{"id":12377,"date":"2022-06-01T11:54:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-01T15:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/biology\/?p=12377"},"modified":"2026-02-23T15:51:45","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T20:51:45","slug":"why-cricket-protein-could-be-a-game-changer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/biology\/2022\/why-cricket-protein-could-be-a-game-changer\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Cricket Protein Could be a Game-Changer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<section class=\"w-screen px-6 cu-section cu-section--white ml-offset-center md:px-8 lg:px-14\">\n    <div class=\"space-y-6 cu-max-w-child-5xl  md:space-y-10 cu-prose-first-last\">\n\n            <div class=\"cu-textmedia flex flex-col lg:flex-row mx-auto gap-6 md:gap-10 my-6 md:my-12 first:mt-0 max-w-5xl\">\n        <div class=\"justify-start cu-textmedia-content cu-prose-first-last\" style=\"flex: 0 0 100%;\">\n            <header class=\"font-light prose-xl cu-pageheader md:prose-2xl cu-component-updated cu-prose-first-last\">\n                                    <h1 class=\"cu-prose-first-last font-semibold !mt-2 mb-4 md:mb-6 relative after:absolute after:h-px after:bottom-0 after:bg-cu-red after:left-px text-3xl md:text-4xl lg:text-5xl lg:leading-[3.5rem] pb-5 after:w-10 text-cu-black-700 not-prose\">\n                        Why Cricket Protein Could be a Game-Changer\n                    <\/h1>\n                \n                                \n                            <\/header>\n\n                    <\/div>\n\n            <\/div>\n\n    <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n<p>Our planet&#8217;s population is expected to reach nearly 11 billion by the end of this century, which will create a major global challenge: How will we feed so many people?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Current agricultural practices, whether producing animals or crops, require too much land, water, feed or fertilizer to be sustainable at such a scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But Carleton University PhD student&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ottawa.ctvnews.ca\/a-beefier-cricket-carleton-phd-student-looking-to-pack-more-protein-into-edible-insects-1.5437107\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Matt Muzzatti<\/a> believes a small creature could play a big role in the solution to our global food crisis. His research can help provide important protein and nutrients and, at the same time, shows what&#8217;s possible when we address significant problems in innovative ways. Through his research, Muzzatti is attempting to optimize the diet of farmed crickets, to minimize the inputs and maximize the yield. In his lab at Carleton University, he raises hundreds of the insects inside individual plastic cups, which are arrayed on cafeteria trays and kept inside an incubator where the temperature and light can be precisely controlled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter wp-caption\" id=\"attachment_668\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/challenge.carleton.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/matt-muzzatti-1200x700-1b.jpg\" alt=\"PhD student Matt Muzzatti, who believes cricket protein could play a big role in the solution to our global food crisis\" class=\"wp-image-668\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Carleton University PhD student Matt Muzzatti<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Muzzatti, a budding&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/biology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">biologist<\/a>, is exploring the mass rearing of crickets as an alternative food source. &#8220;The edible insect industry likes to describe them as a sustainable superfood,&#8221; he says. &#8220;Not only are they healthy for you, but they also require a lot fewer resources to farm than a comparable amount of protein from conventional sources of meat like beef, pork or poultry.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Versatile cricket protein powder can be added to pasta sauce, smoothies or just about anything you&#8217;re cooking, while the roasted crickets are described as having a nutty, sunflower-like taste. Both are an option for vegetarians looking for alternative sources of protein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/challenge.carleton.ca\/cricket-protein-edible-insects\/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=homepage&amp;utm_campaign=challenge&amp;utm_content=banner\">Click here to read the full story!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our planet&#8217;s population is expected to reach nearly 11 billion by the end of this century, which will create a major global challenge: How will we feed so many people? Current agricultural practices, whether producing animals or crops, require too much land, water, feed or fertilizer to be sustainable at such a scale. But Carleton [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12387,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grad-student-news","category-news"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12377"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12388,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12377\/revisions\/12388"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}