Beekeeping Out; Locust-Keeping In

Welcome to the next phase of urban farming. The next step: grasshoppers, crickets, and beetles.

NPR's The Salt reports that two students are creating locust-raising kits for refugee camps in Kenya, where farming resources are hard to find. So while cows may not be the best option for dry areas without water, bugs do the trick.

The kit contains two cardboard compartments, one side for eggs and pupae, and the other side for grown locusts. There are also instructions for feeding and harvesting, plus starting up a locust farm.

Students have entered this into the James Dyson Award competition for design, and the idea may just work. Since locusts and grasshoppers are already eaten across the world, sometimes considered a delicacy, the kit may work for refugee camps in need of food. And hey, maybe Noma chef René Redzepi will pick up a kit or two; he did toy around with serving live ants.