjusted in our current food system in order to support the increasing population.