One college has added something rather unusual to their school menu
There’s a mini culinary revolution happening at the University of Connecticut. UConn’s Daily Campus reports that the school has introduced crickets onto their menu.
Dennis Pierce, UConn’s executive director of dining services, was at a food show recently when he discovered that there are people who actually really enjoy eating crickets. So, he decided to bring the fad back to campus, and now students can buy roasted crickets for 99 cents. An estimated two to three containers of crickets are being sold per day at the Food for Thought food truck (the most perfect name ever for a college food truck ever). The crickets are also being served as taco toppings — and not just for the added crunch.
Dining services area assistant manager John Smith told the campus paper, “Some people do get them as a topping, some get them for the protein, some for the ‘wow factor’ of having these things. I think people are just surprised we have them.”
As unaccustomed as many Americans may be to eating crickets, they’re actually super good for you! Crickets are high in protein, low in fat and a source of B vitamins, iron and zinc. They’re being advertised throughout campus as being “organic, GMO free and earth friendly.”
UConn sources the crickets from Next Millennium Farms, an insect farm that removes the unhealthy and dead crickets before the live ones are euthanized with carbon dioxide and then roasted. According to The Daily Campus, around 30 million crickets live at the farm. Holy. Crickets.
While Western culture has told us that bugs are gross, in many other cultures, eating insects is totally normal and sometimes essential to survival. With all the vitamins and protein crickets offer, perhaps we should jump on the insect-injesting bandwagon. Some people say that eating crickets isn’t any different from eating meat, but we do get that the creepy crawly factor is a little more unique to bugs. But hey, we’re ready to open our minds. Any UConn students out there who have tried the local crickets? We’d love a review.
Related reading:
10 things that only happen in a school cafeteria
These school lunches from around the world might actually make you crave cafeteria food
[Featured images via Shutterstock]
