The market for insect-based foods in the US will likely remain limited to adventurous eaters and people who already use other types of dietary supplements. Photograph: Felix Clay for the Guardian Chapul, Exo and Jungle – three protein bars making their way to supermarket shelves – have one thing in common: crickets. All three include cricket flour, which is touted by their manufacturers as an environmentally friendly alternative to milk or soy protein. [...]

Credit: Courtesy of Coalo Valley Farms     Eating bugs might sound like something you’d do if you lost a bet. But a few companies have cropped up that are marketing insect powder as a nutritional supplement. Read Full Article

In this month’s edition of our Insectpreneur Series we have another great interview lined up with Dr Aaron T. Dossey of All Things Bugs LLC! Dr. Dossey and his team are creating some of the highest quality Finely Milled Whole Cricket Powder in the industry, and at a large scale. And as we all know, cricket powder is one of the most useful and versatile ingredients in the edible insect food range. So without any further ado, [...]

Source: iStock Each year, the world population increases by 70 million people. At this rate, the population will reach more than 9 billion people by 2050. As the number of human beings on our planet spikes, so does the demand for animal protein. But with 30% of the total land on earth already being used to raise livestock, the prospects of producing enough animal products to feed the entire population is looking bleak. [...]

The first US Department of Agriculture (USDA)-funded research program into insect farming for human food has commenced in the US, with the target of finding new ways to enhance cricket growth while lowering the cost of raising them. A $100,000 grant from USDA’s Small Business Innovation Research program will allow Georgia-based cricket flour producer All Things Bugs to study how to increase automation in the rearing of crickets. The focus of the project, in particular, [...]