It's been years since I wrote a blog! I expect many people's lives look a lot different since December of 2020; mine is practically unrecognizable. 

In the midst of so much loss, I also earned tenure in 2020. Without a carrot dangling in front of me anymore, it was difficult to conceive of what was next in my career. Therefore, it felt like a good time to allow my husband to pursue his dreams. So, we made a big move, and our lives are now based in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where Charlie is running his own cut-to-order cheese counter! We actually did not know what this meant for me when we made the decision to move, but we took the leap anyways. I am lucky that it worked out that I can continue to teach for Wayne State online, and I travel to Detroit when needed.

As a food anthropologist, it is really fun to surround myself with the specialty foods he is able to carry in his shop. Yes, the foods are delicious, but the stories may be the best part of it. ​For instance, Wilde Weide—pronounced VIL-da VEYE-duh—is a gouda made with painstaking care as part of a 300-year old family operation. The cows, the cheesemakers, and the cheese are the only residents on a small Norwegian island. Each day, eight wheels are produced, and they are serenaded with an aria as they are set to rest for their year+ aging process (The creamery is run by a husband and wife team, and she has operatic training for the University of Amsterdam). When their product is ready to sell, it's loaded on to a row boat to be paddled across to the mainland for distribution. And of course, it is absolutely delicious.

As we got more into specialty foods it became apparent how climate change will dramatically impact the futures of some of our favorites. It's easy to imagine how increased frequency of extreme weather events could wipe out the little Wilde Weide operation. In general, extreme weather in dairying ecozones can impact availability of fresh water, which will impact milk supply. Dairy can be viewed as an "endangered food" whose future availability is at risk due to climate change.

Charlie does not just carry cheese, he carries all sorts of specialty pairings and accoutrements, and his second love after cheese is bean-to-bar chocolate. Chocolate is most certainly an endangered food, with some projections suggesting the cacao plant could go extinct by 2050. That's only a few decades away! Yet there is no inkling of a problem when it comes to the widespread availability and low cost of a chocolate candies at any convenience checkout counter. How can this be? Well, 70% of the world supply of chocolate is grown in West Africa, where costs are kept down by relying on human trafficking, slavery, and child labor. So if your chocolate bar does not specifically indicate that it was not sourced in West Africa, you can pretty safely conclude that at least some of it was, and that its purchase is contributing to these inhumane practices. Even expensive "artisan" chocolate you pick up at Whole Foods or local co-op typically use cacao mass, which is bulk produced and sold wholesale without any sourcing information.​

Enter bean-to-bar chocolate. This name is just a description of the process - chocolate that is produced directly from cacao beans as opposed to bulk mass - and this small-scale production gained popularity because differently sourced beans carry different flavor profiles. However, what emerged is better sourcing information, and even growers producing their own chocolates, so although something labeled "bean-to-bar" does not promise better labor practices, many small scale producers celebrate the fact that their chocolate has been sustainably and ethically sourced and provide that information to consumers. ​

One of the most exciting chocolate brands we have been introduced to is To'ak out of Ecuador, who call themselves "tree-to-bar" producers. They are known as a luxury brand, and some of their offerings are absurdly expensive ($450 absurd), but many are quite reasonable in cost for what they are offering ($20/bar reasonable). To'ak started as a rainforest conservation project. The Ecuadorian cacao variety called “Nacional” traces its genetic lineage back to the first-known cacao trees domesticated by humanity, about 5,300 years ago, and today it is on the brink of extinction. 

​I immediately liked To'ak because they pay cacao growers the highest prices of any chocolate company I've come across: 3-9x more than the Fair Trade price. I personally like knowing that my dollars are supporting the laborers and not just the capitalists. But one To'ak line got me really excited, their Alchemy line designed in collaboration with Chef Charles Michel. I was first introduced to Chef Michel through the Netflix international cooking competition the Final Table. It was clear that he was passionate about food as a connection to nature and I immediately was drawn to him and his style. THEN he cooked with chapulines! I am used to periodically seeing insects pop up on cooking competitions and other food shows, but they are often featured in the Halloween episode, or generally sensationalized, but Chef Michel spoke about them respectfully without any exoticization. And he made them delicious! He won that week's challenge. I personally believe that the acceptance of insects as food is going to be largely reliant on chefs capturing their unique flavor profile and giving people cravable food experiences they can't find with any other product.

So I was super excited to see he was not only involved with To'ak but that he helped create an Amazonian ants chocolate. And oh my gosh, is the product sublime. Ants are notable for having formic acid as a chemical defense mechanism and pheromone communicator, which gives them an acidic, citrusy flavor. This chocolate plays with this flavor so well, and it is the distinct anty acidity that is left on your palate at the finish. It leaves you wanting to go back for another taste - the ants make you want to go back - and that's what we need more of in this edible insects movement.

The food is definitely something I want to try! These students, hailing from Cornell University and York University, offer a solution to many of the problems associated with getting insects on the dinner table.  1) they are creating something that can be recognized as "food" in a culture where menus are full of hamburgers, tofu-burgers, black bean burgers, tempeh burgers, etc.  2) creating a product that may be easily packaged and easily prepared all over the world.  Part of the problem with cricket flour is that the products coming from it are more "meal replacers" (protein bars and the like), rather than meals themselves.


I am very excited for this project and I am so glad they are getting the opportunity to refine their idea and a chance at some good start-up funds.  I am hoping that we can make a little noise on their behalf.  


If you tweet, these are good handles and tags to use!
@tffchallenge (host of the competition)
@tffcornell2014 (C-fu team)
#bugmeat
#cfu

More than 3,400 attendees participated in Entomology 2014 in Portland, Oregon in November. The 2014 theme, “Grand Challenges Beyond Our Horizons,” was well-represented in two symposia on insects as food:

Insects as Sustainable and Innovative Sources of Food and Feed Production. Wednesday, November 19, 2014: 8:00 AM-12:00 PM Portland Ballroom 253 (Oregon Convention Center) Organizer : Marianne Shockley
Moderator: Marianne Shockley

8:00 AM Welcoming Remarks 8:05 AM 
1765 Latitude and attitude: The effects of biodiversity and evolution on entomophagy across the world
Julie Lesnik, Wayne State University 8:25 AM 
1766 Entovita
Daniel Thrasyvoulou, Entovita 8:45 AM 
1767 Setting the table for a hotter, flatter, more crowded earth: Insects on the menu?
Marianne Shockley, University of Georgia ; Sonny Ramaswamy, USDA - NIFA 9:05 AM 
1768 Cricket parantha: Creative restauranteurs incorporate insects into contemporary Indian cuisine
David Gordon, The Bug Chef ; Meeru Dhalwala, Shanik 9:25 AM Break 9:40 AM 
1769 Live insects as feed (or food): Feeding captive insectivores
Mark Finke, Mark Finke LLC 10:00 AM 
1770 An analysis of the current and emergent ento industry: Edible insects in the national marketplace
Harman Johar, World Ento 10:20 AM 
1771 Mealworms as Solomon's shamir: The table as a temple of peace in a densely populated world
Amy Wright, Austin Peay State University 10:40 AM 
1772 Small bugs, big gains: Improving food security in rural southern African communities through microlivestock farming
Valerie Stull, Mighty Mealworms ; Rachel Bergmans, Mighty Mealworms 11:00 AM 
1773 Open bug farm: Making insect farming accessible to everyone through an open source farm kit
Daniel Imrie-Situnayake, Tiny Farms 11:20 AM 
1774 Teaching with insects as food and feed: Incorporating entomophagy into sustainable agriculture education at the university and community level
Donald Sudbrink, Austin Peay State University 11:32 AM 
 Panel Discussion 11:52 AM 
 Concluding Remarks


Beyond Drinking the Worm: Linking Concept with Action to Save the World with Entomophagy. Wednesday, November 19, 2014: 1:30 PM-5:30 PM Portland Ballroom 253 (Oregon Convention Center) Organizers: James Ricci
Kim Hung
Adena Why
Moderators: James Ricci
Kim Hung
Adena Why


1:30 PM Introductory Remarks 1:35 PM 
1973 Eating bugs 101: Why, how, and the role of education in moving past mental taboos
Robert Allen, Little Herds 1:55 PM 
1974 Eat what bugs you: Entomophagy and its potential in American markets
Laura D'Asaro, Six Foods ; Rose Wang, Six Foods 2:15 PM 1974 Withdrawn 2:35 PM 
1975 Sustainable critters or delicious fritters? Consumer perceptions of edible insects in The Netherlands and Thailand
Catriona Lakemond, Wageningen University 2:55 PM 
1976 Toward maximizing efficiency of black soldier fly production for food and feed
John Schneider, Mississippi State University 3:15 PM 
1977 Insects as food: An overview of U.S. regulatory requirements
Ricardo Carvajal, Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C. 3:35 PM 1978 Withdrawn 3:35 PM 
1978 Moving beyond the Bizarre Foods concept and tapping the 'foodie' culture to promote entomophagy
Adena Why, University of California 3:55 PM 
1979 Ento: The art of eating insects
Aran Dasan, Ento 3:55 PM 
1980 What are we actually eating when we consume witchetty grubs? 
Alan Yen, Department of Environment and Primary Industries ; Conrad Bilney, La Trobe University ; Susan Lawler, La Trobe University 3:55 PM 
1981 Entomophagy at The New York Entomological Society 100th Anniversary Celebration, May 20, 1992, The Explorer’s Club, Manhattan, New York
Louis N. Sorkin, American Museum of Natural History 3:55 PM 
1982 A market analysis of entomophagy in the United States
Stephen Bayes, University of California ; Virginia Emery, University of California 3:55 PM Break and Poster Viewing 4:10 PM 1983 Palm weevils: easy to farm and good to eat!
Mark S. Hoddle, University of California 4:30 PM 
1984 Importance of entomophagy in Madagascar
Maminirina Randrianandrasana, University of Illinois ; May R. Berenbaum, University of Illinois 4:50 PM 
1985 Act locally, reach globally: Marketing and promoting entomophagy begins at home
Jerome F. Grant, University of Tennessee ; Renee Follum, University of Tennessee 5:10 PM 
1986 Potential of insects as food and feed in assuring food security
Arnold van Huis, Wageningen University 5:30 PM 
1987 What entomophagy really means, and why it's so challenging
David Gracer, Community College of Rhode Island 5:50 PM 
 Concluding Remarks





The organizers did a great job at representing the range of topics and issues currently being discussed regarding entomophagy.  It was a great day.

Big things are already in the works for me in my new city!

Last week I attended the Eating Innovation Conference on Edible Insects in Montreal.  It was the first time I gave a talk to a group of people who were already entirely on board with insects as food!  MY Q&A portion did not include "have you eaten insects?" or "what do they taste like?" It was amazing!

I have been wanting to get involved with this community for some time now.  There are people very active on social media, so I have become acquainted with them in that way, but I was finally able to shake some hands, put faces to names, and have dynamic discussions with them for the first time last week.  One of the most notable things was the diverse crowd that was present.  In one of the sessions we listed off the disciplines that were being represented at the conference.  We came up with at least sixteen.  Specialties ranged from anthropology, entomology, and agriculture to marketing, advertising, and business start-ups to name a few. 

It was wonderful spending three days surrounded by people with such passion for making the world a better place.  Such innovators and forward-thinkers.  And then it dawned on me that those words are also often used to describe the people that are part of the revitalization of Detroit.  Urban gardens, permaculture, and resource sharing are all burgeoning in the city.  Entrepreneurs are making their homes here as well and creating wonderful food and drink culture in the area.  I think the D is ready for a big bug banquet of some sort, so I thought, why not bring the next edible insects conference to Detroit?! 

Dates will not be set for some time, but you can see that I am already brainstorming and making connections. 
In addition to the conference proceedings, we'll have public talks and tastings where everyone is welcome. I absolutely cannot wait.  If you are interested in more info or in helping out in some way, feel free to contact me here.

This year's international Hult Prize goes to McGill University's team Aspire for their "Insects feed the world" project.
 
The Hult Prize is the largest student competition aimed at solving the world's social challenges.  In partnership with the Clinton Global Initiative, the 2013 challenge was proposed by former President Bill Clinton for student groups to create solutions for the "Global Food Crisis."

Key issues of the Global Food Crisis highlighted by the program:

1. Nearly one billion people in the world are hungry and suffer from malnutrition. That’s one out of every four children
2. There are more hungry people in the world, then the combined populations of the US, Canada and the EU.
3. A poor family in a poor country spends over 70% of its income on food, leaving very little to spend on energy, education, housing, healthcare and other critical needs
4. Global demand for food is expected to double in the next 25 to 50 years. Existing modes of food production and patterns of consumption cannot meet this demand
5. The global economy actually produces enough to feed everyone. Yet more than one-third of the food generated for human consumption is lost or wasted
6. Hunger is one of the world’s most solvable challenges
7. The global food system needs to be redesigned to yield more, healthier food, while reducing cost and ecological footprint
8. New business models are required around food security. These must yield greater access to markets, new approaches to distribution, and especially local sourcing. More locally produced food would bolster its quality and its workers’ livelihoods, while reducing waste and improving resilience to extreme conditions
9. Agriculture accounts for 70 percent of the world’s use of increasingly scarce water supplies
10. Deforestation for food production generates more greenhouse gases than all forms of transportation combined

Six regional finalists (London, Dubai, San Francisco, Boston, Shanghai, and online) competed for the one million dollar prize.  The ultimate winner was McGill University's Aspire.  Here is their mission in their own words:

"Apsire learned through research during the summer that food insecurity is not an issue of lack of food. The vast majority in urban slums do not go hungry. But they lack access to affordable nutrition. Many suffer from malnourishment and nutrient deficiencies despite being overweight or obese. Therefore, the problem of food security in urban slums is not one of food being expensive per se, but of nutritious food being unavailable or overpriced compared to cheaper, less nutritious offerings.

Our disruptive social enterprise, Aspire, aims to improve access to edible insects worldwide. We develop and distribute affordable and sustainable insect farming technologies for countries with established histories of entomophagy, or insect-consumption. Our farming solutions stabilize the supply of edible insects year-round, drastically improving and expanding the economic ecosystem surrounding insect consumption in the regions serviced. Not only do our durable farming units create income stability for rural farmers, they have a wider social impact by lowering the price of edible insects. This is central to our mission of increasing access to highly nutritious edible insects amongst the poorest, and therefore neediest, members of society."

Other projects included creating idiot-proof paper strips for planting seeds, but the other standout was Sokotext, a project that uses the power of mobile phones to aggregate demand in the slums and unlock wholesale prices for micro-entrepreneurs.

This is a big win for the McGill team and for the insects-as-food movement.  To win such a prestigious award, and in the face of tech-savvy competition, is especially encouraging to me.  I believe this group will do well and go far.

In May of this year, the FAO released an extensive report - 201 pages, to be exact - titled "Edible insects
Future prospects for food and feed security." 

Present-day consumption of insects is minimal in developed countries but the United Nations voiced their support for insects as a sustainable food source for feeding growing populations.  In order to move forward with the agenda, the FAO laid out a few tasks that are immediately at hand:

• Further document the nutritional values of insects in order to promote insects more efficiently as a healthy food source.
• Investigate the sustainability and quantify the environmental impacts of harvesting and farming insects compared with traditional farming and livestock-raising practices.
• Clarify and augment the socio-economic benefits that insect gathering and farming can offer, with a focus on improving the food security of the poorest of society.
• Develop a clear and comprehensive legal framework at the (inter-)national level that can pave the way for more investment, leading towards the full development (from the household scale to the industrial scale) of production and trade in insect products for food and feed internationally.

From my own work I can say that what is necessary is more than just getting nutritional values from some insects that people eat, but getting standardized and comparable values from as many of the nearly 2000 recorded edible insects as possible.  I also believe that understanding how insects are consumed around the world, as well as over the course of human evolution, is information that consumers value when making educated decisions about their diets.  I expect that there is a "paleo diet" fad to be had with insects.

The biggest push for insect cultivation is that it is a more environmentally-friendly to raise these "mini-livestock" than it is to tend our current go-to sources of protein cattle and pigs.  We need more hard evidence.  The truth is that we don't have an example of insect-rearing on the industrial scale, so we can't compare it to what we know after decades of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs, or feedlots).  More research needs to be done to model the environmental impacts of mass-rearing insects.

Another area that may hold even more potential is the use of insects in feed for our current livestock.  We currently feed everything corn.  And more corn.  Maybe some animal byproducts in there for protein.  Why not insects?  Eating bacon raised on insects may be an easier sell than eating the insects themselves.  Cows should be fed grass, but pigs are omnivores.  Future studies need to investigate the nutritional values of pork from grain-fed pigs versus pork from pigs with insect-based feed.  I imagine there would be improvement, possibly similar to the omega-3 fatty acid story in grass-fed vs. grain-fed beef, but how much better is yet to be seen.

The other two tasks are outside of my area of expertise, but it makes sense that promoting insects is the development of a new agri-business, and with that comes the social and legal impacts.  I expect the legal implications are the same as with any food business interested in a worldwide market, but it is something that needs to be understood before the insects-as-food movement can really take hold.  Socially, the first big question is cost to the consumer.  Are we talking dollar menu or gourmet menu?  Are we talking grocery shopping for ramen or for steak?  Additionally, how is that cost going to effect the social implications of choosing to utilize the resource?  It all comes down to marketing.  Insects are not cheap, primitive and disgusting..  insects are accessible, innovative and exciting!

Research out of Wageningen University, Netherlands has been at the forefront of understanding insects for human consumption.  Dr. Yde Jongema has compiled the most extensive list of edible insects, counting nearly 2,000 different edible species and graduate student Joost van Itterbeeck just wrote an article featured on sciencealert.com.au that is making its way around the Internet. 

Van Iterbeeck describes five of the most promising insects for consumption in the western world.  Mealworms, the larval forma of the mealworm beetle, are especially interesting in regards to cultivation for human food because they are one of the edible insects known in temperate climates and they have long been cultivated as bait and pet food.  Apparently, the Netherlands has started the movement to mass-rear the insects for human food and research is finding that when processed, the texture and taste has been well received by western customers.

Way to go, Netherlands!