Hot back-to-school advice: Feed your kids bugs

If your kids complain aboutboring, protein-rich foods like chicken, eggs, lentilsand beansin their school lunches, you should try feeding them bugs.

That's the advice from food columnist Gail Johnson, who says nutritious insect-based food is now available in the Vancouver area.

"Insects are gaining traction for health and environmental reasons," Johnson told On The Coast host Gloria Macarenko. "The world's population is growingand raising livestock is extremely hard on the environment.

"Crickets, on the other hand, can be grown quickly and efficiently, using less water and land, so they're a far more sustainable food source."

Johnson said they are also loaded with nutrients. They contain vitamin B12, iron, calciumand amino acids, and are rich in protein.

Cricket bars

Insect products are commonly consumed in many parts of the world, she said, and are now starting to grow in popularity in North America.

Roasted crickets have been a hit at Safeco Field in Seattle, where Major League Baseball's Mariners play, and at the PNE in Vancouver, cricket-infused treats are sold as a novelty.

Johnson highlighted a New Westminster company called Coast Protein, which she called Canada's only cricket-based protein company.

"For back-to-school, Coast is launching chocolate-chip and trail mix cricket bars," she said. "Parents take note: these would be a great thing to throw in a kids' lunch box for a high-protein snack."

It's unclear, however, if eating bugs will ever be as appealing to kids as Goldfish crackers, Johnson conceded.

With files from CBCRadio One's On The Coast

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