A Fly in My Soup?

2.5
There's a difference between a fad and a trend... a fad comes along quickly and fades away just as quickly, whereas a trend develops and matures more slowly, and likely becomes part of the fabric of life. I've been seeing a change on the horizon, and asked myself whether this is a fad or a trend...my gut tells me it's a trend...

The innovation I've been seeing (which isn't an innovation at all... folks have been doing this for millennia now) is consuming insects as a regular part of their diet, especially as a source of sustainable protein. Recently I saw an article in Prevention Magazine, "Are Crickets the Future of Food?" which led me to Megan Miller, cofounder of Bitty Foods. Megan did a mind-stretching TEDx Talk last year that tells her story:

Megan Miller: Are Insects the Future of Food - click through and check this out... it's only about five minutes.

Here's further evidence that an insect-as-food trend is developing. This article is from almost four years ago in the Wall Street Journal:

The Six-Legged Meat of the Future

The point behind this growing trend is that insects are very simple to raise, and they are exceptionally sustainable. The bloated (and, I think, unnecessary) beef and dairy industries, not so much... With population projections of an additional two billion people joining our planet in the next 35 years, and first-world populations continuing to grow, it would be great to have some sustainable and nutritious options for eating.

I'm not in any way ready to add crickets and bees to our power pantry, but learning about this growing trend and the potential of a sustainable food source has me thinking. I'd give it no more than about 3 years, and I bet we'll all have tried something with cricket flour or topped with a meal worm or two...

By the Way

I'd say not to be too grossed out by the whole insect-as-food topic. After all, shrimp and prawn are nothing but sea bugs, really. And lobster are just the over-sized cousins of those bugs, so if you love these crustaceans, you're half way there.