Crickets studied as a viable food source

Five McGill students are hoping their plan to grow crickets into a viable food source that's safe and affordable is a million-dollar idea. Pitted against competitors from such prestigious universities as Harvard, MIT and Yale, the McGill team of Mohammed Ashour, Gabriel Mott, Shobhita Soor, Jesse Pearlstein and Zev Thompson won the Boston Regional Final of the 2013 Hult Prize last weekend. The top prize of $1 million will be given in the fall, when the McGill team competes against four other regional finalists from Shanghai, London, Dubai and San Francisco and pitches their idea to some world leaders, including President Barack Obama and former president Bill Clinton. Despite being a relatively young award, established in 2010, the Hult Prize is considered the Nobel Prize for MBA students and is among the biggest business prizes in the world.