

How to Farm Insects at Home - DanI-S
http://modernfarmer.com/2013/06/small-scale-insect-farming/

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ams6110
_a minimal initial investment in a cricket colony could absolutely feed a
family of four_

I've tried to raise crickets to feed a pet bearded dragon. I followed all the
guidelines, but generally could never even keep them alive let alone get them
to reproduce. I don't think this is quite as easy as it's made to sound.

It's odd because you see crickets everywhere in the wild, they must be pretty
hardy, but I utterly failed trying to "farm" them.

~~~
NullXorVoid
Crickets are one of the worst insects to breed. It's hard to keep a stable
colony, they smell awful, make noise, and constantly jump out and escape.

I breed Guyana roaches to feed my pet tarantulas. They are hardy and easy to
breed, plus they don't smell or make noise and they can't climb walls. They
give live birth and don't infest homes. I keep them in a large storage bin
with a screen lid filled with egg crates, and feed them fresh fruit and dry
cat food once a week. I live in a small apartment and guests don't even know
they're there unless I point them out.

~~~
HeyLaughingBoy
How the FUCK do you manage to do this? As someone who grew up in Guyana, I
can't even stand the memory of those things, let alone imagine touching them
again. They can't climb walls? What kind of walls do you have? They climbed
everywhere and happily flew into your face when I was a kid.

There is absolutely nothing I can think of that I'm afraid of, but those bugs
give me the shudders! Ugh!

Props to you for being able to do that!

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ChuckMcM
As my wife pointed out to me, reading this over my shoulder, it was always
used in the context of her refusing to eat something she didn't like, as in
"In some parts of the world they eat bugs!"

That said, in San Francisco the grasshopper tacos were banned [1] even though
people did like them and people back in Oxaca apparently suffer no ill effects
from eating them.

So given that good marketing (grasshopper tacos) can overcome western
sensitivities, it offers the possibility that farming bugs for human
consumption can in fact be a worthwhile endeavor.

[1] [http://boingboing.net/2011/06/09/grasshopper-tacos-
ba.html](http://boingboing.net/2011/06/09/grasshopper-tacos-ba.html)

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dm2
Maybe crickets and mealworms would be a good diet for prisoners but I'd
personally rather eat rice and beans if I was on a limited income.

Maybe have these farms available for very poor countries?

I just don't see the desire to eat crickets and worms.

And forget about a social life or dating once they find out you raise and eat
crickets and worms, doesn't matter how good you are at explaining the concept.

Am I missing something?

~~~
DanBC
> Am I missing something?

It's a normal food in many parts of the world.

Apart from that, you're right about it having a big "yuck" factor for most
people. At the moment it's going to be brave early adopters, finding out
what's nice, and what's got too much exoskeleton. (Chitinous legs stuck in
your teeth is off-putting.)

 _Cereal_ volume 3 has a nice article about the various types of bugs and
where they're eaten.
([http://readcereal.com/magazine/](http://readcereal.com/magazine/))

I might be about to raise and eat insects, but my child definitely will.
(Consider that children often eat bugs from the garden, and it's only the
reaction from horrified parents that stops them doing it!)

~~~
erikig
I think some better marketing will be needed as well.

It might seem strange and off-putting to eat bugs but eating lobster, shrimp
and crawdads has similar challenges and these have become commonplace - even
delicacies - for most.

How long until we have a Squeaky Cricket or Brown Roach right next to Red
Lobster?

~~~
mdellabitta
Actually, I rather eat crickets than Red Lobster. That place scares me...

~~~
marshray
Well they're both arthropods.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthropod](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthropod)

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icey
I looked into selling insects as food last year. There's definitely a market
for it, but I'm not sure what would stop a well-established existing insect
farm from getting into the business the moment it looks viable and crushing
everyone as they're already equipped for huge amounts of production, shipping
and handling.

There were some disappointed people when I ran my test and they tried to buy
crickets or mealworms just to find out I didn't actually have any.

Ultimately I decided not to mess with it because I'm not very excited by
eating insects myself. I've tried a few things (crickets and mealworms) and
while they didn't taste bad, they didn't taste like much of anything... I
foresaw the eating of many insects in order to make it succeed and it's pretty
tough to get excited about :)

~~~
marshray
Perhaps you could raise them on gourmet coffee beans or genetically engineer
them to taste like blueberries or something.

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callmeed
I live a mile from Hotlix and the kids & I often incorporate one of their bug
products when we play card/board games ("loser eats a chocolate covered
cricket").

If anyone wants to try something let me know. The store has blemished items
cheap and I could mail some out this week.

~~~
GuiA
Do your kids end up enjoying the treats, despite the fact that they're
associated with the negative act of losing?

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hcarvalhoalves
Eating insects actually looks closer to the _norm_ outside of McDonald's land,
so farming insects should definitely be an option.

It's only taboo because people never tasted it. I ate ants [1] here in Brazil
and it's delicious. In Vietnam, apparently, fried tarantulas is another
delicacy - tastes like lobster. The article mentions crickets, but by the
smell of it I don't think they make a good appetizer.

[1] [http://flavorsofbrazil.blogspot.com.br/2011/11/recipe-ica-
fa...](http://flavorsofbrazil.blogspot.com.br/2011/11/recipe-ica-farofa.html)

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wiradikusuma
How do you convince a person like me who thinks it's gross to eat insects?
Esp. Out of fear they (or the parasites they bring) might "become alive and
crawl up to your brain or start a colony inside your bowel".

~~~
ams6110
I would think you typically cook them or prepare them in some way, not just
pop them alive into your mouth like a bird.

~~~
pampa
Put half a pound of crickets in food processor. Two teaspoons starch (for
binding). Add 4 small sliced green chili peppers, some grated ginger, 2-3
thinly shredded kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass, teaspoon of fish sauce (for
the msg!). Form into patties, deep fry until golden brown.

I think i had something like that from a food stall in Thailand, not far from
Cambodian border O_o

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thejteam
Convenient. I just finished reading "How to Eat Fried Worms" to the kids.

Off to find some nice night-crawlers...

