Hungry for something healthy and new? Why not make dinner with crickets tonight!

McGill Student Jakub Dzamba desigs cricket incubator to feed growing interest in insect farming

Published on July 23, 2014 | Journal Metro

by: Mathais Marchal

According to the United Nations, insects could become the food of the future. This is a satement that will certainly be discussed (and drooled over) in Montréal at the end of August, during the first international conference that explores insects as sustainance in North America. The conference will good work towards convincing many Quebecers who still struggle with this concept.

Currently, the number of Quebec farmers who are currently producing insects for human consumption can be counted on one hand. Marie-Loup Tremblay, a former professional triathele is seeking to change this, having started her own company, Uka protein.

"At one point in my career, I tried to improve my diet witout using any dietary supplements. It was during my many trips that I discovered the beneficial properties of insects, but in the end it took three years to overcome my stigma," said the 34 year old Tremblay.

While a chicken breast contains an average of 26% protein, a cricket generally contains 52%. "Insects contain a lot of calcium, potassium, phosphorus, copper, zinc and have 22 amino acids, 9 of which are essential. They can also help reduce cholesterol in the blood."

To produce her company's succulent signature health bar that sells on the internet, Tremblay uses meal worms and crickets procured mainly from the Netherlands. Now she is looking towards a locally-sourced product to reduce transport and production costs.

[...]

One of the most imaginative insect agriculture projects comes from the mind of a McGill University student, Jakub Dzamba, who has designed a cricket incubator "capable of delivering 300 grams of crickets every two months," he explains.

Crickets can also be used to produce flour substitutes, which releases human pressure placed on arable land in African and Asian countries.

Read the full story here.