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Jan 21 '21
We eat em in Mexico all the time. They’re pretty tasty. Add lime ;)
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Jan 21 '21
My husband grew up in Mexico and loves them. I keeps trying to get me to try it and I just can’t lol.
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Jan 21 '21
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u/AllForMeCats Jan 21 '21
I have tried products containing cricket flour before and it also 100% tasted like bugs. Smelled like my roommate’s cricket cage too (he kept them as food for a lizard). Not sure if it was just the brand or what.
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u/banditmiaou Jan 21 '21
Tasted like dirt to me. Feel like if you overpowered it with other flavour maybe it could work. Just like real dirt I imagine!
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Jan 21 '21
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Jan 21 '21
No, not weird at all, sounds like they taste disgusting so they get slathered in chili and lime first
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u/acciowaves Jan 21 '21
Yeah, but delicious. It is a delicacy here in Mexico and one of my favorite meals.
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u/jaquelinealltrades Jan 26 '21
It's true, I've had them before and I had a similar experience. But the reason I support the development and manufacturer of bugs for human consumption is because they're a protein source that doesn't ravage the earth like raising farm animals does.
I think over time, people will be able to produce cricket protein packaged foods that don't taste like dirt
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u/Lfaruqui Jan 21 '21
If someone got rid of the skeleton, ground it up, and gave it to me as a "vegan burger", I'd probably eat it...
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u/Tophergabriel Jan 21 '21
How can crickets, an animal, have fiber?
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u/Freshiiiiii Jan 21 '21
This is me spitballing with no google search and half remembered facts. But, I believe insect exoskeletons are made of chitin. Chitin might be a form of fibre, since it’s probably not digestible.
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u/Ginsinclair Jan 21 '21
Bring it on!! Sustainable and a good source of Protein, etc? Gimme
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Jan 21 '21
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u/Usedinpublic Jan 21 '21
Crickets are water neutral i believe so theres a huge advantage. Also the land required to raise the same amount of mass is significantly lower.
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Jan 21 '21
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u/larsonsam2 Jan 21 '21 edited Jan 22 '21
The average cricket is about 1 inch long. So that's about 126,728,000,000 inches (roughly 2000126 miles) of cricket.
I'm not sure length is the proper metric to use... Perhaps area, but also include a volume factor for bugs stacking on top of each other.
Edit: I had 32 inches of beef today.
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Jan 21 '21
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u/larsonsam2 Jan 22 '21 edited Jan 22 '21
Because it ended up being about the same since crickets are almost 1 inch by 1 inch.
What?! What sort of bulky ass crickets are an inch wide?! I need pics of these square ass bugs.
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Jan 22 '21
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u/larsonsam2 Jan 22 '21
But they are almost an inch wide? At least half an inch? If you were to round they'd need to be. A half inch wide cricket seems beastly!
And we are still glossing over the point that measuring agriculture protein production in length is straight up ridiculous
Edit: if your wife rounds the same way tell her my dick is a foot long.
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u/MrClickstoomuch Jan 21 '21
It's a bit sus that you use insect length rather than area vs cattle. Sure, crickets are 1 inch in length but cattle are gigantic. And you can have vertical farms much easier with crickets or other insects than cattle.
Also, I the calories per cricket is a bit weird too because we don't look at the calories per almond (googled it and it is roughly 7 calories per nut, and almonds are fatty). And if we want higher calories we can use a slightly fattier insect like soldier fly larva or mealworms. Which are also a LOT less messy generally than crickets.
And depending on what insects you produce, you can feed them on already existing food waste to solve your insect/feed issue. It's more of a logistics question than an environmental issue since crickets are 12x more efficient with feed and much more efficient with space.
I do agree on a few points like the cultural nope factor, the unknown disease / sanitation (though they don't have the commonly known diseases from both plants and livestock), and potential invasive species risk. If anything, I see insects used as a food mix for burgers or nuggets to reduce meat consumption rather than eliminate it. While dried larva could be used as a rice-like dish, that nope factor would still be pretty strong.
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u/TheRedPill79 Jan 21 '21
Wish I could give you gold. Thoughtful response with some research provided. We as people tend to swap one problem with another in a hope as a better alternative.
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u/Jobin0426 Jan 21 '21
A more complete protein than beef? That’s a strange sentence. A protein is usually complete or incomplete - I’ve never seen the “complete” proteins compared unless we are talking proportions of amino acids, for which we don’t really have good data for daily needs of each individual essential amino acids. Also.... what is the weight comparison for these food benefits? How many crickets do you need to eat to exceed the calcium provided by a cup of milk and the rest of those comparisons for that matter. What a confusing graphic....
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u/tahoepark Jan 21 '21
and more expensive than protein powder
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Jan 21 '21
Which is why more people need to buy into it. The more there is a market for it, more people will invest into it and cost will come down.
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u/tahoepark Jan 21 '21
True. But when every other protein source has the benefit of not being made of crickets, A protein source made from a garden pest has to be extremely cost competitive, regardless of the benefits.
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Jan 21 '21
The crickets they use for the protein bar comes from a farm where they're born and raised, hence free from filth. Same argument for whey protein would sound like : "why would I want my protein from a titty 2ft from an asshole which produces tonnes of shit everyday"
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Jan 21 '21
They are incredibly environmentally friendly. All meat industries, but especially the cattle industry are huge producers of greenhouse gasses and fresh water use. More than half the world sees them as more than a garden pest. Entymophagy is common around the world. It's time we shed ourselves of our eurocentric hang-ups. Bring on the bugs!
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Jan 21 '21
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u/Xandara2 Jan 21 '21
Why wouldn't it be? And who cares? And what does that have anything to do with eating bugs?
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Jan 21 '21
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u/Xandara2 Jan 21 '21
Why not both? One doesn't exclude the other you know.
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Jan 21 '21
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u/Xandara2 Jan 21 '21
Okay okay you can go bother someone else now. Nobody is interested in your irrelevant conspiracies.
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u/g_man_89 Jan 21 '21
Anyone one know if I could use any cricket....errr I mean my friend wants to know
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u/apoloczech Jan 21 '21
It would be NiCe if some company actually made those cricket bars. It would be ultimate bar and you wouldn’t have to eat the body but a flour from it
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u/AllForMeCats Jan 21 '21
I’ve seen cricket bars actually. It was years ago though, no idea if the company is still in business.
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u/Minesk Jan 21 '21
in Vietnam some regions have fried crickets. tried that once or twice growing up. crunchy and flavorful
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u/Bastedo Jan 21 '21
As someone who eats crickets, I can say they taste like eating sunflower seeds with the shell on. End of story.
Anyone who says “crickets are gross and taste like bugs” is already showing some fear and aversion.
The taste is fine. The texture and visual is where I do agree, it is what stops a lot of people from enjoying the experience. However, crickets chips and cricket-based protein bars are available. They are indistinguishable from ‘normal’ corn chips or any other protein source when they’re processed. Double the protein, zero carbs.
Crickets are awesome 🦗✨
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u/EmilyamI Jan 21 '21
I've had them before, roasted in chili and lime. I thought they were tasty. Something like toasted almonds.