Crickets are considered a good source of proteins, vitamins and minerals.
A woman in Canada has announced a shocking change in her baby's diet to cut down on the family's grocery bill. Author Tiffany Leigh told Insider that she has added crickets to her 18-month-old toddler's diet. She said she did this to fulfill the nutritional needs of her child. The cost of living has been going up in several parts of the world due to economic upheaval, while the remuneration of people has remained the same. Many of them have made adjustments, including cutting down expenses, to stay afloat. But Ms Leigh's decision has shocked many.
"As a food writer, I've always been the type of person who will try anything - including entomophagy, otherwise known as eating insects. I've tasted everything from fried tarantula legs to scorpion on a stick. I've also enjoyed crickets and ants when traveling to countries like Thailand and Vietnam, and I loved how they were incorporated into local dishes to enhance their textural appeal," she told Insider.
Talking about feeding crickets to her baby, the author said that it was not due to adventurousness but practicality.
"With a baby, our food costs have spiked to about $250 to $300 a week. To supplement the rising prices, I decided to get Cricket Puff snacks, Cricket Protein Powder, and Whole Roasted Crickets from Entomo Farms. Because I've started rotating these insects with more traditionally expensive proteins like beef, chicken, and pork, I've managed to cut my bill down to about $150 to $200 a week," she told the outlet.
Last year, Moody's Analytics said that an average American household is spending $433 more a month to buy the same goods and services it did a year ago.
It blamed the stubbornly high inflation in the country that is stretching the typical budget.