When asked how much money it would take for him to eat a cricket, STRIVE Prep Sunnyside 7th grader Jorge Nevarez said a million dollars. Strike that, not even a million. “I’ll never eat a bug!,” he exclaimed. That is, unless it has the power to change the world…

Wendy Lu, local entrepreneur and founder of the Rocky Mountain Micro Ranch won’t eat a bug for a million dollars either. She does it for free all the time. In fact, she prefers if you pay her for the pleasure of eating one of her crickets or meal worms that she grows and harvests at her Micro Ranch. Which is in fact just what the Sunnyside crew did! Because Wendy’s presentation was so inspiring and because the crickets actually tasted pretty good – it inspired them to share this new wisdom with their peers. Couple that with the crew’s ongoing obsession with cow farts and their caustic affect on our environment, and what do you get? Well, a Sustainable Protein Fair of course!

On Wednesday, December 13th, the CAP Students of Sunnyside organized and hosted a Sustainable Protein Fair for their peers in their school cafeteria. The fair featured 2 custom, sustainable protein themed carnival games that students could play and try to earn prizes from, as well as a wide array of sustainable protein foods that students could sample, many of which were prepared by the CAP crew themselves. These student made offerings featured “complete proteins” that are both easy to prepare and easy to eat.  Stuff like homemade hummus and whole wheat pita, rice and beans, and various creative takes on the classic pb&j sandwich.

With the help of 2 local restaurants, El Jefe and City O’ City, and The Rocky Mountain Micro Ranch, the CAP crew also treated their peers to some atypical protein offerings while educating them about the health and environmental benefits of these unique foods.  City O’ City donated some of their world famous seitan wings for the event, which were an obvious crowd favorite, and many of the students had never tried them before and almost none could believe that they were 100% vegan! Wendy and her colleague Kyle from the Micro Ranch donated roasted crickets and popcorn for the fair, and while not every student was brave enough to try them, those who did finished them all! And lastly, but certainly not least, El Jefe sent their General Manager Anne and Sous Chef Sam to join the festivities, and the two brought samples of their roasted chapulines (grasshoppers!) and crickets that they purchase from RMMR and pair with their delicious queso dip. They also brought some of their grasshopper infused salsa which is both tasty and protein rich!
All in all, the students felt that their event was a huge success, and felt particularly proud about introducing their peers to new types of protein that both taste good and are good for the environment. “Cow farts are ruining the planet,” said Jorge. And the CAP crew at Sunnyside wants to change that – one bug at a time.

A HUGE thanks to Rocky Mountain Micro Ranch, City O’ City & El Jefe for their partnerships and support!

See more photos from our project here!

Written by CAP class instructor, Zach Booz