Eating bugs: ‘Chirps’ cricket chips and cookies

Would you eat crickets if they were hidden in crunchy chips or chocolate chip cookies?

Bugs are a regular part of some diets in other parts of the world, though in the United States many typically do their best to keep them out of their food. But three Harvard University graduates are hoping to make insects a part of our regular diets by transforming them into familiar snacks.

Laura D’Asaro, Rose Wang and Merly Natow are the women behind Six Foods, a company that the three former roommates started to create cricket chips and cookies. They’re using a cricket flour made by slow roasting milled crickets. With the help of professional chef Geoff Lukas, Six Foods created recipes for Chirps cricket chips and chocolate Chirp cookies.

The Chirps are made with beans, rice and the cricket flour, then baked to look like regular, dark tortilla chips.

The women came up with the idea while participating in the Harvard Innovation Lab’s Venture Incubation Program last fall.

“Our Chirps, in comparison to potato chips, have 3x the protein, are gluten free, all natural and have half the fat,” says Six Foods’ website. “In just one serving you get 7 grams of protein.”

D’Asaro, Wang and Natow set up a Kickstarter campaign to fund their effort to mass produce the Chirp chips. The campaign already has more than 600 backers and has raised $33,669 at the time of publication, surpassing the $30,000 goal.

The chips will come in three flavors, including sea salt, hickory barbecue and aged cheddar. Depending on how much you pledge, campaign backers will have a chance to try the Chirp chips and cookies.