Cricket Shelter: Modular Edible Insect Farm

The United Nations has mandated insect sourced protein is a major component to solving global food distribution problems. Raising cattle, pigs, and chicken for meat products all require immense amounts of fresh water. Harvesting insects for food typical takes three hundred times less water for the same amount of protein. This small farm introduces a sophisticated and ultra-sanitary method of locally harvesting insects for the production of cricket flour in fine cuisine. It also serves as a new topology for a specialty restaurant, eatery, storehouse or similar architectural program. Introducing crickets into the modern American/ European diet is not a simple task, but there is precedent. For example, a few decades ago American’s did not wish to eat raw fish. Yet positive change materialized after sushi was introduced on a culturally refined and hygienic level. The same kind of approach needs to be embedded in the cultivation of crickets to achieve the cleanliness, quality, and purity of the farm-to-table system. Structurally, the shelter is minimized into easily manufactured bio-unit elements as linked off-the-shelf plastic containers with CNC plywood archway splines. Each bio-unit was modified to add ventilation screens, flexible insect sacks, locally controlled louvers, and permeable feeder ports with rotating locking mechanisms. The wind quill passive ventilation component magnifies the sound of cricket chirping in columns of vibrating air. The scheme has a multipronged focus on international hunger solutions, sustainable food distribution methods and modular compact architecture.