Distinctly Montana Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.distinctlymontana.com/i/1027685
W W W. D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA NA . C O M 55 e answer might be insects. According to a report released by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization in 2013, there are more than 1,900 edible insect species out there. In countries like ailand and Mexico, bugs have been on the menu for hundreds of years. ey are an extremely good source of protein and minerals, and pound-for-pound, use a tiny fraction of the resources used to cultivate livestock like cattle, pigs, and chickens. In Belgrade, a couple of young entrepreneurs are leading the charge in Montana to develop what might be the next wave in the feed- ing of humankind. ey're running a cricket farm. In a brown, corrugated metal building in a small business park just off the flight line of the Belgrade airport, James and Kathy Rolin are raising hundreds of thousands of crickets not only for food, but for breeding stock for their partner farms. Cowboy Cricket Farms is currently the only business of its kind in Montana, but the enterprising pair have cultivated a network of seven part- ner farms throughout the western U.S., with an eye to another one in Mexico. Kathy had the idea for Cowboy Crickets in 2016 as a nutrition student at MSU. Entomophagy, the practice of eating bugs, is already part of many cultures, and Kathy's vision for the food security of the world features insects on the board of fare. "Novelty is not our focus," says the Coast Guard veteran. "Our main focus is on our partnerships." More than one hundred people have contacted Cowboy Cricket Farms to express their interest in getting into cricket farming, and several have attended their training seminars in Belgrade. by EDNOR THERRIAULT W ITH GRAZING CATTLE DOTTING THE HILLSIDES AND PRAIRIES IN NEARLY EVERY COUNTY ACROSS MONTANA, YOU DON'T HAVE TO LOOK FAR TO FIND A THICK PORTERHOUSE THAT HANGS OFF THE EDGE OF YOUR PLATE. at juicy steak comes at a price, though, and not just the one at the bottom of the restaurant check. Live- stock require resources like water, land, and feed, and with a quarter of the earth's arable land used for livestock grazing and a third of croplands used to grow feed, we're approaching the tipping point of sustainability. e human population of earth is projected to hit nine billion people in 2050, and as it is, nearly one billion people worldwide are struggling with food security. Crickets in hand Liam has a protein-packed snack.