Right now, our world is facing significant and urgent food shortages. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that about 795 million people currently suffer from a chronic lack of nutritious food. With the world’s population at a steady increase, we will not be able to sustain the world’s current protein diet by the year 2050. Thankfully, Naak is on a mission to address this dooming food security problem: crickets! Read on to learn about the many benefits of these edible insects. 

Crickets are a superfood

A growing awareness of consumer health has been causing people to think outside the box and turn to healthier alternatives. What better health alternative is there than crickets? Edible insects are a fantastic source of complete protein, polyunsaturated fatty acids, minerals, vitamins, and fiber. Crickets are also a great source of antioxidants, which has been shown to reduce the risk of certain diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Crickets really are thesuperfood of the future! Try some out in ourenergy bars, which are tailored towards endurance athletes searching for an extra boost in performance! 

Crickets are the world’s most sustainable protein source

In addition to nutritional value, insect production has a much smaller negative impact on the environment than traditional sources of protein. Conventional livestock, which includes animals such as cattle and pigs, requires a lot of space and resources that could be used for better purposes. On the other hand, insect farming is far moresustainable. Crickets require 12X less food than beef, 4X less than pork, and 2X less than poultry for the same weight yield. Additionally, crickets require far less water and land for farming, making them much more cost effective to produce than other animals. To top it off, crickets produce 100X less greenhouse gases than beef! 

Crickets are ethically sourced 

Animal farm factories often have widespread unethical practices when it comes to farming animals. For ethical vegans, entomophagy may be a better alternative as cricket “slaughtering” is generally nothing more than a freezing process. Plus, the crickets that Näak chooses come from an insect farm in Ontario, calledEntomo Farms, where they live in conditions similar to nature. Most importantly, their life cycle is respected so that harvest takes place at the end of their natural life span. 

Additionally, as far as entomologists are concerned, insects do not have pain receptors the way vertebrates do. It is widely believed that insects cannot react to physical experiences emotionally. Clickhere to learn more about if crickets feel pain. 

Crickets are extremely versatile and delicious

Crickets can fit into any diet: gluten-free, paleo, or nut-free. Thankfully, they are delicious too, and can be added to a whole array of different foods while packing a nutritional boost. 

For less adventurous eaters, crickets can be consumed in the form ofcricket flour. Cricket flour contains all of the nutrients that crickets have, but in a powder form which can be incorporated into almost all recipes! Cricket flour is usually combined with flour, grain-based or gluten free, which increases the protein and nutritional content of a recipe. When baking, you can substitute ¼ cup to ⅓ cup cricket flour for every 1 cup flour. If you need recipe inspirations, you can find a whole list of recipeshere!

The world is not getting any more land or water, but we still have a growing population. Crickets and other edible insects are an important part of addressing today’s food and environmental challenges. There are plenty of reasons why people are turning to edible insects, which is why at Näak, we chose to include cricket powder into ourenergy bars. At Näak, we believe in sustainable nutrition and our mission is to power the world of ultra sport performance with efficient and sustainable fuel. 

Want to join our movement? Become#cricketpowered today!