Cricket Bites: 3-Pack of Assorted Flavor Edible Insects (Made in Portland, Oregon) by Cricket Flours

I've watched a TED talk or two, had a co-worker that said he's invested in a startup company making snack bars with cricket flour and googled several videos on eating insects. Finally, I decided to jump in and try it. It worked, and this company's product seemed the most sane buying option after window shopping my Amazon options.I like it. It'll never be a main course, but it is a valuable addition to 15 bean soup and my fried chicken salads I buy at work. If you think your nutritional profile is missing a little something something that you just quite can't get a handle on, this may be it.As a standard Westerner (dietary-wise), it took a little to get past the cultural programming. At first I thought I'd wasted my money. I'm not going to lie, there was a period of "OMG! That doesn't taste exactly like what I'm accustomed to after 51 years of eating! Foreign! Gross! This is something a 5y.o. kid would eat that doesn't know any better, what am I doing?!"But the objective side of me afterwards was more: but it didn't *actually* taste bad. Earthy/nutty are commonly used descriptors, and I agree. Crickets don't taste like chicken, crickets taste like crickets, and it's a rich flavor all on its own. There's no direct analogue, at least if you're a standard Westerner like me that's never eaten bugs in your life. It might taste like other bugs, for all I know at this time.My turning point was at work, I'd taken the bag in to talk to friends about it, and told them it was a waste of money. I'd poured a palm-full out, ate one and finally said no! After eating maybe 10 total before then. And I threw the palm-full in the trash with the intent to also throw the 1/2lb bag out as an experiment that failed. But a corner of my mind thought "you just threw away something valuable". Not money-wise, but valuable. And that was a turning point.I gradually have become a real fan. I think they add a good type of variety to your diet that is lacking in Western society purely due to cultural programming. They do not taste bad at all, it is truly in your head - at least for me it was. They actually do make a tasty addition to other dishes, that is most likely a healthy addition, too.

Since around 2 billion people (around 30% of the world's population) eat insects as part of their traditional diet says the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization I figured I'd give mealworms a try. I have since gone onward and also have tried grasshoppers, crickets, locust, bamboo worms, silk worms, scorpions, sago worms and Ants. Since Insects contain more than twice as much protein per 100g as meat and fish they are a valuable protein source. Getting past mental blocks ingrained by propaganda is the difficult part. But I have managed that hurdle and enjoy crickets and grasshoppers especially. I also now have several 'insect' cookbooks too.

Purchased these to eat on my YT channel with the kids. I was kind of upset by the small packages, but we got over it pretty quick once we started eating them. Once you get past the texture, they make for a decent little snack.Spicy Cayenne - Not much flavor...Pretty bland, but gave a nice burn in the aftertaste.Buffalo Wing - Pretty good! Kind of sweet, but tasted decent overall. My youngest loved this flavor.Original - Tasted like a saltine cracker. Not bad. One of the best of the bunch.Bacon - My personal favorite. It tasted exactly like the charred bits that come off a piece of well-cooked bacon. Absolutely delicious!Cheesy Ranch - More like foot. Tasted like a dirty sock smells after a hard day of hiking. This flavor should be abandoned. This flavor should be banished. This is not a flavor meant for human consumption. Animals will avoid this. Flies won't even bother investigating. As a last resort in a survival situation, I would rather not survive than eat cheesy ranch. It was that bad. HahaPrice - Please...Come on...Really?

Got a three pack of the cheese ranch and it doesn't really taste like either, but the flavor is still pretty good when you pop a 6-12 at once. The texture is a little strange but that's likely due to how I received the package, as I've had crickets before. Unfortunately, these were shipped to me in an envelope so they came pretty well smashed up.. hardly resemble crickets at all. The bags have a bunch of legs in it so I have to imagine they were originally attached when shipped.Overall, wouldn't order again. I was hoping for a better cheese ranch flavor.

Used them in a recipe for our D&D game.Everyone was surprised and tried them

This was the first time I've ever eaten bugs. I bought this product because there was a variety of flavors and I figured if I liked at least one of them it'd be money well-spent. My hopes were not met, though. I tried the "original" first to have something to compare the rest to. They didn't taste bad, but they weren't really good either. The flavor was a little smokey and the initial bite had a nice crunch, but the cricket quickly took on a texture similar to sawdust. The other flavors were very lackluster, with no real difference in flavor than the original. The Cayenne flavor had a bit of heat, but it was still accompanied by the "original" flavor. If I had to pick a favorite out of the five I received, it would have to be the buffalo flavor. It is the only one that had any noticeable flavor difference, but it was still a very mild flavor.

I squirmed on the first two or three but after that they were a go to snack. Even had trouble with the kids stealing them. Also I think as American we are a sheltered from the fact that insects are really a normal and viable food source for most of the world. Glad I broke that barrier.