Mohammed Ashour dreams of a world where gourmet grasshoppers are devoured by urban professionals, where savoury palm weevils are slurped back as delicacies.

One day, he predicts, insects will be considered “the new sushi.”

“We believe insects are next,” said Ashour. “It hopefully won’t be long.”

That’s the end-game of the Aspire Food Group, an organization Ashour founded last year with four of his MBA classmates at McGill University. But as it gets off the ground, the project’s current focus is on the developing world, where the aim is to harness the nutritional potential of insects while creating economic opportunities for low wage earners in less wealthy countries.

Just as they’re preparing to launch their first ventures in Mexico and Ghana, the Toronto-based company has been awarded more than $100,000 from the federal government’s Grand Challenges innovation program, money that Ashour said will help fund research into the effects of a bug-heavy diet on children and pregnant mothers.

“I personally can’t emphasize how exciting it is,” Ashour, 27, told the Star. “It’s an extraordinary opportunity we have.”

Aspire was created last year, when the insect-eating business idea won Ashour and his partners the 2013 Hult Prize for social entrepreneurship, a global competition with more than 11,000 entries.

The team of students — ranging from 26 to 38 years old — developed a bug-farming system that will allow people to grow and harvest insects while feeding themselves and turning a profit.

The first step, Ashour explained, is to identify “the insect of choice.” To begin their business, the team is establishing itself in areas with a tradition of insect eating, and focusing on farming bugs that are already in the human food chain. In Mexico, that means grasshoppers; in Ghana, it’s palm weevils, beetle-like crawlers eaten in their larva form.

Next, Aspire designed special “kits” to give out, which include simple-to-read instructions, bug food, and a specially designed container in which to grow the insects.

“It’s so easy and user-friendly,” said Ashour. “Within a few days they’re on their way.”

Initially, Aspire will be giving away the kits to about 500 new bug farmers in each country. But after a few months of working out the kinks, they will start charging about $5 to get started. The company estimates that grasshopper and weevil yields will be large enough that farmers can break even after a month and start making money.

“This is a great way to help supplement family incomes,” said Ashour, adding that women and people living in urban slums are likely to benefit.

“If you’re able to empower people on a local level to produce (and sell) their own food … You actually induce a vibrant economy.”

The other big piece to the business plan is the protein-power of bugs. According to Ashour, 100 grams of crickets has comparable levels of protein to 100 grams of beef, but with much lower cholesterol and more iron.

The health benefits, therefore, could be significant.

“Insects have been shown to have a much better nutritional profile,” said Ashour.

Dr. Peter Singer, CEO of the Grand Challenges innovation fund program, said Aspire is a great example of a project that could give significant health benefits to women and children in the developing world.

“I’m in awe of the creativity of this group of students,” he said. “We’re really just very, very proud to support them on behalf of Canada.”

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And what about bringing the project back home to feed Canadians?

“We don’t have an established history of eating insects,” he said, but believes that will change if people can digest the economic and health benefits of downing bugs.

And then, of course, he said, there’s the “ick factor”

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