(CNN)Lobsters are not pretty. Dip these unsightly creatures into warm butter, and they instantly become a different matter to most of us. Why, then, do we gag at the thought of eating insects?
To feed the world, begin with maggot sausage and insect ice cream, scientist says
Photos: Cricket pasta anyone?
This futuristic structure is a cricket shelter. It provides food -- in the form of insects -- and emergency accommodation in times of crisis.
Hide Caption
1 of 8
Photos: Cricket pasta anyone?
The pod can also be used to grow crickets for 'free-range bug food' in urban environments like rooftops or backyards.
Hide Caption
2 of 8
Photos: Cricket pasta anyone?
The pods are modular, with a CNC plywood exterior. Individual bio-units, or cricket homes, slot into the shell, accommodating up to 22,000 insects.
Hide Caption
3 of 8
Photos: Cricket pasta anyone?
Crickets live in a free-range environment and the pod is more sanitary than traditional cricket farms. The 'gates' at the front of each unit provide food for the crickets and also allow for easy harvesting.
Hide Caption
4 of 8
Photos: Cricket pasta anyone?
Crickets are a low-carbon source of protein, according to Terreform ONE, the architects who designed the pod, so are an environmentally friendly alternative to industrial livestock.
Hide Caption
5 of 8
Photos: Cricket pasta anyone?
External elements of the insect farm provide air circulation and allow the crickets to move between the units.
Hide Caption
6 of 8
Photos: Cricket pasta anyone?
The pod even comes equipped with its own cricket maternity ward -- this part of the shelter is a birthing chamber.
Hide Caption
7 of 8
Photos: Cricket pasta anyone?
The cricket farm provides a clean, efficient way of producing insects for use in things like cricket flour for fine-food recipes. "Over two billion people eat insects every day: it's time to reintroduce them into the diets of the remaining population," Terreform ONE co-founder Mitchell Joachim says.
Hide Caption
8 of 8
