Hear -- And Eat -- Crickets At New Van Nuys Farm
VAN NUYS (CBSLA.com) — Adventurous diners might hear crickets when they learn of the latest culinary offering opening soon in the Valley.
Literally, Coalo Valley Farms will be cultivating crickets as a new source of protein.
"We are trying to create a sustainable food source that not only can feed a lot of people -- a lot of hungry people – but will also benefit the environment," said Maximilian Cunha, one of the four entrepreneurs behind Coalo Valley Farms.
The Van Nuys facility will house micro livestock of thousands and thousands of crickets.
"Cricket apartment complexes. They love it, it's their natural habitat," Peter Markoe said.
The crickets have a typical lifespan of six to seven weeks, then are humanely euthanized by lowering their body temperature. Then they are ground into fine powder and delivered to restaurants as a food additive.
"It's a protein supplement. So it's great to mix with everything – we've made a pizza crust," Markoe said.
They hope to take away the creepy crawly feeling people get when they think of eating bugs.
"It's a lot of the reason that people veer away from the insects, cause they think of it as this dirty thing – in reality, it's a lot cleaner," Elliot Mermel said.