Daily Times

A Brussels start-up is hoping to stir a culinary revolution in Belgium by pushing crunchy crickets as a protein alternative to meat. Eco-friendly ‘Little Food’ said its crickets, which can be eaten dried, in different flavours such as garlic or tomato, or turned into flour, were also friendlier on the environment compared to some cattle farming.

“For the same amount of protein as a cow for instance, they need 25 times less food, they need 300 times less water, and they produce 60 times less greenhouse gases,” Little Food cricket breeder Nikolaas Viaene said.

While eating insects is common practice in a number of countries, such as China, Ghana, Mexico and Thailand, Brussels residents seemed unsure about putting crickets on the menu.

Strolling in downtown Brussels, Efthimia Lelecas declined the offer of a cricket snack: “No, I’m not eating that,” she said. “No, no, that looks awful, no, no, no.”

Crickets, of the family Gryllidae, are insects related to bush crickets, and, more distantly, to grasshoppers. The Gryllidae have mainly cylindrical bodies, round heads, and long antennae. Behind the head is a smooth, robust pronotum. The abdomen ends in a pair of long cerci; females have a long, cylindrical ovipositor. The hind legs have enlarged femora, providing power for jumping. The front wings are adapted as tough, leathery elytra and some crickets chirp by rubbing parts of these together.

Published in Daily Times, June 22nd, 2017.