Eating insects, also known as entomophagy, is an eco-friendly alternative to animal protein consumption. Eating insects can offset climate change and help combat hunger. By 2050, experts estimate that there will be 9 billion people in the world, with almost a billion already suffering from hunger. Insects were once considered pests that threatened food production, but are slowly returning to the table in the West.
Insect farming and processing produce significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions, with less waste and their excrement being excellent fertilizer and soil. In 80 of the world’s nations, people eat between 1, 000 and 2, 000 species of insects. In parts of Africa and Asia, insects are a staple part of the diet. In the western world, with forty tonnes of insects to every human, insects could offer a real solution to the global food crisis.
Eating more insects can also help people in poorer communities by providing jobs and food. Raising and selling insects can provide a job and food. However, insect farming mostly adds an inefficient and expensive layer to the food system. Stefan Gates explores the world of hardcore insect-eating, meeting people in Thailand and Cambodia who hunt, eat, and sell edible insects for a living.
Edible insects can produce equivalent amounts of quality protein when compared to animals and require less care and upkeep than other animal proteins. In conclusion, eating insects can be an eco-friendly and sustainable solution to combat climate change and hunger.
| Article | Description | Site |
|---|---|---|
| Eat Insects, Save the World | Eating more insects can also help people in poorer communities. Many people can raise and sell insects. Raising and selling insects can provide a job and food. | spotlightenglish.com |
| Can eating insects save the world? | Insect farming and processing produces significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions. Not only do insects produce less waste, their excrement, … | quora.com |
| How Humans Eating Insects Could Help Save the Planet | Insect farming and processing produces significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions. Not only do insects produce less waste, their excrement, … | time.com |
📹 Can Eating Insects Save the World? – Monday 12/29 at 8pm CT
How Many People Eat Insects?
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) claims that approximately two billion people globally consume insects. While this statistic may be questioned due to its unscientific nature, it highlights the significant role of insect consumption in various cultures worldwide. For thousands of years, numerous populations have relied on insects as a vital source of nutrition, given their high protein content and ease of cultivation, contributing to a lower carbon footprint. The FAO's estimates indicate that over 2, 000 insect species are considered edible, though only a limited number are recognized for mass production in certain regions.
Among the edible insect varieties, ants such as leafcutter, honeypot, and carpenter exhibit distinct flavors, predominantly sour due to the release of acid when threatened. Boiling them can mitigate this taste. Currently, over 2205 insect species are consumed across 128 countries, with Asia boasting the most diversity at 932 species. Despite the prevalence of insect consumption in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, it remains less embraced in Europe and North America, where bugs are often viewed unfavorably.
The FAO's report suggesting that a significant portion of the global population consumes insects has been frequently referenced, but questions about its accuracy linger. Surprisingly, it is estimated that as much as two pounds of insects may unintentionally be ingested by individuals annually through food products. Ultimately, around 80% of nations worldwide consume insects, indicating their importance in diverse diets and highlighting the potential for insect rearing to be an economically viable and ecologically sustainable food source.
Why Should People Eat More Insects?
In his book, the author discusses the compelling reasons for incorporating insects into our diets, highlighting their benefits for the environment, public health, and the economy. With a projected world population of 9 billion by 2050 and nearly a billion people facing hunger daily, experts advocate for insects as a climate-friendly and nutrient-dense protein source. Despite the "ick" factor prevalent in Western cultures, insects offer substantial nutritional value, often providing as much, if not more, protein than beef. Over 2 billion people worldwide consume insects regularly, and many consider certain species delicacies.
Insects contribute significantly to sustainability; they aid in pollination, pest control, and nutrient recycling while offering health advantages. They can improve intestinal health, reduce inflammation, and elevate blood amino acid levels. Crucially, insect farming generates fewer greenhouse gas emissions and less waste compared to traditional livestock.
A 100-gram serving of crickets can contain as much as 69 grams of protein, making them an excellent alternative for combating food scarcity. They are rich in essential vitamins and minerals, including iron, zinc, and Omega-3 fatty acids, while being low in fat. Experts suggest that embracing entomophagy could alleviate global hunger and pollution issues, presenting insects as sustainable food options for the future.
Overall, with their superior nutrient profile and minimal environmental impact, insects could play a vital role in meeting food demands as the population increases.
Are Insects Good For The Environment?
Insects play a pivotal role in maintaining environmental balance and offer numerous benefits both ecologically and nutritionally. Entomophagy, the practice of consuming insects, emerges as a sustainable solution to address the growing global population and the ensuing demand for protein. With the world population escalating, traditional animal protein sources contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Insects, being an abundant and often overlooked protein source, present a viable alternative that can help mitigate these environmental challenges.
Ecologically, insects are essential for various ecosystem services. They maintain healthy soil through nutrient cycling and decomposition, pollinate plants and crops, and control pest populations. These activities are crucial for sustaining biodiversity and ensuring the productivity of agricultural systems. By breaking down organic matter, insects aid in the formation of nutrient-rich topsoil, facilitating plant growth and ecosystem health. Additionally, predatory and parasitic insects serve as natural biological control agents, reducing the reliance on chemical pesticides and promoting ecological balance.
Despite their significance, insect populations are under threat, with up to 40% of species potentially facing extinction by the end of the century. This decline jeopardizes the stability of ecosystems and the services they provide, highlighting the need for conservation efforts. Invasive insect species, for instance, can disrupt ecosystems, threaten biodiversity, and impact food security and human livelihoods.
From a nutritional standpoint, edible insects offer high protein content with a lower carbon footprint compared to traditional livestock. Insect farming is efficient, requiring less feed and land, and produces fewer greenhouse gases. This makes it an environmentally friendly option that can contribute to food security and reduce the overall environmental impact of food production.
In summary, insects are indispensable to both ecosystem functionality and human nutrition. Promoting entomophagy not only addresses the need for sustainable protein sources but also supports environmental conservation. Recognizing and harnessing the benefits of insects can lead to a more balanced and sustainable relationship between humans and the natural world.
Do People Eat Bugs?
Eating insects, or entomophagy, is widespread across the globe, with more than two billion people from South America, Asia, and Africa regularly incorporating them into their diets. Over 1, 000 insect species are consumed in around 80 countries, making insect consumption a common practice in many cultures. However, in the United States and Europe, there's a prevalent stigma against eating bugs, often viewing them as pests rather than a viable food source.
Despite this, more than 2, 000 species of insects are recognized as edible, with practices like consuming roasted grasshoppers in Mexico and deep-fried mealworms in Thailand gaining attention. Insects also offer significant environmental benefits; their farming produces markedly lower greenhouse gas emissions and their waste, known as frass, serves as effective fertilizer. Various cultures enjoy different insects — from grasshoppers to ants and tarantulas — as nutritious and delicious food options.
Currently, around 3, 000 ethnic groups practice entomophagy, highlighting its historical and cultural significance across most nations. Although the idea of consuming insects remains taboo in Western societies, the environmental and health advantages of including them in our diets may challenge this perspective in the future. In summary, while the majority of the world's population embraces insect consumption, Western nations are notable exceptions with prevailing reservations.
What Is A Possible Solution To World Hunger?
Activists and policymakers must prioritize sustainable solutions to achieve zero hunger, including enhancing agricultural efficiency, reducing food waste, and establishing equitable food distribution systems. The interlinkage between climate change and hunger exacerbates challenges, especially in conflict zones, where nearly 60% of the world's hungry reside. Conflicts drive instability, pushing people towards illicit means of survival.
To combat this, it is crucial to fund humanitarian efforts and bolster social protection programs, particularly for the vulnerable. Focused intervention on severely malnourished children can save lives and prevent future malnutrition.
Experts affirm that while global hunger elimination may seem daunting, it is achievable through dedicated investments and political commitment. Strategies must include breaking the cycles of conflict and hunger, promoting sustainability and resilience against climate change, and addressing poverty and inequality. Specific actions such as fostering gender equality, strengthening food assistance during emergencies, and increasing water supplies for agriculture play vital roles in these efforts.
Moreover, investing in smallholder farmers and climate-smart agriculture, along with promoting sustainable food systems, will address the urgent challenges posed by climate change. Food-assistance programs, like SNAP, can directly mitigate hunger. Engaging with local food systems, such as farmers' markets, offers citizens practical ways to contribute to sustainability and combat hunger effectively. With a unified approach, a world free of hunger is within reach.
Can Eating Insects Save The World?
Insects present a viable solution to the global food crisis, offering sustainability and nutrition to support a growing population. With a potential yield of 40 tonnes of insects per person, they can help alleviate hunger while reducing the strain on the global food chain caused by high meat consumption among the affluent. Entomophagy, or the practice of eating insects, provides an alternative protein source that is both environmentally friendly and cost-effective.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) identifies ants, beetles, bees, caterpillars, cicadas, crickets, dragonflies, flies, grasshoppers, leaf bugs, locusts, and scale insects as the most commonly consumed globally.
Insect farming generates significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to traditional livestock, produces minimal waste, and their excrement, known as frass, serves as an excellent fertilizer. Insects are easy to raise due to their rapid reproduction rates and offer high nutritional value, being richer in protein and other essential nutrients than conventional meat. By 2050, with the world population expected to increase by 2 billion, insect farming could provide a sustainable and environmentally friendly solution to meet the rising demand for food and animal feed.
Moreover, insects have a low ecological footprint, produce fewer viruses due to their genetic distinctness from humans, and help reduce extreme poverty and hunger. Experts like Professor Van Huis and Dr. Duncan Sivell highlight the benefits of integrating insect-based products into diets, which could cut the environmental impact of global food systems by up to 80%. Despite some resistance, adopting insects as a regular food source could significantly contribute to sustainable food production and environmental conservation.
How Can Eating Bugs Be A Way To Help Solve The Issue Of World Hunger?
Insects are a cost-effective alternative to mammals for food production, making insect farms suitable for alleviating hunger in food-insecure regions. They can partially replace fish meal used in aquaculture and animal feed, contributing to the reduction of overfishing. Here are five reasons why insects are a superior protein source with a lower carbon footprint.
- Edible insects provide comparable quality protein to traditional livestock. Efforts to protect Madagascar’s forests highlight potential solutions to global hunger, as the FAO estimates a 70% increase in agricultural output will be necessary to feed a projected population of 9 billion. Insects, which have a unique genetic structure distinct from humans, present a low risk for viral transmission and emit significantly fewer greenhouse gases than livestock.
The UN has advocated for insect consumption to combat hunger and food insecurity since a 2013 report identified it as a vital component in these efforts. The edible insect market is projected to reach $4. 63 billion by 2027, marking a promising business opportunity in addressing poverty and environmental challenges.
Moreover, approximately 2 billion people globally already incorporate insects into their diets, indicating cultural acceptance. Insects tend to have a higher protein content compared to beef and require fewer resources to rear. They thrive on waste, utilize less water, and contribute minimally to greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, their waste, or frass, acts as a valuable fertilizer. By promoting entomophagy, society can potentially tackle issues like malnutrition, pollution, and the looming food crisis, leading to a more sustainable and healthier alternative to traditional meat consumption. Overall, embracing insects as a food source offers compelling benefits for health and the environment.
Do You Believe Eating Insects Will Help Sustain The Earth?
Our reliance on animal protein significantly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Insects present an often-overlooked, sustainable protein source that could mitigate these issues. Here are five compelling reasons to consider insects as an alternative protein source: they are genetically distinct from humans, minimizing virus transmission risks; they emit substantially less greenhouse gas compared to livestock; and they could help address food supply challenges posed by a growing global population, which is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050.
The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) states agricultural production must increase by 70% to meet this demand. Insects' nutritional benefits and low impact on glucose metabolism make them a promising choice. Entomologist Arnold van Huis advocates for entomophagy—the consumption of insects—as a viable solution.
Raising edible insects on food waste can significantly reduce land usage required for traditional livestock feed, effectively addressing food waste issues. Moreover, insects demonstrate a remarkable feed conversion rate, producing equivalent amounts of quality protein with less environmental impact. Current evidence suggests that adopting insect-based diets could lower carbon emissions, water usage, agricultural land utilization, and ammonia production.
Many global cultures already incorporate insects in their diets, presenting an opportunity for wider acceptance. Ultimately, transitioning to insect protein could alleviate food shortages while significantly reducing the ecological footprint of our diets, with 58% of surveyed individuals acknowledging its potential as a reliable protein source. In conclusion, insects may offer healthier, cheaper, and more environmentally-friendly alternatives to conventional meat consumption.
Which Is A Central Idea Of The Case For Eating Insects?
The research on edible insects is still in its early stages, but preliminary evidence indicates these insects could be a more environmentally sustainable alternative to traditional livestock. Additionally, insects have great potential as pet food and livestock feed. Support for the idea that eating insects could gain acceptance in Western countries comes from the notion that familiarizing consumers with insect-based products, such as those made with insect flour, could make them more palatable. Strategies to encourage consumption include highlighting the nutritional benefits of insects and incorporating them into commonly consumed foods in a way that makes the insects unrecognizable.
Despite the nutritional advantages and environmental benefits of insects, many in high-income countries are still hesitant to include them in their diets. Recent research has focused on understanding consumer perceptions and the reasons behind resistance to insect consumption. To increase acceptance, there is a need for further investigation into the health benefits of various insect species.
Globally, over two billion people regularly consume insects, suggesting that they are a culturally significant food source. The argument in favor of eating insects is becoming stronger, with claims that they are nutritionally dense, environmentally friendly, and effective in addressing protein deficiencies while generating less greenhouse gas compared to traditional livestock.
📹 Eating Bugs To Save The World?
“…Much of the conversation about how to solve the coming food crisis caused by soaring population, diminishing resources, and a …
Thank you TYT! Thank you for finally talking about the factory farm system and the impact it has not only on the environment, but on the economy and the individual. Eating is the most important thing. We forget about our food! Im happy that the healthcare initiative can move forward now too, but one great way to keep people out of the doctors office is to eat well. Please Please do more stories on the state of food in America.
The complexity of a cricket’s brain means that, at the very highest level, it perceives roughly the same nervous response (pain) as a square centimeter of my skin. Quite literally, the creatures are incapable of feeling the pain as anything more than a sensory input. We internalize and magnify nervous inputs into pain because of the considerable complexity of our nervous system and brains.
The thing with food supplies is that some foods are localized to a region. If you can’t eat a whole meal you are not affecting hunger in Zimbabwe. Even if you decide to starve yourself, no one will replace you and consume your ration. Unless you live in a place were you don’t pay for food and food is equally distributed. Hunger occurs because some places are incapable of producing it, some can’t pay for it and some both. Yet, I agree with you, wasting food is atrocious.
At a given threshold of nervous input, what would otherwise be attributable to the sense of touch is categorized as pain, and nerve centers respond accordingly in a chain reaction that serves as an internal alert that bodily harm has been suffered and that response is warranted. In certain medical cases, overly sensitive nerve endings move the threshold at which input becomes pain to a considerably lower level, such that the nervous systems interprets the slightest touch as physical harm.
I’m arachnophobic – so I don’t think I could ever stomach eating bugs whole as part of my regular diet (and I think most people would think the same) – but that’s a small problem to fix. Mash up the bugs in a paste, pasteurize it so is its safe, and season and reform it into appealing food products – either by itself or combined with more traditional foodstuffs. A burger is just mashed up cow reformed into a pattie. I’d easily eat a burger made from bugs as long as it was seasoned to taste good.
There isn’t a trained revulsion of eating anything insect related here in the states. In fact when I drank all those ants my dad was telling me that they were considered candy or a delicacy in other places, not to worry about it. He was about 5,000 miles away from what is generally considered a liberal.
The guy I originally replied to said it’s justifiable to cause suffering and death for the sake of causing pleasure to others. He says the suffering of animals doesn’t matter because they taste good. So, according to him, the suffering of humans shouldn’t matter either if they taste good. I’m not against eating animals. I’m against eating so many that we have to produce a crap ton of them and cause a lot of damage to our environment and our personal health in the process.
You know it’s funny. There was a story a few years ago about protein deficiencies in rural pop. in India, in areas where they’d never seen them before. Public health officials were all baffled by it, because there hadn’t been any disruptions in food supplies or dietary habits in the region to explain it. Later, they realized that better hygiene in food prep areas was allowing fewer insects to get into the flour. This meant fewer bugs in the bread and, you guessed it, less protein in the diet@_@
Eating bugs… only if you can eliminate all of the germs that they carry. I mean one can eat a roach, some ants, and the spiders found in your house, but they also track all of the dust, dirt, germ particles. I saw the Andrew Zimmerman show on Travel website, where they made fly soup. Flies came from animal droppings, mildew, molded fruits. I don’t mean to disgust anyone, but I can’t consider eating something that spent half of it’s life in animal droppings.
I don’t know about that, if you’re starving, your body will have you develop a want for foods that you consider gross, just so you can absorb lost nutrients. I saw on Discovery that this guy was stranded in the ocean for weeks before he got help and he said his main source of nutrition were fish eyes! From starving, his survival instincts told him to eat the eye because it was his main source of nutrients.
I think the best way around the psychological stigma surrounding eating bugs would be to grind them into a bug meal (the powdered type.) We eat parts of the cow that would be normally too tough and/or disgusting by grinding it and forming it into patties. How easy would it be to do that with bug meal? I won’t bite into a grasshopper, but give me something ground down from them, and I may give it a try….
Thinking of how many more people you can feed with this, is completely the wrong way to go at it. It’s about using fewer resources. But if we then just keep adding more and more people, so that we compensate for our efficiency, we’re going the wrong way. We’ll destroy our enviornment anyway. We need to focus on progress in every aspect. But the most important factor is the number of humans, multiplying the amount of resources consumed.
We eat lobster, prawns and shrimps. They are basically sea insect. If presented as such it’s probably as palatable as a plate of maggots. Which could probably be made more appetising…I mean we eat beef, pork and venison not dead cow, pig or deer. Though fowl tends to be called by the animal killed e.g. chicken, duck, quail. Crushed beetles is a common colouring – as well as food it’s often used in red lipsticks. Smear those dead beetles all over your mouth! Yummy. Fun facts for five year olds.
I am a vegan, but only on a need basis (I live in Northern Norway). I do not recognize insects as cognitive systems, and have no problem rejecting the vegetarian title to consume insects if they became available. However, I am doing quite well on lentils, beans and such and I do not need other sources of protein.
1st, you are right here about addiction. Yes, almost everything is addiction, when we must or really want to do. At least that is how I understand addiction. When you have pleasure and you want more, you are addicted. That’s not bad. If you damage your body, like drugs, then it is bad. With meat you are OK, but animal isn’t. 2nd, I repeat. Eating meat itself isn’t addiction. Addiction comes from taste pleasure. So you don’t eat meat because you physically need it, but rather because you like it.
I know the argument is that bugs could be considered super foods in that they’re high density/ low fat. But wouldn’t it seem like if we were to turn to insects as an alternative food source (as Lord knows the American food system is becoming more and more unsustainable) that there would be an interference in the food chain? It seems as if it could only last for so long before the decrease in insects would make us turn to another food source.
I’m kindof culinarily conservative and wince at the idea of eating bugs myself, but when I think about it, I do eat lobsters and crabs and definitely love them. What’s the difference? I can’t even answer… So, once we’re exposed to the idea enough and it gets “normal”, it will no longer raise eyebrows, I guess.
Seriously? Horses get their nutrition from grasses, which humans can’t digest, and have different nutritional needs than humans. Bears are omnivorous, like humans, but note that means that they eat MEAT and FISH in addition to plants. Also, in my experience, protein and carbs both contribute to a sensation of fullness. You can’t really get too much protein unless you force-feed yourself. Most of the weight gain from eating too many burgers is from fat and sodium, NOT from the protein.
The world doesn’t have a any food shortages.. in 2011 there was a study done that shown over ONE BILLION tons of food is wasted a year – the reason why the world has people starving isn’t because there isn’t enough to go around – it’s TOTALLY due to those people not having money to buy the food. That’s the problem people should be talking about, how 15 MILLION kids die each year just because they cannot “afford” food – the earths monetary system is the problem, not food output.
Many plant foods are great sources of protein as well. Meat isn’t necessary, the only thing you can get from it and not from plants is vitamin B12, but that can be made synthetically. Our meat industry is unsustainable as it is and needs to be reformed, which includes reducing if not eliminating the demand for meat. As I said, I’m not against eating animals, but I acknowledge there is no moral or practical justification for it, thus no justification for the harm caused by the meat industry.
All in all I am all for this. I don’t think it would necessarily fix all the food issues in the world as that is more a matter of wealth distribution than food production (so far at least), but it would be much cheaper and much less impactful on the environment. Lower average cost of food means more people can afford the crucical protein foodgroup – and hopefully it could spark a chainreaction of mass-producing cheap bug proteins in the other countries that need it the most.
NEVER eaten bugs!!! My sister a long time ago chewed up a lady bug while she was sleeping. The filthy things would breed indoors year round. Harmless but for their numbers. The ensuing exclamations and moans of revulsion she made woke the household. Of course I laughed at her. I would not want to eat insects unless I were starving. I don’t eat poultry, pork, or beef. If I were eating dinner with Pres. Obama and they were serving poultry, pork, or beef, then I’d make an exception. Else, no way.
why does Ana think people don’t know that insects are “super food”? practically Everyone knows they’re “very nutritious and rich in protein”… because Bear grylls mentions it every time he eats one of those gooey little buggers. he should cook it next time he’s eating one. bake an’ serve it up with tomato sauce, olive oil, some onions, sprinkle a little salt/pepper and garnish with a bunch of coriander leaves. class that show up a little y’know.
The key point is that I said I don’t know what I would do if I were desperate. If i was, there’s a chance I would eat bugs. But considering that I’m not starving now, I wouldn’t. Yes, that’s a result of cultural upbringing, and yes I’m aware that there are environmental benefits, but I still wouldn’t do it. I’d become vegetarian if Earth’s environment was really in that bad of shape, but until then, I’ll stick to my normal diet.
This is actually an awesome idea. Seriously. It’s true that there are problems with being vegan. You can get around them if you know what you’re doing but it requires a lot more effort than many people are willing to put into their diet. And I would feel so much less horrible about insects getting possibly mistreated than more intelligent animals like birds, mammals and fish… I actually don’t have a problem with eating animals, btw, it’s the inhumane treatment in mass production I hate.
Have you ever seen Funny Farm with Chevy Chase? There was a scene where he was in a diner eating some type of meat that he thought was delicious, but the waitress told him he was eating testicles. Naturally, he spit them out. I think it would be a little like that. Hard to say though. I’ve always been kinda grossed out by spiders (tarantulas especially) and centipedes, so if those were the bugs, then definitely not. Still, hard to say.
Aside from cultural preferences, or sheer desire, why should people eat insects? There is enough food on this earth to feed everyone. It is the state of food distribution, and an unwillingness to push towards global equity, which causes some to starve while others stockplie and gorge on food. Engaging in this discussion on bugs as food, in any way not purely academic or culinary, is sidestepping a serious consideration of proprietary conceptions about the world’s natural resources.
Not going to happen, people in third world countries have more kids because it’s cultural AND also the children are the workers. For example, on farms the kids do a lot of the work. The mentality is make a family so that you can use them as workers. The only way we can stop them from having more kids, is changing their culture and improving their living conditions (which won’t matter because it is on them to MAINTAIN their living conditions, not let it degrade over time).
Couldn’t agree more. In fact I would go a step further and recommend we impose an immediately effective worldwide 2 child limit to remain in effect for the foreseeable future (until our population and living habits reach a sustainable combination). After you create 2 children, mandatory sterilization. Not to mention have contraceptives of all kinds covered by public health insurance so they can be freely available to everyone.
This is all beyond idiocy. We have thousands of years of agriculture and husbandry devoted to the upkeep of livestock, veterinary science, manufacture, processing, etc. We’re not about to give it up for insects, for which there is no evidence about for mass production., not to mention where their protein for chitin AND chitinous waste. We have trouble removing keratin from waste water, let alone most bug material. Unscience strikes again.
The question is if it is ecologically efficient to do so. I have no problem with eating meat, but it is an issue if the steak we ate came from a cow that required a massive amount of resources to raise while that same amount of productivity and resources could be more equitably distributed around the world. No need to go all vegi-nazi, but cutting back on beef or switching to less inefficient meat will go a long way.
Actually Guinea pig can also help…HEAR ME OUT people in south america have been eating them for thousands of years and my grandmother raises them there. They do not require that muh space or that much grass to feed. they are incredibly healthy and one can give three people a reasonable portion of meat plus it tastes good. it’s only recently that they were made into pets and why don’t we eat them…because they are cute?
Eating bugs in Thailand can be delicious. I steer away from the giant scorpions and water bugs but grubs and grasshoppers and even baby frogs are marinated, seasoned and deep fried until they are crispy. We eat them like beer nuts and potato crisps at the bars. I’m not sure if I’d like to eat raw or gooee bugs though. haha
Throwing away 40% of the food we produce is not sustainable. It’s also highly inefficient to produce a ton of food (and antibiotics) for our livestock, since we only get 10% of the energy that we put into them. If you convert biomass to money, we’re basically giving each animal 100 dollars and they give us back 10 dollars when we eat them. Do some research on the practices our food industry engages in. Surplus =/= sustainability.
Well 1) She said she’d try it, not that she had eaten the bugs 2) I will probably never meet her in real life, so her looks are all that matter to me (yea shallow) 3) I had a cricket encased in Sugar Candy from a museum Gift Shop once, and tried dried and seasoned crickets once at work (they were delicious, but stuck in your teeth) so I’d be just as buggy as her ^_^ Insects as food make an interesting alternative, but I highly doubt they will ever get mainstream in America…
That is not an opinion – that is a fact. If there would be need to kill, I would. But right now there isn’t. Right now you can live more than good life without eating meat. You stubbornly hold to your pleasure addiction and use “natural” as an excuse. Having addiction to pleasure is totally OK – If doesn’t have harmful consequences. Pigs, cows and chicken: Pigs – interesting pets. Cows – still produces milk. Chicken – still produces eggs. Here you still can have them without killing them.
i hear pink slime taste like meat as well, infact it is meat, yet despite it being in your diet for the last 15 years, people refuse to eat the same stuff thats in sausage, just processed more. that said, i am for it, and if it taste like shit, just wait a few months until frito-lay or some other company makes junk food out of it.
They’re right, but I don’t know if I would eat a bug. I’d have to be really desperate O.o I just…to me, bugs have always been gross things that bite and/or annoy you. I know that we ingest parts of bugs over our lifetime in general, you know…a bug falls in here or there or whatever. And some bugs are used for food colouring. But I wouldn’t knowingly eat say, a grasshopper, unless I had to…
Interesting comparing Lobsters to Incests Lobsters used to be bad, but now Lobster is considered as a good food source. Incests currently are bad to consume, but in some countries it is a great food source. For the future… Human is currently bad to consume, butInteresting comparing Lobsters to Incests
So basically the model you are citing assumes no technological, legal, architectural, or social changes in agriculture over the course of the next 40 years. That is exactly what I thought it would assume, I just wonder if it already figures in the changes that have already been made. Let alone the murmurs of more, and what inevitably is coming down the pipe.
erm also we gotta look at consumption… if everyone started turning to just insects, it’d impact a whole group of things, we really have to start learning to eat moderately… and not just eat everything we see.. we’d end up hurting the earth more than helping. Everything has its place… Soylant Green maybe something that happens in the not so distant future.
Amen! You can keep finding ways to keep feeding human populations for only so long but it doesn’t stop the population growth. There will be a time that it will be impossible to feed every human on earth and food shortages everywhere will be so rampant that every country will be considered a 3rd world country if people don’t control their breeding habits.
Come on!!! I think i may have to call bullshit on the need to eat bugs to sustain our food consumption. Its not a matter of quantity but a matter of logistics and even distribution. I could bother to reference several studies which shows that both industrial and developing countries are producing waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay over demand. The problem is that in industrial countries, we throw it away and in developing countries, it gets exported. We have to fix the distribution.
I’d like to see Ana eat some insects if she thinks it’s such a good idea. Besides, we have genetically modified livestock to make them bigger and fatter, so it follows that if we start eating insects, it is possible that they might face the same fate… and supersized cicadas in my yard are NOT on my wish list.
I traveled to the Southern part of Mexico (Jungles and Beaches are beautiful in that part!!) anyway they were selling crickets with lemon, chili powder and salt! I tried one thinking “What the hell, I’m on vacation” and you know what…Not Too Bad!! Seriously…The guy selling them was an old Asian-Mexican man or he could have been Native American. Don’t get me wrong though…if you do not have the stomach for it, don’t try it. I think they fry them first so technically they are cooked LOL
Yes, all of my thumbs up! You have no idea how good certain bugs taste (all down to personal preference, some like peanuts more that crisps). I tried some different dried insects from this dare-based board game; crickets, mealworms, a bit of scorpion… all quite yummy, mealworms taste a bit like shredded wheat. It would be a great boost for trade if one started to sell bagged mealworms as you would with crisps, plus you could add flavors to them. Walker’s Chili Crickets sound good.
I understand your feelings. And nothing you say is surprise to me. What I actually did is I compared YOU to those bad things. While it is normal for you to react like this, it is also baseless (as far as logic goes). Ok, lets look at your plea. Oh wait, you don’t have any. o_0 Reason why is used that extreme example was to boil it up. Success! Now I have another example to use when I am explaining, that eating meat in nowadays conditions is nothing more than addiction to pleasure.
there are may different varities but it s not for everyone, i like it with brown rice and sauted squash/mushrooms. pickles are delicious! i ve not been eating them for a while because i ve not been able to find some without preservatives ..until.. i found Grillo pickles. no preservatives and singularly toothsome, cheers from san diego
That food chain idea is valid only when your life depends on it. It doesn’t now. You… yes You can now live perfect life without eating any meat. There is simply no need to kill for food today. When there is, then I am ready to kill with my own hands. But right now there isn’t need to do that. And by the way, humans is bad-ass enough to forget about laws of nature. Of course, when it is convenient, then we will remember those laws. Like when we will be to weak to stop eating chicken. 😀
Hmmm nice vid btw. When it put it that way it doesn’t sound so bad. Americans are really funny about their food. Even when we eat hamburgers we know it’s from a cow but have a mental disconnect between what we’re eating vs. how it got onto our plate. I guess if we had to slaughter the cow ourselves very few people would even eat meat. I just have a bug phobia so the thought of putting one in my mouth is frightening.
Protein, protein, protein. Gotta get more protein. Might die if we don’t get protein. Won’t be strong without protein. Protein isn’t a difficult thing to find in food. Ask a bear or a horse. The only populations deficient in protein are also calorie deficient. You don’t have to eat dead animals to get it. The western world should be more focused on the dangers of too much protein. I will say though, a bug taco is more sustainable than carne asada tacos and is probably pretty tasty!
Again, if you’re too lazy to research your food, then you’re too lazy to be a bodybuilder. Good bodybuilders know what they’re eating and are always doing research to keep their diets and exercise routines up to date with their needs and goals. There’s websites out there with lists of plant foods that have complimentary proteins, so it’s not that hard. Tasting good doesnt justify eating insane amounts of it and contribute to business practices that cause tons of unnecessary suffering and waste
Part 2, Of course if you want to slow down on over fishing and ease the pressure on livestock manufactures that would result in better and more healthier meat however to say we have to go strait to eating bugs is funny, just try to get people to understand you don’t need meat in every course of every meal – eat meat like three times a week and a lot of the current problems with livestock/fishing would go away.
@Ahron Darnell We would fit there comfortably…Comfortably?!! I am definetly not trying to insult you because this is nothing personal, but I am so tired of hearing about the “World population would fit in the state of texas” myth. It is the definition of a myth. Just as a small example, China’s population is almost 1 and a half billion, and it is a bigger country than The U.S. (even with a one child per family policy at that).
Wait what the…since when is seaweed unpalatable? I’ve HAD seaweed salad and it’s delicious! Srsly, if it weren’t so effing expensive, I’d nom on that stuff 7 days a week. As for eating bugs…hey, as long as it’s not lutefisk, I say why not? …but seriously lutefisk is like, six different kinds of “WTF.”
Or we could genetically engineer food producing crops like maize to be able to withstand conditions in third world countries… but that’s “playing God.” What if… we just eat all the poor people!!! Two birds with one stone. In all seriousness though, moving away from the Jonathan Swift approach, I have issues stomaching my leafy-greens (yeah, I know, I’m like a stubborn 5 year old) so bugs aren’t exactly next on the menu… You guys can go right ahead though.