"There's no question insects are the most environmentally sustainable way to eat meat," said Laura D'Asaro, a co-founder of Six Foods, a new venture formed to make food from insects.
D'Asaro ate her first insects—fried caterpillars and termites—in Tanzania, and says she loved the taste immediately. "They're very high in vitamins and minerals. Four crickets have as much calcium as a glass of milk, and more iron per gram than beef. The potential is huge."
Insects have been eaten in various parts of the world for centuries. A United Nations report on edible insects issued in 2013 pointed to estimates that "insects form part of the traditional diets of at least 2 billion people." But people in Western countries have not exactly embraced this culinary tradition.
"It is safe to say that most are reluctant to even consider eating insects and, moreover, that they perceive the practice to be associated with primitive behaviour," the report concluded glumly.
(View more: Get ready to eat...insects)
With the world population expanding, however, Westerners may be persuaded to reconsider their aversion to six-legged creatures. For one thing, they require much less feed to produce meat. "Crickets are twice as efficient in converting feed to meat as chicken, at least four times more efficient than pigs, and 12 times more efficient than cattle," the U.N. report found.
Insects are even more efficient when it comes to water consumption, and they produce far fewer greenhouse gas emissions than livestock. As for body fat, forget it. A cricket is about 60 percent protein, according to Rose Wang, a co-founder of Six Foods. That's leaner than a CrossFit addict.
(Read more: New Zealand lamb goes to pot in China)