北美最大的蟋蟀農場如何每週收穫5000萬隻 | 大生意：英語精讀講義

There are about 15 million crickets in this room.

這個房間裡大約有1500萬隻蟋蟀。

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

在這裡，牠們會自由自在地度過一生，

until they're transformed into food.

直到被製成食物。

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

這些「公寓」是為了給蟋蟀一個棲身之處。

And so generally, they are resting inside the condos.

所以，牠們通常會待在「公寓」裡休息。

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

牠們會爬上來喝點水，

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

吃點東西，然後再回到下面休息。

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

在這樣的房間裡，很難看出究竟有多少隻蟋蟀，

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

因為牠們全都住在自己舒適的「小公寓」裡。

We just take the condo, give it a bang,

我們只要拿起「公寓」敲一下，

and all the crickets come out.

所有蟋蟀就都跑出來了。

Most of these crickets will be milled into a powder

這些蟋蟀大多會被磨成粉，

that can be used like flour.

可以像麵粉一樣使用。

Mm.

嗯。

It's good.

味道不錯。

You can even taste the cricket.

甚至能嚐出蟋蟀的味道。

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

也可以像吃洋芋片一樣，把整隻蟋蟀當零食吃。

Mm.

嗯。

This one is barbecue flavored.

這個是烤肉口味的。

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

雖然你可能覺得把蟋蟀當食物很奇怪，

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

但其實蟋蟀的蛋白質含量比牛肉還高，而且不會造成相應的環境破壞。

A lot of manufacturers and entrepreneurs were looking for safer,

許多製造商和創業家都在尋找更安全、

more sustainable protein sources to add to their product.

更永續的蛋白質來源，好添加到自家產品中。

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

因此，這也為我們的生意帶來了很大的助益。

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

我們走進加拿大的 Entomo Farms，看看他們如何把蟋蟀

from bugs to brunch. 表達脈絡

從蟲子變成早午餐。

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

對大多數人來說，蟋蟀只是夏夜裡的背景音。

But Darren Goldin and his brother saw they could be used

但 Darren Goldin 兄弟倆發現，蟋蟀可以用來

to create a new source of sustainable and nutritious food.

創造一種永續又營養的新食物來源。

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

他們重新思考該如何養活90億或100億人口，

on an overcrowded planet.

而我們生活的星球已經擁擠不堪。

Now, they harvest about 50 million crickets a week,

如今，他們每週收成約5000萬隻蟋蟀，

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

並打算在一年內將產量提高到三倍。

The trickiest thing is that there's no real manual

最棘手的是，根本沒有真正的操作手冊

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

告訴你如何應付這樣的規模和密度。

There's no manual.

沒有現成的手冊。

It's figure it out as you go. 講解

只能邊做邊摸索。

Nobody's ever done free-range cricket farming 用詞

過去從來沒有人嘗試過放養蟋蟀，

on this kind of a scale before.

更別說做到這種規模了。

It all starts here where the crew covers boards

一切從這裡開始，工作人員先在板子上鋪滿

with a mixture of damp soil and peat moss.

潮濕土壤和泥炭蘚的混合物。

Making mud pies.

就像在做泥巴派。

And the pregnant females flock to lay their eggs.

帶卵的母蟋蟀會蜂擁而來產卵。

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

看起來或許只是一堆土和幾粒米，

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

但裡面其實很可能有成千上萬顆蟋蟀卵。

And in this room, about 15 million eggs.

這個房間裡大約有1500萬顆卵。

Of the 900 different species Darren could choose from,

Darren 可以從900個不同物種中選擇，

he chose the tropical house cricket

最後他選了熱帶家蟋蟀，

because of its simple feed requirements.

因為這種蟋蟀對飼料的要求很簡單。

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

這種蟋蟀適合高密度飼養，

grows really fast, and is a super delicious cricket.

長得特別快，而且非常美味。

Every single part of this cricket is edible.

這種蟋蟀全身都可以吃。

Plus they have nutrients like fiber,

而且還含有纖維、

iron, and calcium.

鐵和鈣等營養成分。

After roughly 9 days, the eggs hatch

大約9天後，蟋蟀卵會孵化，

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

幼蟋蟀會在育幼室裡待上大約2週。

Crickets definitely require a nice warm environment,

蟋蟀確實需要溫暖舒適的環境，

being cold-blooded animals. 文法

因為牠們是變溫動物。

Their metabolism's controlled by temperature.

牠們的新陳代謝由溫度控制。

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

所以，如果把環境溫度維持在牠們偏好範圍中較高的一端，

they grow faster.

牠們就會長得更快。

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

等牠們長得夠大，能夠適應大型飼養室的生活後，

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

我們就會把牠們從育幼室移到飼養室。

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

只要五名工作人員，就能照料這個數量達數百萬隻的蟋蟀群。

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

這裡的蟋蟀吃玉米、黃豆和少量亞麻籽混合而成的飼料。

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

這些蟋蟀平均每天要吃掉將近1000磅飼料。

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

這往往讓人很吃驚，因為大家總覺得蟋蟀是那麼小的動物。

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

但當然，如果有1000萬或1500萬隻，

they consume a fair amount of feed. 片語搭配

牠們消耗的飼料也相當可觀。

To put it in human terms, 表達脈絡

換成人類來理解，

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

1500萬隻蟋蟀幾乎是紐約市人口的兩倍。

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

但飼養這麼多蟋蟀，仍比養豬、養家禽或養牛更具永續性。

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

光是生產1公斤牛肉，就要耗費驚人的2萬2000公升水。

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

而用蟋蟀生產等量的蛋白質，

only a few hundred liters.

只需要幾百公升水。

Growing crickets also has other advantages.

飼養蟋蟀還有其他優點。

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

昆蟲有一點很有意思，那就是幾乎沒有什麼疾病

that are transferable from insects to humans,

會從昆蟲傳染給人類，

which is very different from farming mammals or chickens.

這一點和飼養哺乳類動物或雞很不一樣。

And crickets do not have any known viruses,

而且，蟋蟀沒有任何已知病毒，

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

或者更準確地說，我們飼養的這個物種沒有任何已知會感染牠們的病毒。

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

當然，更沒有任何人畜共通病毒或能跨物種傳播的病毒。

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

Entomo 的三座養殖棚每週可生產9000磅蛋白質，

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

足以滿足約8萬人一天的蛋白質需求。

By and large, most of our customers are either 慣用語

整體來說，我們大多數的客戶要不就是

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

把它加進乾狗糧等成品中，

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

把它製成狗狗零食，或換個品牌當作蟋蟀粉販售，

or putting it in something like a superfood smoothie mix,

要不就是加進超級食物冰沙粉之類的產品中，

baking it into other baked goods, and other snacks.

或烘焙進其他糕點和零食裡。

Even their poop is a usable product.

就連蟋蟀的糞便也能利用。

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

如你所見，地面上鋪滿了蟋蟀糞。

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

這種糞便叫做「蟲糞」，是很棒的肥料。

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

這座農場每次收成都能產生約6000磅糞肥。

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

這些蟋蟀會活完整個生命週期，之後才被製成食物。

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

從蟋蟀卵孵化到收成，大約需要6週。

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

最大的不同在於，到了6週時，蟋蟀已經完全成熟，

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

牠已經度過一生、完成交配，也為我們產下了卵，

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

而且無論如何，牠基本上幾天內就會自然死亡。

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

現在，該看看牠們如何變成食物了。

So this is our raw receiving room.

這裡就是我們的原料接收室。

All of the crickets come in from the farm.

所有蟋蟀都會從農場送到這裡。

The insects are rinsed,

工作人員先沖洗這些昆蟲，

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

再加以分類，確保其中沒有混入農場的雜物。

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

接著，把牠們均勻鋪在托盤上，再送進烤箱烘烤。

So in order to make the powder,

為了把牠們製成粉末，

the moisture has to be below a certain percentage.

水分含量必須低於一定比例。

We find that if it's above that percentage,

我們發現，如果水分高於這個比例，

it's really difficult to grind it.

就會很難研磨。

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

一部分蟋蟀會保持完整，送去調味和包裝，

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

但大多數會進入這台工業研磨機，直到看起來像咖啡粉。

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

我們會高速攪打15秒，把牠們打碎。

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

接著以人工按每箱25磅的分量裝箱。

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

他們每天把1萬5000隻蟋蟀製成500磅粉末。

The secret sauce is really in the metrics. 慣用語

真正的祕訣在於各項數據指標。

It's in exactly how your setup is done,

關鍵在於設備究竟如何配置，

your ratio of eggs, surface area, feed,

包括蟋蟀卵、表面積和飼料之間的比例。

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

這有點像一份超大型配方，

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

每個環節都必須恰到好處，整個系統才能照我們的方式運作。

But there's still room for improvement. 慣用語

但還有改善空間。

Right now, the process at Entomo is mostly manual,

目前，Entomo 的流程大多仰賴人工，

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

如果想提高產量，這一點就必須改變。

And so we're looking at more automated solutions,

因此，我們正在尋找更多自動化解決方案，

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

讓我們能把實際產量提高到目前產能的三到四倍。

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

Entomo Farms 希望這也能降低成本，讓產品價格更親民。

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

蟋蟀粉每4盎司售價約12美元，

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

是中筋麵粉價格的45倍。

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

但真正讓一些顧客卻步的其實不是價格。

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

在北美，人們對把昆蟲當食物的觀感確實是一大挑戰，

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

而我們正努力迎戰並克服這個挑戰。

In Asia, crickets are already a popular food,

在亞洲，蟋蟀早已是很受歡迎的食物，

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

Darren 深信，人們對蟋蟀的胃口只會愈來愈大。

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

昆蟲養殖最令人興奮的一點，就是擴產速度非常快。

Each cricket lays 600 eggs or so,

每隻蟋蟀大約能產600顆卵，

and so in a crisis event,

所以一旦發生危機，

if we needed to scale up our production, 文法

如果我們需要擴大產量，

we can do it really, really fast.

就能以非常非常快的速度做到。