Wendy Lu McGill spent years working in International Development, where she became familiarized with the opportunities that insects offer as a healthy addition to a nutrient-dense diet. She founded Rocky Mountain Micro-Ranch, Colorado’s first and only edible insect farm where she raises crickets, mealworms, and wax worms for human consumption.
Episode Outline
- The many environmental benefits associated with eating insects
- Why insects’ feed conversion ratios are superior to cattle and other livestock
- Why a sociologist decided to start a micro-ranch in Colorado raising crickets
- Why Americans (and Europeans) are so squeamish about eating insects
- How lobster started as a trash food eaten by the poor and became a luxury food
- The ‘Ick’ factor, and the psychological impact of eating an insect
- The difference between raising crickets for human consumption vs for fishing bait or as feeder insects for the pet trade
- Fat content of various edible insects
- The best insect to raise for human consumption
Links & Resources
- Support A Worldview Apart on Patreon
- Rocky Mountain Micro Ranch (website)
- Rocky Mountain Micro Ranch (Facebook)
- Twitter handle: @RMMicroRanch
- Instagram handle: @rmmicroranch
- Environmental impact of the production of mealworms as a protein source for humans – a life cycle assessment (published in 2012, on PLOS One)
- Production of mealworms for human consumption in Finland: a preliminary life cycle assessment (published in 2017, Journal of Insects as Food and Feed)