Four thousand crickets, give or take, go into one cup of Bitty Foods’ cricket flour, so it’s no wonder the company’s little 20-ounce bag sets you back $20, compared to, like, eight bucks for a bag of all-purpose. But that’s the price of baking with crickets milled and mixed with cassava and coconut, which make for some lovely chocolate-cardamom cookies. Bitty Foods founder Megan Miller sees a bright future nonetheless, and so does Tyler Florence, who became an equity investor after he saw her TEDxManhattan Talk. He says it “tastes like dark toast” and imagines it “as a staple” in a line of new products.
Like most entomophagy boosters, Miller sells her products as the future of food: Crickets reach maturity in six to eight weeks and subsist on next to nothing, and you can farm 50,000 pounds a month from a tiny warehouse, bringing the carbon footprint to a minimum. It’s also a flour Paleo dieters will use, though it’s not for everybody. A warning label gives these words to the wise: “If you are allergic to shellfish, you may also be sensitive to crickets and should not consume cricket-flour products.”
Jiminy Cricket! Bugs Could Be Next Food Craze [New York Times]
Related: 7 Places for Bugs: Grub Street’s Guide to Eating Actual Grubs
