Did you know livestock take up over 80% of global agricultural land but only produce 20% of the world’s calories? Some studies estimate that cows provide only 4% protein for every 100 units of feed they’re given. Compared to other protein sources available, a cow’s feed conversion is wildly inefficient. Not only does livestock farming require massive amounts of land, it also releases up to 18% of the world’s CO2 gasses into the atmosphere. 

Humanity is in desperate need of finding alternative protein sources that can sustain us and especially our childrens’ generations. Fortunately we already have a solution – one that is simple to execute with MIGHTY potential for going mainstream with your support. Our solution is “acheta protein” – protein from crickets! Read on to learn about all of the ways acheta protein is superior to beef.

By weight, a single cricket is made of 65% percent protein. Cows? As low as 8%. Crickets are over seven times more efficient at producing protein than cows! They consume a fraction of the amount of feed as cows to produce the same amount of protein. That means every time you swap a beef-based meal with acheta protein, you are freeing up all of the land that goes into feed for other uses. You are also shrinking the amount of oil based fertilizers and pesticides used for feed production.

Our crickets require 2.2 square meters of land to produce 100g of protein. Cows, on the other hand, require 164 square meters for the same amount of protein. That is a MIGHTY difference in land usage! But the really cool aspect of cricket farming is that crickets can be humanely raised in stackable containers indoors. This means they can be raised in the heart of a city, which for the first time provides a hyper local protein source for city dwellers.

We’ve already covered how livestock make up 18% of the world’s CO2 output, which is a massive 7.1 gigatons of carbon dioxide. That’s more than the waste, coal mining, and air transport industries put together. Crickets, on the other hand, emit 100 times fewer carbon greenhouse gasses than cows. Swapping beef for acheta just once a week makes a MIGHTY impact over the course of your lifetime.

Acheta is clearly superior to beef in terms of environmental impact, but the biggest question you might have is how does it compare in taste? You aren’t going to get a juicy, saturated-fat dripping hamburger patty from acheta. Instead you will find a range of flavors depending on how you prepare it. Without any flavorings added, our acheta flour tastes very mild and slightly nutty, like pistachios. Whole roasted acheta has the texture and taste of popcorn. It’s mild umami flavor lends itself well to pretty much any flavor profile – sweet, savory, spicy …

Interested in acheta? Our products are designed to make it easy for you to give it a try. We lightly roast acheta, mill it into a super fine flour, and then blend it into delicious foods like our Dark Chocolate Oatmeal. Now you get to experience the MIGHTY power of acheta in a decadent, quick and easy meal.

Sources:

 “How Much of the World’s Land Would We Need in Order to Feed the Global Population with the Average Diet of a given Country?” Our World in Data, https://ourworldindata.org/agricultural-land-by-global-diets.

“Farming Animals Is A Major Form of Food Waste.” A Well-Fed World, https://awellfedworld.org/feed-ratios/.  

Friedman, Lisa, et al. “The Meat Question, by the Numbers.” The New York Times, 25 Jan. 2018. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/25/climate/cows-global-warming.html.