Carleton Dining Services served two desserts made from crickets to students in the residence cafeteria on Nov. 24—lollipops with whole roasted crickets and churros made with cricket powder. 

The event was hosted in conjunction with Entomo Farms, an Ontario-based company that farms and manufactures cricket products.   

Matt Muzzatti, a Carleton PhD candidate, has been researching the diet of crickets to study how to maximize protein levels in edible crickets. He said he is attempting to find a diet for crickets that will produce “the biggest possible crickets in the shortest amount of time.”

Muzzatti helped organize the event with Carleton Dining Services and was available in the cafeteria to answer students’ questions about crickets. 

The biggest benefit of cricket consumption, according to Muzzatti, is its sustainability. 

“Crickets, on a per gram basis compared to conventional forms of protein, take a lot less resources to rear and maintain,” he said. 

According to Muzzatti, compared to conventional meat farming, cricket farming requires less water, feed and land. Muzzatti also said that meat and cricket protein has more benefits than other meat alternatives, including vitamin B12 which is not found in plant protein. 

While waiting in line for cricket snacks, first-year law student Jeevan Gill said he was unsure whether or not he would try the churros.

“If someone had just given it to me and said ‘Hey Jeevan, here’s a churro,’ I would’ve been fine with it,” Gill said. 

Muzzatti said he avoids tricking people into eating crickets that way.

While it wasn’t apparent that the churros were made with crickets, whole roasted crickets were clearly visible in the clear lollipops. After taking a bite of the lollipop, Caitlynn Steptoe, a first-year psychology student, said the flavour reminded her of chocolate. 

“It’s not bad at all,” Steptoe said.

Muzzatti said the hardest thing about getting people to eat crickets is the stigma, but he added the event was helpful in combatting that issue. He noted the importance of targeting younger people, who he said are often more open to trying new things. 

Before the event, Gill and Steptoe had never tried crickets.

“If you get a chance to try insect protein, don’t be scared. Try something new,” Muzzatti said.

Featured image by Spencer Colby.