They require only a fraction of the water that livestock farming requires and produce almost no greenhouse gases.
The crickets contain as much as 70 percent protein, which means that they are seen as part of the solution to future food shortages.
But the decision to have insects in the food arouses anger in many places in Italy, among food producers, restaurant owners and customers.
- My bread will never contain any cricket flour.
Because we've been baking bread here for 50 years and according to us it should only contain flour, water, salt and yeast, says baker Flavio Vasserot.
SVT has visited a cricket farm in Turin and a restaurant in Milan that receives both praise and praise from customers and in social media.