It's pretty much winter, so....

I won’t be hunting insects for a while. I got less this past summer than I had in 2007; some ants and a few interesting things in Louisiana, but not as much as I’d have liked. I spent two very intense months filming a TV program, did roughly 35 library presentations, taught a summer composition class, and had other responsibilities. I stopped posting entries partly because I felt overworked and stressed. Not that I'm complaining, really -- I like being busy.

Future entries will likely continue the different directions my company is going in. I haven’t decided whether it’s better to expand my stock of exotic edible insects or to increase supplies of the species that can be more easily cultivated. Whether to concentrate on developing the educational aspects or product generation. What about that whole ‘office space’ idea, can that possibly be smart? And then there’s the important progress toward gathering the literature and creating a community.

All of these have great potential value, and as I’ve mentioned I’m just one guy. Figuring out how best to spend my energies isn’t easy. New development frequently arise, any of which could bring great success. It could be communication with someone in China or Mexico who says he wants to export insects and is looking for sources, or a journalist writing an article [I just found a new one today], or something else. But I’m not going to include every lead when the vast majority of them end up going nowhere.

Got to get the camera back out; more pictures needed.

Finally: Two important links!!

Hey there, everyone.

Although these things happened about two months ago, and though all of my friends have found them already through simple Google searches, here's the links to those two milestones:

the New York Times article of 2/10/08, written by the great Sam Nejame:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/magazine/10wwln-essay-t.html?_r=1&oref=slogin


and, following the above, my 2/13/08 guest appearance on The Colbert Report:

http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=156551


Maybe it's just taken me this long to get used to the idea that these things have really happened. That said, though, it's not like they've propelled my little company into any stratospheres of prominence and/or success. Yet. But they have been efficacious. My webmaster tracked the "bumps" in the hits, and suchlike marketing details.

More big things ahead...

A Contest in Richmond

Yet more big news: I'm going head-to-head against the renowned David George Gordon. The email was so splendidly official that I am co-opting the text:

On August 1st I was invited to participate in the first annual Broad Appétit, a festival hosted by Richmond's Downtown Neighborhood Association. On Sunday, May 18, 2008, from noon until 5 p.m., West Broad Street will feature Richmond's finest chefs, a bug chef cook-off, specialty food vendors and visual artists. There will be food demonstrations and competitions, a mini-Farmers' Market, children's activities, street performers, music and more. The event will be heavily promoted through print material and advertisements in print and on the radio.

The slightly longer story is this: David George Gordon (whom I saw give his bug cooking presentation way back in 2002 here in Providence, and who, it must be admitted, has been a sort of model for my efforts) has competed against the redoubtable Zack Lemann in the past, and Zack was approached for this event so that the pair could duke it out once more. But AH!, Zack has a engagement set for that weekend that cannot be shifted. Thus the mind reaches for some replacement, so that the contest aspect of the thing can be realized. My name is broached, and deemed acceptable to all parties.

Naturally the news has thrown me into excited nervousness, and it's taken me a week of thinking about it to be ready to "blog it." I need to start planning. More updates on that progress to come.

The Story Thus Far

I live in Providence, RI with my wonderful wife and daughter. In 2001 I realized that insects are the best food with which to feed the world, whereas cows, pigs, and other large mammals are thoroughly inefficient ways to produce food. (Granted there are other concerns, but when someone finds something that really fuels his or her life, obstacles tend to melt away, at least temporarily. I've noticed that the obstacles are still around, and are very substantial.) It’s just that insects are such an elegant solution to so many of the food issues humanity is facing these days that I couldn’t resist getting involved. Besides, it’s fun to feed people insects.

I got started slowly, learning and teaching about edible insects, and didn’t officially form my business until 2005. Sunrise Land Shrimp has been going pretty well. The website needs a lot of updating – it’s one of the reasons for the blog – but there’s still a lot of good information and images there. And contact information, but I’ll include that here too: Dave@slshrimp.com

As for the sense behind the name [this text was once at the top of my home page; I should probably restore it]:

Sunrise because I wanted to send a message that there was
something new under the sun, a new day dawning. Land Shrimp
because insects are to the land what crustaceans are to the sea.

Yet while entomologists tend to like the name quite a bit, most people just scratch their heads and look at me funny. Though I’ve been attached to the company name, the time has come to shift to something more easily identifiable. “Dave’s Gourmet Insects” comes to mind; I’m open to suggestions.

Mostly I’ve been giving educational programs about the uses of insects as food, and at the great majority of these programs I’ve served cooked insects to the attendees. I’m also very interested in obtaining processed insects from all over the world, and I’ve had some small successes in that. Though I’ll write about the bugs themselves of course – and share pictures – this will be more about trying to make the business work. In fact this is long overdue; mass communication is a good way to finally start working smart instead of just working hard.

I’ll do my best to make this entertaining. We’ll see. In the meantime I’ve got some really great T-shirts to move. Just thought I’d toss that out there.