National Post (National Edition)
DINNER WILL BE SERVED
Yes, there are still people trying to get us to eat insects.
Fishing a termite out of a mound in Senegal's Fongoli savanna, eating it straight from the stick as a chimpanzee would, biological anthropologist Julie Lesnik amped herself up to intentionally eat her first insect in 2008. But as soon as it was in her mouth, the self-described lifelong picky eater realized her “big disgust response” had been unwarranted. The termite tasted only of the earth it had come from.
Later, as a specialist in the role edible insects played in human evolution and assistant professor at Wayne State University, her second deliberate bug-eating experience was at a symposium. Surrounded by fellow enthusiasts of the insects-as-food movement, she went with the flow and channeled her inner anthropologist: Respect the foods you're offered and always eat what you're given.
In this case, it was “an adorably named chocolate chirp cookie.” Just like grandma used to make, but with a handful of crickets or cricket powder thrown in with the chocolate chips.
“People are always like, `What does it taste like?' and I can give you an answer so that it's less scary. Like, `Oh, mealworms are nutty and crickets are more shellfish-y,'” says Lesnik, now an edible-insect advocate who favours snacking on whole-roasted mealworms. “I can give you an answer to ease your anxiety. But the truth is, you've never tasted anything like it before.”
Momentum for edible insects has been building over the past decade. In a progressive move, Loblaw added cricket powder to its President's Choice (PC) line in March 2018. The country's largest food retailer putting stock in the future of insects marked a significant jump towards the mainstream. PC-branded bags made it clear: This food belongs on the shelf.
In another breakthrough moment, the EU food safety agency recently declared yellow mealworms safe for human consumption. The landmark ruling allows producers to sell a range of insect-based foods across Europe for the first time.
But as the industry grows, are Canadians any closer to embracing insects as food?
When Lesnik considers the possibility of edible insects taking off in western culture, she approaches it from an evolutionary point of view. More than two billion people around the world enjoy insects as a nutritious and sustainable food. And as Lesnik outlines in her book, Edible Insects and Human Evolution (University Press of Florida, 2018), they were an important part of diet throughout human evolution.
The handful of years cricket powder has been widely available in Canada is a blip when it comes to the time scales Lesnik works with. While the industry is making great strides, she says, insect-based foods are still mainly available online, in boutique grocery stores or co-ops. Government regulations help with buy-in from major players, but it will likely take generational turnover for insects to achieve mainstream acceptance in western culture.
“All of the work that we're doing, these regulations are just setting things in place so that 20, 30 years down the line, this can boom into a society-saving food. But until then, we're going to see two steps forward, one step back. We're not going to feel the progress while we're living in it,” says Lesnik. “But it's a marathon, not a sprint.”
At Entomo Farms in Norwood, Ont. — one of the largest cricket producers in North America — business has never been better. Every six weeks, the Goldin brothers raise roughly 120 million crickets in their 60,000-square-foot facility outside of Peterborough. Since Darren, Jarrod and Ryan Goldin founded the company in 2014, they've honed in on husbandry and have hired two part-time entomologists to help them improve yields.
In late January, the company secured $3.7 million in new funding led by investors in Asia and Canada. “That largely will be used to help facilitate our ability to improve production capacity and throughput to meet this overwhelming, growing demand that we frankly are struggling to keep up with,” says Jarrod, vice president of innovation and research for Entomo Farms.
They're planning to add one or two barns to the three already in use by the end of the year, and are preparing to launch a new line of consumer packaged goods in the fall. The name and details are under wraps, but Jarrod says they will be branded “as healthy, functional snacks” made with cricket.
Jarrod sees the EU ruling as being positive for the industry as a whole because it acknowledges the value of insects as food and encourages a shift in perspective.
“When these larger groups like the EU — or like Loblaw or President's Choice, which are very trusted brands — halo that trust onto something new and novel like what we're doing, it just brings incredible validation and normalization. And of course, a lot of earned media,” he says. “It gives supermarkets, investors and restaurants the cover they needed to say, `We want to give this a shot.'”
Entomo Farms experienced this firsthand: Shortly after an investment from Maple Leaf Foods in 2017, it partnered with Loblaw as the supplier of its cricket powder. Primarily a wholesale ingredient business, it now sells to customers in the U.S. — its largest base — as well as Australia, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Canada.
Cricket powder is the strongest seller, driven by customers making human foods such as snack bars. Whole-roasted, seasoned insects (crickets and mealworms) also continue to sell well, says Jarrod, with the average size of wholesale orders increasing over time. They've also seen “a wonderful uptick in pet food,” with customers including Wilder Harrier in Quebec and Jiminy's in the U.S. using their products to make dog food, toppers, dog treats and soon, kibble. Another growth area for Entomo Farms is insect frass (insect fertilizer): “Orders are rocking.”
Jarrod believes edible insects have made notable strides towards the mainstream in Canada over the past several years. When he and his brothers started out seven years ago, he estimates roughly 25 per cent of the people they talked to at trade shows had heard of or would contemplate eating insects. In 2020, before COVID-19, roughly 75 per cent had heard of edible insects and many had tried them.
“In the beginning, we were hopeful that the sustainability piece would be enough. But we learned over time that for various reasons it wasn't,” says Jarrod. “And when you add the synergy of really amazing health benefits — a nutrient-packed, functionally dense, really superfood — that definitely starts to turn a lot of heads.”
Entomologists Silvia Ronzani and Claudio La Rocca of Camola — Sustainable Foods have also noticed an increased awareness since they started selling their insect-based baking at the Edmonton Downtown Farmers Market in 2017. Initially, people were skeptical, scared or resistant. “But over time, being at the market and explaining what we were doing, more and more people approached us,” says La Rocca. “The word spread. So more and more people were open to the idea of trying edible insects.”
At their farm west of Edmonton, they raise enough crickets to produce roughly 30 kilograms of cricket powder per month. Their tiny livestock fit into a repurposed 20-foot shipping container — complete with heating and HVAC systems, and drawers where the crickets sleep. This meets their needs to produce Camola's bestsellers: cricket powder; and cricket chips in spicy Thai, barbecue, original and ketchup flavours. As an expression of their Italian heritage, they also sell “Bugscotti” and a cricket powder-enhanced farinata mix.
“We were looking for something to do with our knowledge of insects and because we are also Italian, we love good food,” says La Rocca. He takes pleasure in trying new recipes to share with customers and finding fresh ways to use insects as ingredients, especially those that highlight its versatility beyond fitness-oriented protein powders and bars.
“We bake with it or we use it as an additional ingredient for condiments. Or you can, for example, mix it with your popcorn seasoning to add extra protein. You can put it in shakes. You can put it in sweets. So it's like adding almond flour in any recipe. It's not the main ingredient, but it's an additional ingredient that changes the flavour profile and also adds more nutrients.”
Interest in alternative sources of protein — whether plant-based or lab-grown
All of the work
that we're doing, these regulations are just setting things in place so that 20, 30 years down the line, this can boom into a society-saving
food
meat — is increasing, says La Rocca, and he believes edible insects will eventually reach mainstream acceptance. He likens the path of edible insects to sushi in North America: The ick factor some people experience will gradually fall away as education and exposure increases.
“There are different options that are getting into the market and people are more open to trying new things. Either because they want just something that is different, they want to be more adventurous, or because they want to be more environmentally conscious,” he says.
Since launching its cricket powder in 2018, Loblaw has added PC Cricket Powder Bars in peanut butter chocolate chip and chocolate flavours, which are available at a selection of its supermarkets, including Loblaws, Zehrs, Real Canadian Superstore and No Frills. “Today, more consumers are looking for alternative proteins — while insect protein is a consideration, we're seeing bigger demand for plant-based products,” says Kathlyne Ross, vice president of product development and innovation for Loblaw Companies Limited.
According to Nielsen data, sales of plant-based protein have grown by 31 per cent since January 2020. But rather than taking a bite out of the insects-as-food industry, exploring other, non-meat protein options could be a stepping stone to insect-based alternatives, says Lesnik. The more aware people are of the options, the more critical they'll be of the environmental impacts of their choices.
“The alternatives to meat might not always be that great either. And so not-meat isn't necessarily the answer,” says Lesnik. “So if people start trying to figure out what not-meat option they want, insects really check all of the boxes.”
Goldin is of a similar mind: “Overall, the idea of plant-based diets being healthy and more sustainable can only give fuel to our fire.” Offering a similar nutritional profile to conventional meat, in that they provide essential amino acids, he sees insects as being in their own lane: Insects are rich in fibre, which meat isn't; and high in B12, which plants aren't.
Edible insects offer benefits for health and the environment, and present a broader palette of ingredients for cooks to work with. These advantages may be understood in western societies, but the ick factor remains. For people averse to edible insects, understanding the root of their disgust and the importance of keeping it in check can help overcome barriers.
“What I love about edible insects and being an advocate is that I get to teach Anthropology 101. What is ethnocentrism? How are your views formed by the society you were raised in? And how do you use those views when you evaluate someone else's society? It is so basic in my field, but it can be mind-blowing to so many people,” says Lesnik.
Recognizing that we're a Colonial society is central to challenging ideas about how we grow food and what we choose to eat, she adds. These attitudes are rooted in Europe, knotted up in a history stretching back hundreds of years.
Plentiful in the tropics, insects are a basic resource for people living close to the equator, Lesnik explains. Europe's temperate climate, on the other hand, isn't as productive an environment for insects, so people didn't incorporate them into their diets.
“Until explorers left Europe and saw tropical societies, they never really thought about insects as food,” says Lesnik. “And then they saw people that were different from them doing something they thought was gross and we still have that viewpoint today because of it.”
As someone who overcame her own disgust response by tapping into her training as an anthropologist in the field, Lesnik now helps others. When offering insect-based snacks at events, she doesn't mind if people refuse. But in turning these foods down, she asks them to control their reactions: the funny faces, hand gestures, `icks' and `ews.' Children see these visceral responses and developmental pathways form, which lead them to view edible insects as a food they should avoid.
“You don't have to like it. But your opinion — this strong, negative response — matters and affects everyone around you,” says Lesnik. “So if you believe in a more food-sustainable future, you don't have to eat them, but you can change your patterns of behaviour around the idea of eating insects.”
We were looking for something to do with our knowledge of insects and because we are also Italian, we love good food