This advice may upset some parents.
In a new essay for Insider, food writer Tiffany Leigh revealed that she feeds her 18-month-old daughter crickets as a source of protein, claiming it saves her hundreds of dollars on grocery bills.
The Toronto mom began supplementing her daughter’s more expensive protein diet of beef, chicken and pork with whole roasted crickets, cricket protein powder and Cheeto-type cricket puff pastry snacks.
He said he has been able to reduce his grocery bill from $250 to $300 a week to between $150 and $200.
The Post reached out to Leigh for comment.
Crickets contain quite a bit of protein, according to Heathline, which reports that edible crickets may even have a higher protein count than goat, chicken and pork.
The outlet also noted that cricket protein powder contains 65.5% protein.
In the essay, Leigh wrote that “just 2 tablespoons of cricket powder provides 100 percent of a baby’s daily protein needs, which for my 20-pound baby is nine to 14 grams per day, or 11 grams on average.” “.
Leigh explained that she has always been open to trying new things and doesn’t discriminate when it comes to bugs. She says that she has eaten fried tarantula legs, ants, crickets and even a scorpion on a stick.
He wrote that when he traveled to places like Vietnam and Thailand, he admired how insects were added to classic dishes and decided to do the same with his own son in a three-week experiment.
Eating insects is certainly not a new concept: In 2013, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations published a study that found that eating these critters could be a solution to climate change and world hunger, and The world population is expected to increase to 9 billion people by 2050.
Leigh noted that her daughter has no dietary restrictions or allergies (those with shellfish allergies should be careful about eating edible insects).
She remembers starting this journey by giving her daughter Cheeto-type puffs, which are made by a brand called Almost Foods. She reports that her daughter loved them.
She then decided to feed her daughter a whole roasted cricket, which she immediately spat out, shaking her head and saying “No.”
Leigh claims that when she mixed up the crickets and put them into pancake batter, her daughter didn’t seem to notice and even waved for more.
“I ate some and could understand why, you couldn’t tell there were crickets in these fluffy cakes,” Leigh wrote. “The only difference was that they had a slightly nutty finish.”
At dinner time, she put the cricket protein powder into a macaroni and cheese mix, which was also a big hit.
Insects can also be a great source of vitamins and minerals, including iron, zinc, and calcium, according to Everyday Health.
Leigh plans to continue giving her daughter other edible insects in her meals, such as ants, grasshoppers, and worms.
