????他們看到了一個(gè)大機(jī)遇：消費(fèi)昆蟲蛋白質(zhì)對(duì)環(huán)境的損害要遠(yuǎn)低于傳統(tǒng)蛋白質(zhì)來源——與雞、牛和豬相比，飼養(yǎng)、收獲和加工昆蟲耗費(fèi)的資源要少得多。因此，這類食品特別容易撥動(dòng)熱衷于可持續(xù)發(fā)展理念的當(dāng)代人的心弦。昆蟲含有豐富的蛋白質(zhì)和諸如ω-3脂肪酸這類關(guān)鍵的營養(yǎng)素。這類產(chǎn)品的制作成本相對(duì)較低，而且直到目前，競爭對(duì)手寥寥無幾。

????但要說服美國人吃任何一種以令人毛骨悚然的爬蟲為原料的食物，可不是一件容易做到的事情。不同于很多發(fā)展中國家——聯(lián)合國糧農(nóng)組織(Food and Agriculture Organization)估計(jì)，有20億發(fā)展中國家人口每天依靠多達(dá)1,900種昆蟲為食——美國人和其他西方國家一向認(rèn)為蜘蛛、蝗蟲、蟋蟀、蒼蠅和蜜蜂皆是令人不勝其擾的小動(dòng)物，必須趕緊驅(qū)離，或者干脆當(dāng)場殲滅。

????但克勞利和其他可食用昆蟲愛好者正在把推動(dòng)這個(gè)行業(yè)的希望寄托在更年輕，更具環(huán)保意識(shí)的千禧一代身上，希望他們不只是把昆蟲食品當(dāng)作類似蝎子棒棒糖這種惡作劇禮物，或者一次性自助餐，還會(huì)推動(dòng)這類食品成為健康食品商店、小吃店和大食品連鎖店銷售的一種主食。他們聲稱，關(guān)鍵是要大力宣揚(yáng)吃昆蟲產(chǎn)品對(duì)健康的好處，同時(shí)要強(qiáng)調(diào)昆蟲食品的環(huán)境足跡要遠(yuǎn)小于傳統(tǒng)蛋白質(zhì)來源這一事實(shí)。

????“我們正在努力為子孫后代建立一個(gè)更具可持續(xù)性，更節(jié)約資源，更適應(yīng)氣候變化的食物系統(tǒng)，”克勞利說。

????露絲?王認(rèn)同這種看法。五月份，這位Six Foods公司聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人在眾籌平臺(tái)Kickstarter上籌集了7萬美元，開始制作Chirps蟋蟀條，她希望這款產(chǎn)品能夠在今年秋天進(jìn)入食品店。在接受電郵采訪時(shí)，王女士表示，“這就是吃昆蟲能夠帶給我們的美好愿景?！彼赋?，昆蟲不僅具有高蛋白，低脂肪等特質(zhì)，而且可以在小空間內(nèi)人性化飼養(yǎng)，無需使用抗生素或生長激素。“毫無疑問，昆蟲是最人性化的吃肉方式，”她說。“隨著人們對(duì)于食物的來源和生產(chǎn)方式有了更深入的了解，他們?cè)絹碓皆敢饨邮芟窭ハx這種全新的可持續(xù)性食物。”

????在環(huán)保之路上，EnviroFlight公司創(chuàng)始人兼CEO格倫?考特賴特走得更遠(yuǎn)。他的公司每年利用估計(jì)3,600 萬噸運(yùn)送至垃圾填滿場的食品垃圾，來喂養(yǎng)被他稱為黑士兵的蒼蠅幼蟲。然后，衍生自脫水蠅蛆的蛋白粉和油被打包運(yùn)送到寵物市場，以及養(yǎng)魚戶和養(yǎng)豬戶。這些農(nóng)民一直吵著要求獲得一種能夠替代魚粉的蛋白物質(zhì)——海洋已經(jīng)被過度捕撈，難以為繼。

????此外，EnviroFlight正在與世界各地的飼料行業(yè)合作，為后者提供養(yǎng)育昆蟲飼料的技術(shù)和專業(yè)知識(shí)支持。考特賴特預(yù)計(jì)今年的業(yè)務(wù)量將增長50%，他正在努力跟上不斷增長的需求。

????考特賴特聲稱，“大企業(yè)明白，必須找到一種傳統(tǒng)魚粉的替代物，一種具有可持續(xù)性的替代物?！痹谵D(zhuǎn)向飼料行業(yè)之前，他起初嘗試著從昆蟲、細(xì)菌和藻類中提煉生物燃料?！八麄儗l(fā)現(xiàn)這種產(chǎn)品是可行的，意識(shí)到昆蟲技術(shù)不是騙局，就會(huì)找上門來?！?/p>

????但這些小動(dòng)物能否像比薩餅在二戰(zhàn)后，或壽司在20世紀(jì)70年代那樣風(fēng)行一時(shí)？

????數(shù)十年來，食蟲學(xué)家（即那些主張食用昆蟲的人士）一直在竭力推動(dòng)六條腿和八條腿的小動(dòng)物進(jìn)入消費(fèi)者的餐盤。有專家認(rèn)為，與昆蟲相關(guān)的新企業(yè)不斷涌現(xiàn)，或?qū)⒊蔀檫@種努力的轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn)。

????The big opportunity they see: the consumption of insects as protein is much less taxing on the environment—growing, harvesting and processing them takes far less resources than chickens, cows and pigs, one percent of the greenhouse gasses of cattle and 100 times less water—so they tap into the current sustainability craze. They’re rich in protein and other key nutrients like omega-3 acids. And the products can be made at a low cost—until now, with very little competition.

????But convincing Americans to eat anything containing creepy crawlers is not an easy sell. Unlike the developing world, where the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that two billion people depend daily on as many as 1,900 insect species for food, Americans and much of the West have long considered spiders, grasshoppers, crickets, flies and bees to be a nuisance that must be swatted away or stamped out.

????But Crowley and other edible insect aficionados are counting on younger, environmentally-conscious Millennials to move the sector beyond gag gifts like lollipops with scorpions or one-off bug buffets to become a staple in health food stores, snack stands and the larger food chain. The key, they say, is playing up the health benefits of eating products with insects while emphasizing bugs’ small environmental footprint.

????“We are trying to set up future generations with a more sustainable food system, one that is more resource efficient and one that is more adaptable to a more changing climate,” Crowley says.

????Rose Wang, co-founder of Six Foods, which in May raised $70,000 on Kickstarter to make its Chirps cricket chips and hopes to have the product in stores by fall, agrees. “It’s all about the vision of what eating insects can be,” Wang said in an e-mail interview, pointing out that the bugs are high in protein, low in fat, and can be raised humanely in small spaces, without antibiotics or growth hormones. “There is no question that insects are the most humane way to eat meat,” she says, “And as people become more cognizant of where their food comes from and how it is produced, they are becoming more open to new sustainable foods like insects.”

????Glen Courtright, CEO and founder of EnviroFlight, is going even further with the environmental approach. His company takes some of the estimated 36 million tons of food waste that ends up in landfills each year and feeds it to the larvae of black soldier flies. A protein meal and oil derived from the dehydrated fly larvae are then packaged and shipped to the pet trade–as well as fish and pig farmers who are clamoring for a protein substitute for fishmeal, which comes from already overfished oceans.

????EnviroFlight is also partnering with the feed industry around the world to provide its technology and know-how on raising insects for animal feed. Courtright expects to see growth of 50 percent this year, adding that he is struggling to keep up with demand.

????“Big business understands there has to be a fish meal replacement, a sustainable fish meal replacement,” said Courtright, who initially explored producing oil from insects, bacteria and then algae for biofuels before shifting to the feed sector. “They are seeing the viability of the product and they are understanding insect technologies are real and they are coming.”

????But will insects catch on as pizza did after World War II or sushi did in the 1970s?

????Some experts think the deluge of new insect-related companies could be a turning point in entomophagists’ (that’s those who advocate for insects as food) decades-long battle to get the six and eight-legged critters onto the plates of consumers.