Episode 37 - The Ento Podcast

You're listening to the into podcast and I am your host Ross.

Thanks so much for tuning in, I really appreciate you giving me your ears.

Todays show is not a usual show as they will start again in the new year, but more of a bio show where we look at at someone leading the way in the Into world.

But before we do that I just want to say hi to some of the latest followers, really think I should have started this when I stared the show back in 2017 but the show is now listed to in too many countries and by too many people for me to start but leave me a comment for todays show at the Ento podcast.co.uk  and you could get a shout out on the next one.

So Hi and thanks for tuning in to Josh Kraut, karl schmieder thanks so much for liking the show.

Ok, as I said earlier todays show is going to be a Bio show and we will be looking at Robert Nathan Allen better known as RNA…and if you don’t know or haven’t heard of RNA then after todays show I need you to go and sit on the naughty step especially if you are a US listener

Robert Nathan Allen (RNA) for me being outside of the US has to be the biggest spokes person.. advocate of entomophagy I know. Don’t get me wrong there are people who have been doing this longer and people who have more publicity but only just started but RNA has been to use a phrase loud and proud about eating insects and their use as feed as long as the UN report.

 

He founded little Herds, has worked for Aspire Foods, co founded Grub tubs and is also involved with the North American Coalition for Insect Agriculture

 

So lets start at the beginning

 

Little Herds - http://www.littleherds.org/

 

Little Herds is an educational nonprofit based in Austin, Texas and they teach kids about insects as a resource efficient, nutritious and delicious food or feed through experiential STEAM based programs; family friendly events; public advocacy outreach; and partnerships with educators, universities and other organizations.

 

STEAM fields are science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics,

 

Their mission is to educate and empower communities, both locally and globally, to support and promote the use of insects for food and feed as an environmentally sound and economically viable source of nutrition.

 

Aspire Foods - Aspire Food Group,

 

Manufactures a variety of food products made from crickets,

 

Aspire are based in the US and in Ghana

 

In the US they raise food-grade crickets on a commercial scale, and are actively working to normalise the consumption of insects in the western world.

 

They use robotics and data collection in their cricket farms in the US enabling them automate the feeding and heating of the livestock and are using the data they have gathered to help them build autonomous robotic systems to farm their insects from hatch-to-harvest.

 

Their proprietary technology enables rapid and high-fidelity integration of farming techniques, resulting in process standardisation and farm modularity which means their farms can be built anywhere and consistently provide reliable, low-cost yield.

 

In Ghana they commercially farm palm weevil larvae and run a program which empowers peri-rural farmers to raise palm weevils locally.

 

From their travels around Southern Thailand they learned the basics of palm weevil larva farming from Thai farmers and later they used their precision-farming principles and adapted the Thai farming techniques for the local African species, reducing the cost and increasing the supply of palm weevil larva., where palm weevil larva had previously only been harvested from the wild.

 

Aketta - http://www.aketta.com/

 

Through their Aketta brand they sell their crickets dried whole or powdered along with a range of granola but in March of 2018 they announced that they had acquired Exo, which makes protein bars made from crickets. - https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2018/03/08/cricket-food-company-aspire-acquires-cricket-protein-bar-maker-exo/

 

 

Grub tubs - https://www.grubtubs.com/

 

Started in Austin, Texas, GrubTubs Inc. has a new take on food waste. Supporting family farms across Texas by turning food waste into economical animal feed. GrubTubs collects food from restaurants before it ends up in land fill and uses it to help local farmers turn it into sustainable animal feed.

 

Our process starts at the table and in the kitchen, the leftover food is collected and stored in their air-tight, sanitised tubs, which allows them to preserve nutrients for animal feed. The tubs are then picked up from restaurants and taken to the farm, where they use Black soldier fly to turn the food waste into nutrient rich food which chickens, pigs and fish all love to eat.

 

 

NAICS - North American Coalition for Insect Agriculture - http://www.edibleinsectcoalition.org/

 

Robert Nathan Allen is the Chairman of NAICS

 

The North American Coalition for Insect Agriculture (NACIA) began in 2016 when around fifty stakeholders in the insects for food and feed industry met at the Eating Insects Detroit Conference.

 

Initially working as the North American Edible Insect Coalition (NAEIC), through 2016 and 2017 a board of directors was nominated and elected from among the public by and for the educators, researchers and entrepreneurs in the growing “BugAg,” movement.

 

With the recent advances for the potential uses of insects beyond food products, the Board would like to be able to provide the most accurate information to the public, assist in new avenues of research and provide resources for new market entrants. Consequently we felt the change from NAEIC to NACIA would better reflect the broader diversity of species and applications for insects and insect products. Thank you for your interest and please contact us with any specific questions.

 

Member Levels

• Student:
• Higher Level Academia:
• Individual:
• Non-industry Organizations:
• Industry Individual:
• Industry Company:

 

Benefits

• Food Safety Information:
• Insect Farming Guidance:
• Research Access: 
• State of the Market Report: 
• HACCP Plan Tutorial:
• Online Forum: All levels

 

 

 

That’s it for today’s show, so thanks again for listening it really means a lot and if you enjoyed it please head over to iTunes and subscribe to the show or like us on Facebook.

 

But that’s it for today so this is Ross saying Ta-ra for now.

 

 

RNA - Videos

 

RNA's B-day Bug Dinner - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oag931T2D8Q&index=2&list=PLIAAuYOC6IsR8pSIjBBJEuYxPrn9Vdw3A

 

EATING BUGS! Edible Insects with Little Herds, Austin Nonprofit - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-Lj5df3d4A&list=PLIAAuYOC6IsR8pSIjBBJEuYxPrn9Vdw3A

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfLU67HbfkEUvDnZFY7-fyQ