Have you ever heard of cricket flour? How about protein bars made with cricket flour?
One day in January of 2013, Greg Sewitz, 22, and Gabi Lewis, 23, ordered 2,000 live tickets to be delivered to their house at Brown University. Gabi was a philosophy major and was then following a paleo diet, which was the minimal intake of processed foods, while Greg was a cognitive neuroscience major.
Gabi was on the hunt for a protein bar that would suit his needs and his palate, as the commercially available ones were all sugar-ridden. Greg came up with the concept to add crickets after attending an MIT conference, where a speaker discussed the idea of making insects a sustainable food source.
After a shipment of two really loud boxes, the duo got their Vitamix recipes book and started experimenting with the perfect cricket flour recipes. After developing a recipe, seeking feedback from friends and strangers, and a brief campaign on Kickstarter, the Exo Protein Bar was born.
So what exactly is in an Exo Protein Bar?
The name "Exo" is short for exoskeleton, and it contains exactly what you're thinking - crispy baked crickets, which are blended into a grainy, flour-like consistency. Almond butter is also added. The protein bars come in a variety of flavors like Apple Cinnamon, Banana Bread, PB & J, Blueberry Vanilla, and the original Cacao Nut, so additional ingredients are added depending on the flavor. According to the company's website, there is an estimated 40 crickets per bar, or 5 crickets per bite. Crickets are a complete source of protein, 65% of the bar, in fact. The company also claims that their Exo Protein Bar contains more iron than your average spinach.
Insects are a better source of protein that most meat. Exo says that crickets are more sustainable and efficient source of protein than beef, and raising them produces 100x fewer greenhouse gases than raising livestock.
Exo Protein Bars and Exo shirts are available on their website. Protein bars retail for $36 for a box of 12 while the shirts are sold for $30 each.
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of foodworldnews.com
