Food for Thought: Time to Eat the Bugs

Happy Friday, Mafia!

Welcome back to another edition of the Food for Thought Newsletter! As I sit here on Thursday evening sipping on a nice crisp glass of raw milk, I can’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude. It feels like we are a few weeks of hard work away from seeing our vision for the podcast elevate into something so much greater than we initially ever could have imagined. A few months back, The Meat Mafia decided to make things official and find an office space over on the East Side of Austin. Since then, we’ve been working on trying to refine our strategy, elevate our brand, and build out an Avengers-esque super team to help support the mission. While we still have a ton of work to do, it’s amazing to see our vision for The Meat Mafia expand more and more every week. We plan on sharing much more of what we’re up to in the coming weeks, but I wanted to personally thank you for coming along for the ride up until this point!

Alright, enough small talk. Let’s dive in…

Eat the Bugs: “Insects will be seen as normal food”

A French food company is making some “buzz” in the headlines this week after claiming that insects may become as common as eating lobster or sushi. You’ve likely read the memes about eating the bugs, and well, we’re hear to tell you these memes may be more real than you think.

Ÿnsect is a French-based food company that’s pioneering the vision of bringing insect protein to the masses. Now, insects as food is nothing new. They’ve been eaten across the globe in Asian and Latin American cultures since the dawn of time, however Ÿnsect sees a much bigger market opportunity to popularize bug protein in the West. Now, we’ve heard a lot of anti-beef enthusiasts talk about reducing beef consumption (most notably Bill Gates asking for rich nations to switch to synthetic beef), but bringing insects into the fold is an entirely different conversation. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), insect farming requires lower levels of land and water use and lower GHG emissions than raising ruminants, and some insects even have higher levels of protein in them. It should surprise absolutely nobody that the World Economic Forum is making claims that insect farming is better for the planet than cows.

I am here to inform you that “Big Bug” sees the same opportunity that “Big Food” sees when it comes to the current protein market. The market for alternative proteins has drawn the attention of financiers and entrepreneurs alike because it presents the ability to create more “environmentally friendly” sources of protein than what’s currently on the market (so they say). While most brands hide behind “environmental” reasons as the core driver to shift towards plant protein or bug protein, its clear other factors are at play. For instance, since these new sources of protein can be patented, it makes them a heck of a lot more enticing for investors. These patents create intellectual property as a way to protect new formulations, which creates a competitive advantage for the first movers in the space. In my opinion, this makes the alternative protein market much more investable in the eyes of institutional investors than say the market for regenerative beef. This is one of my least favorite parts about patents in the food system because it incentivizes money to flow toward patentable processed foods as opposed to real foods with no intellectual property rights.

At the end of the day, I don’t see a consumer market for this stuff in the United States, however, the incentives are going to lead to more and more money flowing into the bug protein market, meaning companies are going to do whatever it takes to push the movement forward. Don’t “bug out” if you start seeing more and more normalization of eating bugs in the next several years as these companies continue to push the narrative away from meat and towards their patented bug cakes.

⚡️ Weekly Challenge: A Timed Mile

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. In honor of the Meat Mafia running the Austin Marathon this weekend, we decided to make our challenge for the week a physical one. While Brett and I have run many endurance races before (see a picture from the 100k we ran in August 2022), the Austin Marathon this weekend is going to present a significant set of challenges for your favorite meat guys. For starters, neither Brett nor myself have put the requisite work into training to feel confident about crushing this race. In fact, by all accounts, we’ve hardly gotten enough work in to prepare for a 5k let alone a full marathon. In honor of us running the marathon, our challenge this week is to go out and run a timed mile.

Regardless of your fitness level, a timed mile can be as hard or as easy as you want it to be. As far as overall fitness, a timed mile can act as a great barometer. So, go out there this week and get it tested! Once you have a baseline for your mile, you can put a plan in place to improve it and watch your health flourish week to week because of it!

⏱ The Mafia Week in Review

Kelsi Sheren: A Veteran’s Approach to Mental Health & PTSD

Kesli served as a combat veteran overseas. Upon returning home, she realized her passion for serving her fellow veterans and creating space for them to address problems like mental health. In our podcast with Kelsi, we take a deep dive into the current state of mental health in the modern world.

Brett & Harry: The Ultimate Guide to Sourcing High-Quality Food

Episode #2 of the Brett & Harry series. In this week’s episode, we discuss the importance of sourcing high-quality food and how to find the best food possible (without breaking the bank). If you’re looking to improve your health over a long period of time, this podcast is for you!

 🔥 Weekly Favorites

Have you ever had one of those moments in life where you are jolted into a new reality? Well, that happened to me when I used the Air Fryer for the first time this week to cook a steak. It was like the first time I used the internet or the first time I watched TV on my phone. The technological innovation that is “the Air Fryer” is nothing short of incredible, and I’d liken it to us putting people on the moon. The fact that I can simply open up a $15 steak, throw some salt and pepper on it, and put it in the Air Fryer for 9 minutes at 375 degrees, and at the end of that 9 minutes I have a delicious steak that is unbelievable. Here’s the kicker…an Air Fryer only costs about $70 at Walmart (I even see some for less than that). If I were just getting started with my health and wellness journey I would own 10 of these things, and I would try to learn as many simple recipes and hacks as I could to simplify my nutrition and time spent in the kitchen.