{"id":42318,"date":"2013-08-24T00:09:58","date_gmt":"2013-08-24T07:09:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/?p=42318"},"modified":"2013-08-24T00:09:58","modified_gmt":"2013-08-24T07:09:58","slug":"exo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/42318","title":{"rendered":"Exo"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tOkay, so you didn’t exactly relish the prospect of eating bugs when I introduced you to Ento’s avant-garde gourmet<\/a> …<\/p>\n

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Photo courtesy of Ento<\/p><\/div>\n

Blech!<\/i><\/p>\n

and<\/p>\n

EWWWWW!<\/i><\/p>\n

could be heard far and wide.<\/p>\n

But, here I am, bringing up bugs again.<\/p>\n

Why, MJ? Why???<\/p>\n

Hmmm \u2026 how do I put this delicately?<\/p>\n

Crickets are an up-and-coming cuisine (yes, that IS a cricket tostado below).<\/p>\n

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Photo courtesy of Thrillist; http:\/\/www.thrillist.com\/eat\/new-york\/nolita\/10012\/antojeria-la-popular#slide=2?slide=2<\/p><\/div>\n

Better you should hear it from me, dear heart, than from strangers. We can work together to get our heads (appetites?) around this novel notion\u2014I haven’t actually eaten crickets yet, either.<\/p>\n

But my mind is open, and here’s why.<\/p>\n

The impetus to eat insects is not merely based on curiosity or shock value. We’re talking about a much more dire motivation. As we struggle to feed this populous planet, we all know meat is\u00a0incredibly costly in terms of energy consumption and environmental impact (read more on that topic here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

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Photo by Jeff Vanuga, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, via Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div>\n

While you know that I am not fundamentally opposed to meat farming, I do believe that it’s difficult to accomplish it\u00a0sustainably on a super-size scale.<\/p>\n

‘Nuff said.<\/p>\n

This dilemma drives us to explore new frontiers of food and find alternative sources of protein.<\/p>\n

So, you’re wondering, why crickets<\/i>? Isn’t soy a perfectly suitable solution?<\/p>\n

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Tofu cooked Chinese style, Beijing, China. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons; Fuzheado<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Here’s another article<\/a> that addresses the soy situation and why this popular vegetable can cause problems when used to provide protein in our diets.<\/p>\n

So, we find ourselves at the doorstep of Exo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Unlike Ento’s sushi-esque creations, Exo is focusing on producing protein bars with cricket flour. Specifically, each bar is made up of 20 percent roasted cricket flour and 80 percent yum (dates, cacao, almond butter, and coconut).<\/p>\n

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Photo courtesy of Exo<\/p><\/div>\n

“Most people say, ‘I can\u2019t even taste the crickets!'” says Exo co-founder Gabi Lewis. “As if they would know what it tastes like if they could<\/em> taste the crickets.”<\/p>\n

Touch\u00e9.<\/p>\n

Lewis and his partner-in-protein, Greg Sweitz, tracked down an esteemed chef in the UK who signed on to render the bars scrumptious and is also working on future recipes.<\/p>\n

“Ultimately, we\u2019re just creating a very healthy, sustainable, and cheap protein source. We can make shakes, bread, pancakes, or baking products. It\u2019s a protein powder that you can use for anything,” Lewis explains.<\/p>\n

In other parts of the world, people don’t cringe when they consider crunching on crickets.<\/p>\n

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Photo by Thomas Schoch via Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div>\n

Heck, even the\u00a0actress Salma Hayek extolls the practice:<\/p>\n