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Tiny Farms Raises Seed Round as Cricket Farming Heats Up

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Re: Tiny Farms Raises Seed Round as Cricket Farming Heats Up

#21

Post by DanI-S »

bduerst wrote: post #18
DanI-S wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm one of the founders of Tiny Farms. I think you're probably recalling an article published in PLOS ONE last year that suggested the sustainability of crickets might not meet the hype. We were obviously very interested in the study! It turns out that the paper missed some crucial factors that make insects a sustainable, efficient protein source. I guest-wrote this post with some details; do take a look if you're in…

Sooo tl;dr: is that chickens use more water, produce more manure, and tend to be butchered away from the farms, but the study was still correct in it's food to protein conversions being almost the same between poultry and crickets?

I guess I'd summarize the feed conversion part as follows:

- Crickets are slightly better than poultry at converting poultry feed into protein.

- Crickets are great at converting processed grocery store waste into protein; poultry can't do this at all.

- Both species are awful at converting low quality food waste (a mix of chicken poop and straw) into protein.

- The efficient feed conversion of modern poultry comes only after years of research, development and breeding; the efficient feed conversion of insects comes "out of the box" and will only improve over time.

Re: Tiny Farms Raises Seed Round as Cricket Farming Heats Up

#22

Post by character0 »

noondip wrote: post #14
CaveTech wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a good source of relatively pure protein. Brown Rice is 8% protein by weight, whereas Crickets are ~70%.

Okay, but human nutritional needs only call for 10-15% of calories from protein. Why would you go for 70%? There are risks associated with excessive protein consumption, too.

That may be true, but your assumption is that we would have an all cricket diet

Re: Tiny Farms Raises Seed Round as Cricket Farming Heats Up

#23

Post by noondip »

maxerickson wrote: post #20
noondip wrote: post #6

> The tiny insects have been eaten in developing nations for centuries, but now consumers in the Western world are increasingly accepting them as an efficient and sustainable source of protein. Every food has protein in it. Bananas have protein. Tomatoes have protein. All plant foods have a complete amino acid profile fit for human consumption. In fact, protein is the easiest macronutrient to get enough of, provided…

All plant foods have a complete amino acid profile fit for human consumption. That's a really weird phrase. I guess suggestions that a protein complete diet is easier when eating meat are also a bit overwrought, but it's possible to eat plants and end up not getting all essential amino acids which is usually what is meant when "complete" is mentioned together with protein.

> it's possible to eat plants and end up not getting all essential amino acids

No, that isn't possible. You could eat nothing but potatoes, or even mangoes, and still get enough protein. There isn't a single whole plant food which is completely lacking in any essential amino acid. How could it? Plants can't "hunt" and "eat" other plants - they must synthesize all amino acids themselves. The "complete protein" myth is one which has been debunked for decades, yet somehow refuses to die.

Re: Tiny Farms Raises Seed Round as Cricket Farming Heats Up

#24

Post by blacksmith_tb »

noondip wrote: post #23
maxerickson wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All plant foods have a complete amino acid profile fit for human consumption. That's a really weird phrase. I guess suggestions that a protein complete diet is easier when eating meat are also a bit overwrought, but it's possible to eat plants and end up not getting all essential amino acids which is usually what is meant when "complete" is mentioned together with protein.

> it's possible to eat plants and end up not getting all essential amino acids No, that isn't possible. You could eat nothing but potatoes, or even mangoes, and still get enough protein. There isn't a single whole plant food which is completely lacking in any essential amino acid. How could it? Plants can't "hunt" and "eat" other plants - they must synthesize all amino acids themselves. The "complete protein" myth is…

Because plants are not animals, and we are? "Nearly all foods contain all twenty amino acids in some quantity... Proportions vary, however, and most plant foods are deficient in one or more of the essential amino acids."[1] [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complete_protein

Re: Tiny Farms Raises Seed Round as Cricket Farming Heats Up

#25

Post by deskamess »

noondip wrote: post #14
CaveTech wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a good source of relatively pure protein. Brown Rice is 8% protein by weight, whereas Crickets are ~70%.

Okay, but human nutritional needs only call for 10-15% of calories from protein. Why would you go for 70%? There are risks associated with excessive protein consumption, too.

Percentage was by weight, not by recommended daily allowance.

Re: Tiny Farms Raises Seed Round as Cricket Farming Heats Up

#27

Post by Mz »

maxerickson wrote: post #15
aurizon wrote: post #2

I can not wait to see a 2000 pound cricket, bred for size by conventional means...;)

Sorry to step on your harmless joke, but big insects can't breathe: https://bioteaching.wordpress.com/2012/03/24/gigantism-in-in...

While that exact realization did make me stop being freaked out by giant spiders in movies, technically "they can't breathe" in earth's current atmosphere. Presumably, if it was worth the expense involved, you could grow giant insects in closed biomes with higher oxygen levels and (I assume) higher atmospheric pressure.

Also: Jurassic Park is BS for the same reason. The T Rex would not function in earth's current atmosphere -- at least not without tampering with their physiology and/or some kind of extra support system.

Re: Tiny Farms Raises Seed Round as Cricket Farming Heats Up

#28

Post by felipemora »

duncancarroll wrote: post #10

As someone who once owned geckos and fed them with crickets, the memory of the smell alone is enough to deter me from ever eating any cricket-based product.

Seafood can be quite stinky also and yet lots of people have no problem eating it.

Re: Tiny Farms Raises Seed Round as Cricket Farming Heats Up

#30

Post by mrfusion »

maxerickson wrote: post #15
aurizon wrote: post #2

I can not wait to see a 2000 pound cricket, bred for size by conventional means...;)

Sorry to step on your harmless joke, but big insects can't breathe: https://bioteaching.wordpress.com/2012/03/24/gigantism-in-in...

What if we raise them in a pure oxygen environment?
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