{"id":50845,"date":"2025-12-15T04:03:57","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T10:03:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/?p=50845"},"modified":"2026-03-13T15:16:57","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T20:16:57","slug":"valerie-stull-the-gateway-bug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nelson.wisc.edu\/the-commons\/valerie-stull-the-gateway-bug\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gateway Bug"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When it\u2019s Valerie Stull\u2019s turn to send snack to her preschooler\u2019s school or gathering, she doesn\u2019t send cookies or string cheese. She sends cricket chips. They\u2019re easy to make (just mix cricket powder, corn flour, water, spices, and bake until crisp), they\u2019ve got a nutty flavor profile, they\u2019re packed with protein \u2014 and the kids love them. Insects just may be one of the planet\u2019s most sustainable, yet underutilized (at least in western countries), sources of nutrition. And using this protein to share sustainable, tasty treats isn\u2019t just an area where Stull dabbles; she\u2019s a leading expert.
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Stull\u2019s job title is complex. \u201cIf you asked me, I would say I am an interdisciplinary environmental health scientist,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m passionate about the health and well-being of people and the planet.\u201d Seventy-five percent of the time, she\u2019s a faculty associate at the University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison in both the Nelson Institute and the College of Agricultural Life Sciences. The other 25 percent, she consults with organizations around the world on projects related to agriculture, nutrition, climate change, and sustainable food systems. (And, of course, the other <\/em>100 percent of the time, she\u2019s a mom.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Stull during a Cooking with Insects workshop held in the kitchen of the Food Applications Lab in Babcock Hall. Photo by Jeff Miller<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Her journey to crickets (\u201cthe gateway bug,\u201d she says) started not in entomology, but nutrition. With a bachelor\u2019s in nutritional science from Colorado State University, a master\u2019s in public health nutrition from Kansas State University, and work experience with U.S. Agency for International Development programs, she traveled the world exploring interventions to bring healthier food to places of need \u2014 from schools in sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar to hospitals in the West Bank. \u201cWe were always talking about \u2018nutrition,\u2019 but we weren’t talking about food or agriculture,\u201d she says. \u201cAll the conversations we were having were centered around crop nutrients \u2026 we weren’t talking about how<\/em> they were grown; we weren’t talking about how they were processed. We weren’t talking about climate change and how it’s making it harder to grow food.\u201d She also noticed some seats missing from the health policy discussion table: farmers and agriculture policymakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n