Local Farmers turn crickets into protein powder

"Crickets are a great protein source and they're full of a lot of other nutrients and they're much better for the environment."

MOORHEAD, Minn. (KVRR) — A local couple is taking a much noisier approach when it comes to farming.

It’s a sound you usually hear at night and usually don’t think much of it, but to Madeline and Patrick Revier it means business and food.

“This is our cricket farm, we raise acheta domesticus which is the European house cricket and we raise it for human and animal consumption. Most of our focus is on food for people,” cricket farmer, Madeline Revier said

For Patrick, farming isn’t an unknown concept as he grew up in a dairy farm, but when his family sold the farm in 2012 he began to miss the practice.

“I didn’t have anything like that to fall back on so I started doing some research on what kind of farming could I get into for nominal investment and I stumbled upon insect farming,” cricket farmer, Patrick Revier said.

But when he told his wife about the idea just a year ago she wasn’t fully on board at the beginning.

“For people? That was my first reaction,” Madeline said.

It wasn’t long before Madeline came on board and showed her support through helping convert crickets into edible delicacies.

“One of the ways crickets got big in the U.S. is using cricket powder instead of using whey or other things that you get in protein powder. Crickets are a great protein source and they’re full of a lot of other nutrients and they’re much better for the environment. There’s a lot less greenhouse gasses, they use a lot less feed and a lot less water than something like; beef, pork or chicken,” added Madeline.

For Patrick who’s diet restriction keeps him from enjoying most foods, he says crickets are a great gluten free alternative.

“I myself am celiac so I don’t eat gluten, but animal protein is not going to have gluten in it but when you are baking it helps to add more protein to your baking instead of carbohydrates, said” Patrick.

The Revier’s say just two tablespoons cricket powder is equivalent to 13 grams of protein.

For more information on the Revier family farm click here.