How Sustainable is Antarctic Krill as a Raw Ingredient?

[jjohnwm]

It appears that crickets are a sustainable source of protein, but as a large scale business, not so much.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canada-aspire-food-cricket-farm-9.7136152

Quelle surprise...

My response to this news tidbit is the same as my response when I first read about this hairbrained scheme years ago: idiots. Too bad that the market analysts hadn't coined the highly technical term "yuck factor" when this idea was first floated for consideration.

A product that literally nobody wants, at least not for human consumption...that must sell at a premium price, higher than the traditionally accepted alternatives...gee, who could have predicted this outcome?

Meanwhile, I can't help but notice that the gummint has strict rules to prevent me from owning countless species of fish which cannot possibly establish themselves as invasive in my country. But here's a big warehouse that has billions of what appear to be a non-native, highly prolific insect species that can live quite handily indoors with people. There are other invertebrates that have spread worldwide, despite the fact that they require specific environmental conditions, simply because those conditions are available inside our homes and buildings.

Crickets are essentially loud, athletic cockroaches. Oh, yum...

 

[esoxlucius]

I feel obliged to comment on this matter as, after breeding crickets for a few months, consider myself quite an authority on the subject.

I briefly juggled with the idea of not only breeding them for my fish, but in sufficient numbers that I could feed the family too!!

When I pitched my idea to the wife and kids whilst sitting around the table eating tea one evening, my wife turned a funny shade of green, my eldest son struggled not to spit out the food in his mouth and my youngest son, well he didn't even hear what was going on, he had his face in his phone giggling at you tube videos.

I decided there was no future in it, and besides, I get ample insect nutrition as it is whilst out on my bike!!

 

[jjohnwm]

I feel obliged to comment on this matter as, after breeding crickets for a few months, consider myself quite an authority on the subject.

I briefly juggled with the idea of not only breeding them for my fish, but in sufficient numbers that I could feed the family too!!

When I pitched my idea to the wife and kids whilst sitting around the table eating tea one evening, my wife turned a funny shade of green, my eldest son struggled not to spit out the food in his mouth and my youngest son, well he didn't even hear what was going on, he had his face in his phone giggling at you tube videos.

I decided there was no future in it, and besides, I get ample insect nutrition as it is whilst out on my bike!!

I don't even need to pitch the idea to the wife to gauge her reaction; I am fully aware of how she would react without needing to hear it.

I've always been a fan of trying some "local native specialties"...that translates into some "pretty weird s**t"...when travelling. And when I was a young boy my circle of friends spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to gross each other out and daring each other to "eat this!" It's probably fair to say that I have likely eaten more living, squirming creepy-crawlies than most people, and also that I have gulped down more than my share of raw meat from multiple species of animal.

I've pretty much outgrown the "I dare you to..." stage of my life...I hope. I've tasted a couple species of crickets/grasshoppers a couple times, both au naturel and also cooked or prepared some way. That's just natural healthy adventurous curiosity, IMHO.

But if anyone expects me to pay big bucks for the privilege of eating crickets in quantity, as part of my daily diet...well, good luck with that...

Incidentally, how will this idea go over with the "meat is murder" crowd of lunatics? They weep and wail and gnash their teeth at the idea of a single cow or pig or deer being slain and butchered to provide food for people...and that's one single life taken to feed many.

But...a plate covered with crickets? Dozens or hundreds of individual living entities, heartlessly slaughtered to provide a single probably-unpleasant meal for one person? The mind boggles!

Are those crickets "purged" in some way? Or are we getting the "benefit" of an intestinal tract full of half-digested food and fully-digested cricket poop with every bite? And how are they actually killed? Is it done with any thought to a quick humane death?

Soylent Brown is made with bugs!!!

 

[phreeflow]

Lol, they had to get an assistant professor and researcher of food business and consumer behavior to figure out that most people don’t want to eat bugs while also paying more than premium cuts of beef

Also, John’s comment reminds me of when I went to Walmart for fishing gear and was shocked to find out they no longer sold worm blowers due to complaints it was barbaric

When did 2+2=5? What did I miss? I suddenly feel like a dinosaur

 

[skjl47]

When did 2+2=5? What did I miss? I suddenly feel like a dinosaur

Hello; While many of us grew up in a time of sound standards some went too far in a direction with illogical standards. A prime example might be an advertisement of a humane way to trap mice. A no-kill trap which allows the dangerous pest to be released alive. How far away do you go to let the pest go. What keeps it from coming back or going into someone else's home to spread disease, chew up wiring and the like.
I did stop using the sticky traps but not to be humane regarding mice. I had one in my basement and a Carolina Wren for some reason found it on the floor in a corner. I would still use them inside the house but they are not available.

 

[RD.]

That assistant professor almost made me want to go back to school……

I use no kill mouse traps every winter, and release them in the spring. So far none have returned?

 

[skjl47]

That assistant professor almost made me want to go back to school……

I use no kill mouse traps every winter, and release them in the spring. So far none have returned?

Hello; Do you feed them over the winter? Do you mark them for ID? I forget how many litters a female can have in a year but the number is impressive. Do you keep the offspring as well? I also do not know the lifespan of a mouse just now. Oh well, never mind.
I guess it is an to each his own way to live. I will continue to kill mice and rats. i lost the use of my pickup due to mice chewing the wires three years ago. houses burn down when they chew on wiring also.

 

[jjohnwm]

A "no-kill" mousetrap? Lol, sorry, no...not for me. That sounds a bit like a "live-release sedative antibiotic"; kinda misses the point. I want 'em dead.

Over the course of a year, my continuously-set traps probably catch and kill 3 or 4 Deer Mice, perhaps on average a single Meadow Vole and very rarely a Shrew. Almost all of these make their way at the onset of cold weather into my basement from the dirt-floor crawlspace that extends under about half of my house, and very occasionally one makes it up into the house itself. Duke is always on high alert for them.

Thankfully, I've never seen a House Mouse (the invasive species that most urbanites deal with) or a Rat on my property. Both are common in the city.

Hmmm...I wonder how long it'll be before some virtue-signalling forward-thinking types start to promote the use of these species for human consumption? I suspect it would be less of an uphill battle to convince people to eat them, as opposed to bugs...

Mouse poppers, maybe? A nice juicy House Mouse, deep-fried and crispy, stuffed with a small jalapeno, a bit of nacho cheese and maybe a salsa dipping sauce? The tail would make a handy little biodegradable handle to keep your hands clean while you transfer them from plate to mouth. An extra-crunchy variety...with head still in place...could be offered. In order to be successful, they'd need a new name for marketing purposes...I'm thinking maybe "Land Sardines"?

For now, though, I'll just stick with tossing them up onto the roof of one of my sheds for the local owls to snag after dark.

 

[esoxlucius]

I use no kill mouse traps every winter, and release them in the spring. So far none have returned?

But if none returned then you wouldn't have to catch them again during the winter!!

 

[RD.]

Hello; Do you feed them over the winter? Do you mark them for ID? I forget how many litters a female can have in a year but the number is impressive. Do you keep the offspring as well? I also do not know the lifespan of a mouse just now. Oh well, never mind.
I guess it is an to each his own way to live. I will continue to kill mice and rats. i lost the use of my pickup due to mice chewing the wires three years ago. houses burn down when they chew on wiring also.

Winters here are several months long, with stretches down to-40F and beyond. Oddly enough the mice I release don’t move around a lot when I release them, from my no kill trap. Lol