Opinion: Jiminy crickets!

The disgusting (and nutritious) truth about bugs and food

Loblaw, the largest food distribution company in the country, is now selling cricket flour. The product itself is not new, as many specialty stores have been selling it for a few years now. But Loblaw is the first major retailer to sell the product under its own private label. For Loblaw, whose head office is

Soldier fly larvae like these can convert waste food into high-protein feed.

Insect entrees

Insects are going to play a more important role in the human food chain, but that might not mean direct consumption

A professor emeritus at the University of Guelph says insects might be a more sustainable source of nutrition, but just how they’ll be used is up in the air. David Waltner-Toews, an epidemiologist who taught in the U of G’s Ontario Veterinary College, studied the topic for his new book, Eat the Beetles! which will


Mealworms are seen for sale at Gambela Market in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, July 14, 2015.   photo:

Insect farming gains ground in fight against hunger

A kg of crickets sells for twice the price of beef in the Kinshasa market

There is no shortage of protein in Kinshasa’s Gambela Market, from cows to antelope and snakes. But it is the blue and silver bowls brimming with twitching crickets, termites and slithering mealworms that do the briskest trade. Experts hope that the love of edible insects in Democratic Republic of Congo may hold the key to

At Least There’s No Grasshoppers

The excessive moisture causing seeding delays across much of Western Canada should be good for at least one thing – it will discourage the grasshoppers, say insect specialists. However, actual populations will depend on weather conditions in June and through the summer. Grasshopper forecasts for the three Prairie provinces, based on surveys of adult grasshoppers

Grasshopper Threat Low In Manitoba This Year

Last year’s cool, wet summer handed Manitoba farmers one benefit: a low probability of high grasshopper counts this year. MAFRI’s 2011 grasshopper forecast map shows only a few areas of the province where grasshopper egg counts even register on the scale. Those areas include the Red River Valley, the northwest region around Dauphin and a


Swap Your Steak For Bugs And Worms, Scientist Urges

Mealworm quiche, grasshopper springrolls and cuisine made from other creepy crawlies is the answer to the global food crisis, shrinking land and water resources and climate-changing carbon emissions, Dutch scientist Arnold van Huis says. The professor at Wageningen University in the Netherlands said insects have more protein than cattle per bite, cost less to raise,

Grasshoppers Important To Migratory Birds

May 8 is International Migratory Bird Day. Created in 1993, International Migratory Bird Day focuses attention on the remarkable migration of 90 per cent of Canada’s birds back from the southern United States, Mexico and Central America. Unfortunately, many of those bird populations are in decline. The reasons are varied and sometimes uncertain, but mitigated

Grasshoppers A Risk In Central And Western Regions

“If spring and summer conditions in 2010 are favourable for grasshopper survival and development, some areas could have moderate or high levels of grasshoppers.” – GRASSHOPPER FORECAST Gr a s s h o p p e r s could be a problem this spring in western and central Manitoba, especially if it’s hot and dry,


Grasshopper risk up in 2009

After lying low for several years, grasshoppers may be making a small but determined comeback in Manitoba. A Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives survey predicts pockets of moderate to severe grasshopper infestation in parts of southwestern and south-central Manitoba during 2009. The most vulnerable area is the extreme southwestern corner of the province where