(Transcript from SBS World News Radio)
For many people in Western countries, eating things that squirm, hop and crawl is a fairly new concept.
But in some parts of the world, insects make up a regular part of the diet.
And efforts are underway to try to popularise the concept in the West.
Santilla Chingaipe has the details.
(Click on the audio tab above to hear the full report)
Have you ever heard of chilli lime crickets?
What about spicy super worms?
An increasing number of so-called "entopreneurs," are launching businesses to feed a growing appetite for crickets, mealworms and other edible insects in Western countries.
They are hoping to persuade more Westerners to eat bugs - which they say can be produced with less land, food and water than other sources of animal protein.
Monica Martinez started a small business to entice American consumers with treats inspired by popular snacks in her native Mexico.
"The idea is not to replace meat or poultry. The idea is maybe offer another type of protein into the food market, some type of protein that can a little more sustainable and more ecological."
Inside a commercial kitchen in San Francisco, she empties hundreds of live mealworms, each about five centimetres long, into a plastic container.
She uses chopsticks to pull out dead ones before pouring the squirming insects on a tray and sliding them into an oven.
Ms Martinez say among her specialties are spicy superworms and chocolate-covered, salted crickets.
"Most people who actually say, 'Oh, it's kind of gross,' they said it before trying it. Then they try it and they were like, 'Whoa, you know, is pretty good.'"
Megan Miller is another entrepreneur hoping to cash in, in the huge American market.
Amongst her specialties are orange and ginger cookie - made from a key ingredient, the flour is made from ground up crickets.
Ms Miller sells cricket-based cookies and baked goods online and at upmarket grocery stores.
She says many of her customers are parents looking for a healthy snack for their children.
"For the average American, we're going to start to see people start trying insects in a powdered form, incorporated into foods so they're invisible, before people are going to make the leap to eating whole insects"
According to experts, the growing demand for edible insects is straining supplies of crickets and other bugs.
Oakland-based Tiny Farms is developing more efficient ways to mass produce crickets.
Its founder Daniel Imrie-Situnayake says it wants to create a large network of insect farms to suppy food makers across the US.
"The goal is basically to make it easier and cheaper to produce industrial-scale volumes of insects that can be used in food products. We're really just scraping the surface in terms of figuring out what the potential is for insects to be part of our food system."
So how do consumers react when offered chocolate-covered crickets and spicy superworms?
"It doesn't really taste like a bug. It tastes like crunchy spices // I'm not sure this is going to be my everyday snack, but I think it's fun and I think it's cool // Well, I loaded up just because it's tasty, and it's a great source of protein and it's hard to find. So if I don't load up now, when will I find it again?."
The United Nations has been promoting edible insects as a way to improve nutrition, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create jobs in insect production.
According to the UN, at least two billion people worldwide already eat insects as part of their diet.
