北美最大的蟋蟀农场如何每周收获5000万只 | 大生意：英语精读讲义

There are about 15 million crickets in this room.

这个房间里大约有1500万只蟋蟀。

Here, they'll live out their lives freely 短語動詞

在这里，它们会自由自在地度过一生，

until they're transformed into food.

直到被制成食物。

The purpose of the condos is to give the crickets somewhere to live.

这些“公寓”是为了给蟋蟀提供栖身之所。

And so generally, they are resting inside the condos.

所以，它们通常会待在“公寓”里休息。

They'll come up, have a drink of water,

它们会爬上来喝点水，

have some food, and then go back down to rest again.

吃点东西，然后再下去休息。

It's difficult to perceive how many crickets are actually in a room like this

在这样的房间里，很难看出到底有多少只蟋蟀，

because of course they were all living inside their happy little condos.

因为它们全都住在自己舒适的小“公寓”里。

We just take the condo, give it a bang,

我们只要拿起“公寓”敲一下，

and all the crickets come out.

所有蟋蟀就都出来了。

Most of these crickets will be milled into a powder

这些蟋蟀大多会被磨成粉，

that can be used like flour.

可以像面粉一样使用。

Mm.

嗯。

It's good.

味道不错。

You can even taste the cricket.

甚至能尝出蟋蟀的味道。

Or you can snack on them whole like chips. 短語搭配

也可以像吃薯片一样，把整只蟋蟀当零食吃。

Mm.

嗯。

This one is barbecue flavored.

这个是烧烤味的。

Though you may be thinking this is a strange choice for food, 語法

虽然你可能觉得把蟋蟀当食物很奇怪，

crickets actually contain more protein than beef without any of the environmental damage. 語法

但其实蟋蟀的蛋白质含量比牛肉还高，而且不会造成相应的环境破坏。

A lot of manufacturers and entrepreneurs were looking for safer,

许多制造商和创业者都在寻找更安全、

more sustainable protein sources to add to their product.

更可持续的蛋白质来源，用来添加到自家产品中。

And for us, it's been quite a boon to our business as a result. 短語搭配

因此，这也给我们的业务带来了相当大的助益。

We went inside Canada's Entomo Farms to see how they turn crickets

我们走进加拿大的 Entomo Farms，看看他们如何把蟋蟀

from bugs to brunch. 表達脈絡

从虫子变成早午餐。

For most of us, crickets are just the soundtrack of our summer nights. 習語

对大多数人来说，蟋蟀只是夏夜里的背景声。

But Darren Goldin and his brother saw they could be used

但 Darren Goldin 兄弟俩发现，蟋蟀可以用来

to create a new source of sustainable and nutritious food.

创造一种可持续又营养的新食物来源。

Just reimagining how we can feed a population of 9 or 10 billion people

他们重新思考该如何养活90亿或100亿人口，

on an overcrowded planet.

而我们生活的星球已经拥挤不堪。

Now, they harvest about 50 million crickets a week,

如今，他们每周收获约5000万只蟋蟀，

and they're aiming to triple production within the year. 短語搭配

并计划在一年内将产量提高到三倍。

The trickiest thing is that there's no real manual

最棘手的是，根本没有真正的操作手册

in terms of this kind of scale and density. 短語搭配

告诉你如何应对这样的规模和密度。

There's no manual.

没有现成的手册。

It's figure it out as you go. 講解

只能边做边摸索。

Nobody's ever done free-range cricket farming 用詞

以前从来没有人尝试过散养蟋蟀，

on this kind of a scale before.

更别说做到这种规模了。

It all starts here where the crew covers boards

一切从这里开始，工作人员先在板子上铺满

with a mixture of damp soil and peat moss.

湿润土壤和泥炭藓的混合物。

Making mud pies.

就像在做泥巴饼。

And the pregnant females flock to lay their eggs.

带卵的雌蟋蟀会蜂拥而来产卵。

It may look like just dirt and some grains of rice, 表達脈絡

看起来或许只是一堆土和几粒米，

but actually there's probably thousands and thousands of cricket eggs in there.

但里面其实很可能有成千上万枚蟋蟀卵。

And in this room, about 15 million eggs.

这个房间里大约有1500万枚卵。

Of the 900 different species Darren could choose from,

Darren 可以从900个不同物种中选择，

he chose the tropical house cricket

最终他选择了热带家蟋蟀，

because of its simple feed requirements.

因为这种蟋蟀对饲料的要求很简单。

It's a cricket that does well in high densities, 短語搭配

这种蟋蟀适合高密度养殖，

grows really fast, and is a super delicious cricket.

长得特别快，而且非常美味。

Every single part of this cricket is edible.

这种蟋蟀全身都能吃。

Plus they have nutrients like fiber,

而且还含有纤维、

iron, and calcium.

铁和钙等营养成分。

After roughly 9 days, the eggs hatch

大约9天后，蟋蟀卵会孵化，

and they'll hang in the nursery for about 2 weeks.

幼蟋蟀会在育幼室里待上大约2周。

Crickets definitely require a nice warm environment,

蟋蟀确实需要温暖舒适的环境，

being cold-blooded animals. 語法

因为它们是变温动物。

Their metabolism's controlled by temperature.

它们的新陈代谢受温度控制。

So if you keep them on the warmer end of their preferred temperature,

所以，如果把环境温度保持在其适宜温度范围内偏高的一端，

they grow faster.

它们就会长得更快。

And then once they're big enough and ready to handle life in the big grow room,

等它们长到足够大，能够适应大型养殖室的生活后，

then we transfer them from the nursery into the grow room.

我们就会把它们从育幼室转移到养殖室。

It only takes a crew of five to maintain this colony of millions.

只需五名工作人员，就能照料这个拥有数百万只蟋蟀的群体。

The crickets here eat a mixture of corn, soy, and some flax.

这里的蟋蟀吃玉米、大豆和少量亚麻籽混合而成的饲料。

On average, the crickets dine on almost a thousand pounds of feed a day. 短語搭配

这些蟋蟀平均每天要吃掉近1000磅饲料。

That's often staggering for people cuz you think of crickets as such tiny little animals.

这往往让人吃惊，因为大家总觉得蟋蟀是那么小的动物。

But of course, when you got 10 or 15 million of them,

但当然，如果有1000万或1500万只，

they consume a fair amount of feed. 短語搭配

它们消耗的饲料也相当可观。

To put it in human terms, 表達脈絡

换成人类来理解，

15 million crickets is nearly twice the population of New York City. 語法

1500万只蟋蟀几乎是纽约市人口的两倍。

But growing all these crickets is still more sustainable than farming pigs, poultry, or cattle.

但养殖这么多蟋蟀，仍比养猪、养家禽或养牛更具可持续性。

To produce just 1 kg of cow meat takes a staggering 22,000 L of water.

仅生产1千克牛肉，就要耗费惊人的2.2万升水。

And to produce that same amount of protein from a cricket,

而用蟋蟀生产等量的蛋白质，

only a few hundred liters.

只需要几百升水。

Growing crickets also has other advantages.

养殖蟋蟀还有其他优势。

So one of the interesting things about insects is that there's very, very few diseases 語法

昆虫有一点很有意思，那就是几乎没有什么疾病

that are transferable from insects to humans,

会从昆虫传播给人类，

which is very different from farming mammals or chickens.

这一点与养殖哺乳动物或鸡大不相同。

And crickets do not have any known viruses,

而且，蟋蟀并没有任何已知病毒，

or the species that we produce has no known viruses that can affect them.

或者更准确地说，我们养殖的这个物种没有任何已知会感染它们的病毒。

And of course, certainly no zoonotic viruses or viruses that can cross species. 用詞

当然，更没有人畜共患病毒或能跨物种传播的病毒。

The three Entomo barns can produce 9,000 lb of protein a week,

Entomo 的三座养殖棚每周可生产9000磅蛋白质，

enough to fill the daily protein requirements of about 80,000 people.

足以满足约8万人一天的蛋白质需求。

By and large, most of our customers are either 習語

总体而言，我们的大多数客户要么

they're integrating it into a finished good like a dog kibble, 用詞

把它加入狗粮等成品中，

a dog treat, or selling it as cricket powder under a different brand,

把它制成狗零食，或以其他品牌作为蟋蟀粉出售，

or putting it in something like a superfood smoothie mix,

要么把它加进超级食物奶昔混合粉之类的产品中，

baking it into other baked goods, and other snacks.

或烘焙进其他糕点和零食里。

Even their poop is a usable product.

就连蟋蟀粪便也能利用。

And as you can see, the floor is covered with cricket manure.

如你所见，地面上铺满了蟋蟀粪。

It's called frass, and it's a great fertilizer. 用詞

这种粪便叫“虫粪”，是很好的肥料。

The farm can produce about 6,000 lb of manure per harvest.

这座农场每次收获可产生约6000磅粪肥。

These crickets will live out their full lifespan before they're turned into food.

这些蟋蟀会活完整个生命周期，之后才被制成食物。

So from the time an egg hatches to harvest is about 6 weeks. 語法

从蟋蟀卵孵化到收获，大约需要6周。

The big difference is that at 6 weeks, a cricket is fully mature,

最大的不同在于，到了6周时，蟋蟀已经完全成熟，

it's lived out its life, it's bred and laid eggs for us,

它已经度过一生，完成交配，并为我们产下了卵，

and essentially it would be dying within a few days anyway.

而且无论如何，它基本上几天内就会自然死亡。

And now it's time to see them turned into food.

现在，该看看它们如何变成食物了。

So this is our raw receiving room.

这里就是我们的原料接收室。

All of the crickets come in from the farm.

所有蟋蟀都会从农场运到这里。

The insects are rinsed,

工作人员先冲洗这些昆虫，

then sorted to make sure there's no debris from the farm in the mix. 短語搭配

再进行分拣，确保其中没有混入农场的杂物。

Next, they're evenly spread onto trays and slipped into ovens to roast.

接下来，把它们均匀铺在托盘上，再送进烤箱烘烤。

So in order to make the powder,

为了把它们制成粉末，

the moisture has to be below a certain percentage.

水分含量必须低于一定比例。

We find that if it's above that percentage,

我们发现，如果水分高于这个比例，

it's really difficult to grind it.

就会很难研磨。

While some are left whole and sent for seasoning and packaging, 表達脈絡

一部分蟋蟀会保持完整，送去调味和包装，

the majority will go into this industrial grinder until they look like coffee.

但大多数会进入这台工业研磨机，直到看起来像咖啡粉。

We do a 15-second blitz to break it up. 短語動詞

我们会高速搅打15秒，把它们打碎。

It's then manually packed into boxes of 25 lb each.

然后按每箱25磅的分量人工装箱。

Every day they turn 15,000 crickets into 500 lb of powder.

他们每天把1.5万只蟋蟀制成500磅粉末。

The secret sauce is really in the metrics. 習語

真正的秘诀在于各项数据指标。

It's in exactly how your setup is done,

关键在于设备究竟如何设置，

your ratio of eggs, surface area, feed,

包括蟋蟀卵、表面积和饲料之间的比例。

and it's kind of like a big giant recipe,

这有点像一份超大型配方，

and everything does have to be perfect for it to function the way that we function. 語法

每个环节都必须恰到好处，整个系统才能按我们的方式运转。

But there's still room for improvement. 習語

但仍有改进空间。

Right now, the process at Entomo is mostly manual,

目前，Entomo 的流程大多依靠人工，

and that needs to change if they want to ramp up production. 短語動詞

如果想扩大产量，这一点就必须改变。

And so we're looking at more automated solutions,

因此，我们正在寻找更多自动化解决方案，

which will allow us to actually produce three to four times what we are capable of doing now. 語法

这样就能把实际产量提高到目前产能的三到四倍。

Entomo Farms hopes this will also help bring costs down and make their products more affordable. 短語動詞

Entomo Farms 希望这也能降低成本，让产品价格更亲民。

Cricket flour sells for roughly $12 for every 4 oz,

蟋蟀粉每4盎司售价约12美元，

which is 45 times the price of all-purpose flour. 語法

是普通面粉价格的45倍。

But it's not really the price that's holding back some customers. 講解

但真正让一些顾客望而却步的并不是价格。

Perception in North America around insect as food is certainly a challenge,

在北美，人们对把昆虫当食物这件事的看法确实是一大挑战，

and it's one that we are striving to rise up against. 短語動詞

而我们正在努力迎难而上，克服这个挑战。

In Asia, crickets are already a popular food,

在亚洲，蟋蟀早已是颇受欢迎的食物，

and Darren is confident the appetite for crickets is only going to grow. 習語

Darren 坚信，人们对蟋蟀的胃口只会越来越大。

Super exciting thing about insect farming is scale-up is super fast.

昆虫养殖最令人兴奋的一点，就是扩产速度极快。

Each cricket lays 600 eggs or so,

每只蟋蟀大约能产600枚卵，

and so in a crisis event,

所以一旦发生危机，

if we needed to scale up our production, 語法

如果我们需要扩大产量，

we can do it really, really fast.

就能以非常非常快的速度做到。