We will travel to fairs, festivals, expos, youth groups, civic groups, schools, restaurants, hot nightspots, hold our own special events, and utilize any other venue that we can find along the way.
We also want to model, spread, and encourage kindness and respect for all.
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Within 10 years, we see a Bug Wagon pop up tent as a regular favorite at most fairs, festivals, farmer’s markets, expos, and any other type of marketplace in America that we can find.
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We eventually see a Bug Wagon brick and mortar edible insect outlet in several major metropolitan areas in America (NYC, L.A., Chicago, Dallas etc.), specializing in all things edible insects; also holding regular Bug & Booze pairings, outreaches at local youth & civic groups, schools, and events at select local restaurants and popular nightspots.
We see multiple Bug Wagons eventually roaming various sections of the country on designated routes; pulling into fairs, festivals, expos, wine rooms, beer houses, select restaurants, local nightspots, youth & civic groups, and schools.
Oh, and a parade or two once in a while.
We see an edible insect educational extravaganza with dynamic crowd presentations, fun bug & booze nightspot events, digital media, online marketing, and an ever-increasing demand for edible insects. All while our beautifully decorated unique Bug Wagons travel past tens of millions of motorists on the highways and byways of our routes.
This is only a part of the entire vision.
The Adventurous Journey!
We will travel the highways and byways of the United States, bringing the joy of bugs to all of our appearances. From bullwhip demonstrations to scorpion shot nights; from taste tests to cooking demonstrations; or from the local elementary school to the largest fairs and festivals in the country.
The Bug Wagon pop-up extravaganzamart will be overflowing with edible insects and ready to not only show the world all of the benefits that bug protein delivers to the human body, but also all the benefits of bug farming to the environment, and all of the benefits of bugs as feed, medicine, and fertilizer, as well.
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The Festival Tent!
The Bug Wagon’s edible insect extravaganza pop up tents will be beautifully decorated in the festive Bug Wagon style, featuring logos of edible insect companies. We’ll have product sampling, demos, lots of information, and of course we’ll be selling every kind of edible insect and all of the related products we can carry.
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The Bug Wagon!
The Bug Wagon also acts like a mobile billboard, one of the most effective forms of advertising on Earth, providing opportunities for companies in the industry to become more widely known. As time goes by, and more Bug Wagons get on the road, the logos and products of the companies riding along on the Bug Wagon vans and pop-up tents will become more recognizable, and therefore, more mainstream.
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We'll Keep Adding Bug Wagons...
Our adventures will take us all over the country, and we‘ll be adding more Bug Wagons all the time. By year four, we’ll have five Bug Wagons cruising the highways and byways of America, continuously bringing bugs to the people and raising public awareness.
The Benefits of Bugs to People and Planet
"Bugs. Planet Friendly Protein."
Edible insects use much less water and land, and produce much less methane than traditional protein sources like beef, pork, or poultry, yet are equally as healthy, and in some cases, actually healthier. They are definitely better for both people and the planet, as our ever-dwindling resources are having a very hard time keeping up with our ever-increasing population. The United Nations says that by 2050, we are going to have a problem trying to feed the world unless we do something now because of the resource drain.
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We believe edible insects are a part of the answer. We're not asking people to completely replace their normal protein sources with edible insects, but if everyone set aside just one or two days per month to enjoy a delicious bug-based dish, the impact would be enormous.
What We Need
Our vision is big, deep, and wide, and we eventually want to cover the Earth. But we have to start somewhere. All visions have a beginning, and ours begins with one van, one pop-up tent (fully stocked), and our Maiden Voyage tour (October/November 2019).
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Our First Van (of many)
We already have a van, a used Plymouth Voyager (the picture is an artist's concept, but the finished version will appear very similar) that needs some mechanical work. We need to get it running safe & sound and road ready; get it painted in the festive Bug Wagon décor, add the sponsor logos, and cover the costs of a short, proof-of-concept tour of roughly a dozen fairs, festivals, schools, civic groups, hot nightspots, select restaurants, and a parade or two in the Southern California area. There will also be administrative costs of licensing, insurance, etc.
The Pop-Up Tent
We also need to purchase a 10'x10' festival pop-up canopy with a back wall, custom printing, all display fixtures and other little pop-up store necessities, and cover things like payment services, inspection and licensing fees, and other costs. Stocking the tent with goods will be a breeze. We have already worked out deals with over a dozen companies that will be supplying us with edible insects and related products, and more are being added all the time.
We'll be an edible insect extravaganzamart!
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About Cricket Man's Bug Wagon Vision
Long ago I was a cook in the Coast Guard. I went through the USCG's (then-called) Subsistence Specialist school in Petaluma, which utilized the Culinary Institute of America's curriculum for institutional cooking. I was a state certified child day care administrator for over 10 years, farmed crickets for local pet stores for over 10 years, and in 2017 I started the Ento Nation podcast and infozine which now has reader/listeners in over 200 countries.
I am a bug lover.
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“Cricket Man is the undisputed
voice of the edible insect industry.”
-David George Gordon (aka The Bug Chef), author, The Eat-a-Bug Cookbook
Over the last two years I have come to know scores of people involved with bugs, from CEO's of edible insect companies, bug cooking experts, and food manufacturers, to entomologists, entomological thought leaders, and bug farmers from all over the world. People have been listening to and clicking on Ento Nation for many reasons, but a large part of what we do revolves around farming, cooking and eating bugs, and when it comes to edible insects, the Ento Nation is where people go to get answers.
When I was a child in the 60's my hippie parents (my sister and I were literally among the first "Flower Children") used to set up a booth at certain fairs in Northern California. My dad made and sold jewelry at these fairs. I would dress up as a clown or mime and perform on the entertainment stages, and wander the fair randomly passing out candy to people. I even started doing it for friends and family birthdays, with my little sister joining in to help (see pic below circa 1972). This was before clowns got really creepy...
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I fell in love with the whole idea of traveling with a festival and bringing joy to festive crowds. I even wanted to join the traveling circus! But as I grew, well-meaning people let me know that what I wanted to do was not a "real" job. So I let go of that dream.
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Now, decades later, I find that dream has never left me. I got the initial idea for the whole Bug Wagon vision about a year ago, and have been developing it ever since (with help from Aly Moore, much Mahalos, Aly).
FYI, I will not be dressing up as a clown.
When life handed me a cancer scare a few months ago, there was about two weeks between "We want to biopsy for cancer." and "Benign! No cancer!" During those two weeks I did a lot of thinking and soul searching. Unless you've been through that kind of thing, I can't tell you how freeing it is to come out alive and with another chance. It opened my eyes, woke me up, and changed my life completely.
I refuse to be on my deathbed thirty years from now wondering what would have happened had I pursued my Bug Wagon dream with all of my heart and soul. I'm doing that right now, and I will never quit.
I believe in this idea. I believe it is a good idea.
The more people that hear our message, the more people that become interested in the whole idea of entomophagy (eating bugs on purpose). And that's what we're here to do: introduce people to the benefits of bugs to their bodies and to the planet in a positive way.
I am going to chase and fulfill this lifelong dream of bringing joy to people in a festival atmosphere, while at the same time truly helping to make the world a better place, and also helping further several worthy industries involved in the bug business.
One final note: I want to close with what I always like to share...
You don't have to wait for all of this sustainability stuff we talk about all of the time to kick in to start making the world a better place, you can do so right this very day. All you have to do is treat each and every person that you come in contact with each day with kindness, dignity and respect. Treat them as a VIP, as if they are the most important person in the world at that moment. Open a door for someone, ask to help carry something for a stranger, let the other person go in traffic, let someone go in front of you in line, smile, be nice, try to help. You do that, and you're already making the world a better place, and spreading half the message of the Bug Wagon!
Chirpety-Chirp!
~ Marc Sanchez aka Cricket Man
Come ride along with us on the Bug Wagon!
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