Wild-sourced silk cocoons spin rich, natural colors (gold, silver and earth) with a unique metallic sheen. Unlike the domesticated silkworm, the lacey, glittering cocoon makes a beautiful non-spun textile that CPALI is marketing in the US and Europe on behalf of farmers in Madagascar. (Read on to see why we should also eat silkworms.)
Sericulture brings hope to people and forests under distress: local communities farm native species of silkworms and harvest the mini-ecosystem of by-products (cocoons, insect pupae removed from the cocoons that provide high value protein, edible mushrooms that colonize decaying tailings of coppiced host trees, vanilla, an epiphyte that that can grow on the host plant). More at A Flutter of Hope: Sericulture brings hope to people and forests under distress 25 MAR 15 / TEXT: CATHERINE CRAIG for HandEye
YES – ” insect pupae removed from the cocoons provide high value protein” – I’m on a mission to see people eat more bugs and worms rather than cute, furry mammals (pigs, cows, sheep) and birds (pheasant, duck, dove, quail), and fewer chickens.
Exoprotein (“why eat crickets?”) is a concept/product you may hear more of in the future:
At Exo, we believe that insects are one of the solutions to humanity’s protein dilemma. They are as natural to eat as fruits and vegetables and are a more complete form of protein than many livestock alternatives. Insects can provide us, ethically and sustainably, with the nutrients that our bodies require.
Gabi Lewis (left) and Greg Sewitz Co-CEOs of EXO
We need a new source of protein, one that can sustain the world into the future. Earth’s population is growing by 75 million people each year. To meet the demands of this immense growth, we’ll have to triple our food production. Conventional livestock is simply not a sustainable food source, on the whole producing more greenhouse gases than the entire transport sector. The amount of water required to produce just one pound of steak equals that consumed by a family of four for a full year.
Insects have marginal environmental impact. They produce virtually no methane, reproduce extremely quickly, and require minimal feed, water and space. It is estimated that crickets are 20x more efficient to raise for protein than cattle.
Eating insects is nothing new. Humans have consumed insects, the most abundant terrestrial life form excluding bacteria, for an exceedingly long time. Today, 80% of the world still eats over 1,600 species of insects…
See more healthy, handsome bug-eating entrepreneurs at https://www.exoprotein.com/our-team
Protein Bars from Cricket Flour. banana “ice cream” sandwiches
#cleaneating @exo_protein
