Jiminy Cricket! These crickets are delicious

Protein does have a momentwith powders available in different flavors and basic ingredients. Common options in the supermarket include whey, pea, hemp and soy-based supplements.

April Van Buren

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Michigan Public

The Green Leapa family-owned business based in Grand Rapids gets its protein powder from a source you probably won’t find at Meijer: crickets.

“This is not something I thought about [with] One day,” says co-owner Montse Rosales Osoria. “No, it is something that has been consumed for centuries.”

According to The Green Leap’s label, 2 tablespoons of cricket powder contain 10 grams of protein. That’s comparable to other protein powder options. Crickets are also one good source of vitamins, minerals and fiber.

The cricket powder is primarily sold at the Fulton Street Farmer’s Market. The personal interaction allows Rosales Osoria to inform customers about the nutritional and environmental benefits of cricket protein. Plus the chance to convince them that consuming insects isn’t so scary.

Ethical farming with little waste

The cricket farm is housed in a small barn in Howard City, where Rosales Osoria and her husband raise tens of thousands of crickets. But the operation started with just 500 people in the basement of their homes.

“So we were joking, my husband and I… and we went to bed, and the next day we kept talking about this. And yes, it was more than a joke,” she said.

While searching online, she came across the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization page consumption of insects. As she learned more about the nutritional and environmental benefits of insect farming, she started thinking about it more seriously.

“I’m from Mexico, and there edible insects are part of our culture. When we moved here four to five years ago, we couldn’t find any product that used edible insects,” says Rosales Osoria.

April Van Buren

/

Michigan Public

Then they started raising crickets in the basement of their house. With each life cycle, they have learned better ways to care for, harvest and process the crickets.

And they said so few resources are needed to raise crickets that the entire farm produces only about one 50-gallon garbage bag of waste every fifty days.

Life on the farm

Inside the shed, large blue plastic storage bins line the shelves, each containing food, water and about 9,000 crickets. The tubs are completely open, no lid. The crickets don’t jump out.

Rosales Osoria gives them everything they need, such as space to move around and a temperature-controlled environment. The crickets lead a pretty gentle life, all the way to the end, as, she says, they try to follow their natural life cycle to determine the best time to harvest.

“They go into hibernation mode. It’s called diapause,” she said. The insects go into a kind of hibernation, caused by cold temperatures. “So it’s basically the way we end their lives, it’s very human. It’s not a disruption or anything to them, and we freeze them.”

The next phase will take place at the Grand Rapids Downtown Market in an incubator kitchen. There, Rosales Osoria roasts and grinds the crickets and packages them for sale. No other ingredients have been added to the powder.

Convincing the community

The finished product smells and tastes nutty and earthy, but not overpowering. The color and consistency are similar to cocoa powder.

“I ask people all the time and they say it tastes like sunflower seeds. Others say tahini,” said Rosales Osoria.

When it comes to incorporating cricket powder into her own family’s meals, she described herself as a “fairy,” sprinkling a few teaspoons on anything and everything. But when it comes to introducing farmers market customers to the product, she likes to hand out no-bake energy snacks.

The recipe contains oats, sunflower seed butter, maple syrup, vanilla, chocolate chips and of course cricket powder. Trying it this way helps skeptical customers.

“I see parents really trying to encourage their kids, and the kids are really nervous, but they do it,” Rosales Osoria said. “And then these parents say, ‘I’m glad you like it!’ and then beyond.”

“I think it’s harder because of our upbringing and everything we think about insects that have nothing to do with food,” she said. “So it’s kind of hard for adults … but once I talk to them and explain the facts – nutritional benefits, environmental benefits – then that’s when people [are] willing to cross that barrier and give it a try.”