Feeling Chirpy

Believe it or not, this snack-based post is actually a continuation of our Earth Day initiatives (speaking of which, we are continuing our 5¢ rebate for bringing your own bag through to the end of May!).

OK, bear with me here - you might not like this idea at first but I urge you to read on:

Human beings are outnumbered on this planet by a ratio of 200,000,000:1 by insects. They account for almost 30 times the biomass of all the people on earth. They are an excellent, abundant and eminently renewable source of high quality protein. While many cultures routinely eat a variety of insects, Western cultures mostly don't. Heck, for the longest time most people wouldn't eat lobster because it was too insect-like!

A few years ago, I sampled some roasted-salted crickets that were part of an installation at Nuit Blanche. Once I got over the idea of putting insects in my mouth deliberately I found them to be delicious - delicate, nutty and easy to eat. But you still had to kind of get over the appearance of those familiar lawn creatures lying all toasty in the palm of your hand.

Chirps is a new product recently seen on "Shark Tank". They are a familiar-looking tortilla-shaped snack chip made with a mix of corn, beans, chia seeds, and of course cricket flour. We were reluctant to carry them at first but they are so delicious and so good for the planet at the same time that we thought our customers deserved to be the ones to decide for themselves. You might try a bag as a bit of a novelty or experiment but they might just become your go to snack!