The Girl Who Makes Bugs Taste Good, Chelsey Rice-Davis

Chelsey Rice-Davis, a third-year English major, is one of the founding members of Entom, a budding business that promotes the utilization of insects as a legitimate food source. Although it was created only a year ago, Entom has been the recipient of much publicity as well as a hefty $10,000 prize from the CCI Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. Her Campus UChicago got a chance to talk to the sole female of the group to learn more about her role in the business and Entom’s future plans.
 
Chelsey joined the Entom team after her close friend/dorm neighbor, founder Matthew Krisiloff, approached her about entering the entrepreneurship competition. The idea behind Entom stemmed from Matthew’s Contemporary Global Issues class, where he learned that beef is not sustainable and that maintaining current food practices would result in a food deficit in approximately 50 years. Initially, there was much skepticism in Chelsey’s part. In fact, she admits that she thought the idea was absolutely crazy. She questioned how they could possibly convince well-fed Westerners to eat insects in place of beef or chicken. Furthermore, as her personal interests laid in the humanities, Chelsey did not see herself partaking in business or entrepreneurship related activities. However, the creativity of the idea paired with her faith in Matthew’s vision drew her in as a dedicated member.
 
Chelsea’s strength in the humanities and writing aided the team in its presentation, background research, and proposal writing. Additionally, Chelsey observed the trends that would pave the best path for Entom to the market, employing lessons from evolved sociology.
 
Entom’s long-term goals consist of making insect meat a sustainable food source for humans while de-stigmatizing the consumption of insects as a “strange and disgusting” practice. Entom aspires to sell the meat removed from the shell as a loose meat product that can be really incorporated into people’s diet. Meanwhile, the group has proposed ideas of insect ice cream and nutrition bars and has plans to develop a small product line for next year.
 
Increasing the quantity of insects consumed while decreasing the quantity of more typical large farm animals would not only be cost-efficient and nutritious, but would also place less stress on the environment. Chelsey assures that the insects offered would not be randomly picked off sidewalks, but farmed in sanitary centers and well-cooked. For those who were wondering, Chelsey has had her share of insects, having eaten Mexican seasoned mealworms (which she remarks have a great spicy and cheesy flavor), grasshoppers, and crickets, and she asserts that they are tasty.
 
Chelsey stated that her involvement in Entom has taught her an incredible amount. An important lesson she’s learned is the importance of having confidence in one’s idea, especially when things are “hanging in limbo,” as entrepreneurship brings with it uncertainty.
 
Will our dining halls be serving cricket sugar cookies and insect patties in the future? If Chelsey and Entom have any say, the answer is a resounding yes.