UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?

PolygamousRanchKid writes in with news about a U.N. plan to get more bugs in your belly. "The U.N. has new weapons to fight hunger, boost nutrition and reduce pollution, and they might be crawling or flying near you right now: edible insects. The Food and Agriculture Organization on Monday hailed the likes of grasshoppers, ants and other members of the insect world as an underutilized food for people, livestock and pets. Insects are 'extremely efficient' in converting feed into edible meat, the agency said. Most insects are likely to produce fewer environmentally harmful greenhouse gases, and also feed on human and food waste, compost and animal slurry, with the products being used for agricultural feed, the agency said. 'Insects are everywhere and they reproduce quickly,' the agency said, adding they leave a 'low environmental footprint.' The agency noted that its Edible Insect Program is also examining the potential of arachnids, such as spiders and scorpions."

Comments

"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

I say "Because OMFG, gross!!!"

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[fazig]

I actually like the idea. Insects are already a popular protein source in parts of the world.

This reminds me on how some Japanese try to deal with their Nomura's jellyfish problem - starting to eat them.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Joce640k]

Every westerner I see trying them on TV is like, "Wow! That's good!!"

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Guido von Guido II]

I say "Because OMFG, gross!!!"

We already eat other arthropods, like shrimp, crab, crawfish and lobster.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[slim]

Pretty much this.

I'll eat pretty much anything. I've had Japanese colleagues play "take the gaijin to the izakaya and gross him out with weird foods", and I won (not that shirako is exactly pleasant...).

But even I find the idea of eating insects a bit revolting. I mean, I'd give it a go, but I'd grimace a bit the first few times.

In order to make any kind of impact, insect-eating would have to become really mainstream. We live in a society where lots of people won't even eat tripe, trotters, tongue or black pudding. Good luck getting these people to eat insects.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Joce640k]

I'll eat trotters and black pudding with gusto!

And haggis...? Can't get enough of that!

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[bagboy]

When people imagine insects as food they always think that means in some manner of native/raw form. Who says you cannot mix them with other meats or even heat dry and grind them as a powder additive to other foods? The nutrition is what we are looking for here - not necessarily the "grossing out" of folks.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[slim]

Who says you cannot mix them with other meats or even heat dry and grind them as a powder additive to other foods? The nutrition is what we are looking for here - not necessarily the "grossing out" of folks.

Unless you're going to covertly introduce ground insects to food, people will know. And if they know, they'll be grossed out.

Personal experience suggests to me that at least a third of people in the UK are grossed out by black pudding -- part of our culinary heritage! There's nothing outwardly unappealing about a slice of black pudding. But people have been told that it's made of blood, and that's enough to put them off.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[bickerdyke]

Coincidentally, that's exactly the same thing Hindus say about eating beef. Or half of the world about eating pork. Or 95% about oysters. Or anyone besides the french about "escargots"...

I find the idea gross, too. But there is a differenc between something that is gross and something you've been raised to find gross.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[slim]

I'll eat trotters and black pudding with gusto!

And haggis...? Can't get enough of that!

You, me, and, um, about a third of the British population, based on my gut-feel and no other evidence :)

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Farmer Tim]

And spiders. Sadly ThinkGeek doesn't sell those any more...

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[allcoolnameswheretak]

It's all a question of psychology and what you are used to. I also shudder at the thought of eating insects, but if I engage in a little self-critique I think of the fact that I love eating prawns which objectively look just as "disgusting" as your average insect. The only real difference is that I grew up eating prawns.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

It doesn't matter. I think intentionally eating insects is disgusting, and I deliberately try not to think about accidentally eating parts of insects (as another post above mentions). If I was raised to eat insects and such, I probably wouldn't find it so disgusting, but that's not the culture I grew up in.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[IRWolfie-]

Everyone knows white pudding is where it's at

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[ShanghaiBill]

But even I find the idea of eating insects a bit revolting. I mean, I'd give it a go

You have probably already "given it a go". Have you ever had cherry yogurt? Read the ingredients. It usually contains the red dye carmine which is made from beetles.

I have eaten lots of bugs. Once you get past the squeamishness, they are good. Honey ants are delicious. Fried grasshoppers have a wonderful crunch. When I was in Panama, I had sauteed banana spiders that tasted like shrimp.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[valnar]

Mmm mmm MMMM! I luv me sum good scorpions batter fried!

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

Or anyone besides the french about "escargots"...

Actually Portugueses eat a lot of snails too (google for caracóis).

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Joce640k]

Compared to eating snails, insects are cute.

Or prawns. Ever take a real good look at a prawn before eating it?

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[mspohr]

What is considered "gross" to eat is very much influenced by culture. In many cultures, shrimp, crawdads, and the like are considered delicious delicacies but the are in actuality just large bugs which some other cultures would never consider eating. Also, things like cheese are considered gross in areas where there is no "cow culture" but many of these societies enjoy various fermented vegetables which are "gross" to those who have not grown up with them. Lots of cultures eat various insects as a normal part of the diet (and some of these consider shrimp to be "gross").
So... it's all about your culture and what you have grown up being fed.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[camperdave]

Unless you're going to covertly introduce ground insects to food, people will know. And if they know, they'll be grossed out.

Not necessarily. I imagine a healthy percentage of people in the Western world could be coaxed into trying chocolate covered ants, despite the ick factor.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

The best way to win a game of "let's see what we can get the gaijin to eat" is to let him think that you're playing "take the gaijin to the izakaya and gross him out with weird foods".

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[larry bagina]

With shrimp, crab, and lobster, I eat select parts, not the whole thing. Let me know when grasshopper legs are the size (and taste) of king crab legs.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey, we Americans love our Hot Dogs. If hot dogs aren't tripe, trotters, tongue, black pudding, haggis, etc. then nothing is. Who among us hasn't eaten spiders, flies, gnats, ants, crickets, lady bugs, lightening bugs, love bugs and even those flying cockroaches. Hot pepper and curry make anything palatable!

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[BasilBrush]

To be tried just the once, along with deep fried mars bars, and deep fried pizza. Along with salt'n'sos of course.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[ShanghaiBill]

Or anyone besides the french about "escargots"...

Actually Portugueses eat a lot of snails too (google for caracóis).

The are also commonly eaten in most of Asia and Africa. In fact, I think that English speaking countries are about the only ones that don't eat them.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Nadaka]

That would be because of the chocolate, and ants do not appear to be a squishy gooshy bug, more likely to be nothing more than a little crunch.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[BasilBrush]

Unless you're going to covertly introduce ground insects to food, people will know. And if they know, they'll be grossed out.

Red food dye. Cochineal. Made from ground up cochineals. Insects. Plenty know, plenty don't know. Pretty much nobody cares, because they were brought up with it.

Same goes for black pudding, tripe and haggis. People that were brought up on it don't care. So the trick is to get people when they are young.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm Portuguese. I ate caracóis no more than 24 hours ago. Why? Because I can! Mwahahahah

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, but you're probably British, and centuries of boiling food have accustomed your people to eating anything in dim hopes of some sort of flavor.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[dj245]

Pretty much this.

I'll eat pretty much anything. I've had Japanese colleagues play "take the gaijin to the izakaya and gross him out with weird foods"....

Why is this such a popular game in Japan? Most Japanese colleagues I met love this game, but I knew a couple guys who really took it to extremes. It almost made me want to order a 28oz steak for them when they visited the US.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Immerman]

Indeed, it's a cultural problem that we'll likely have to rectify going forward, unless we either wipe out a large portion of the human population or all go vegetarian. We're already at something like 160% of the estimated sustainable global food production - i.e. we're "spending the capital", producing food at the expense of future soil fertility. Of course somewher between 50% and 75% of that gets thrown away in most Western countries, which is another problem we need to rectify - but regardless, as the bulk of the world's population begins to adopt a more affluent Western-inspired diet there's going to need to be some major changes to make it sustainable. There's also the fact that eating meat in Western quantities appears to cause significant health problems over the long term, but I don't expect that to actually factor in to too many people's dietary choices, like sugar meat is just too delicious for most to pass up, and for much the same reason - it's a concentrated source of readily accessible calories and nutrients.

Insects are something like 9x more efficient at converting plant mass to protein than cows, yielding 9 pounds of meet per 10 pounds of feed, and almost 3x more efficient than chickens, which are about the most efficient meat animals used in the USA. Moreover most insects are perfectly happy eating leaves, stems, and other cellulose-rich biomass that we can't digest. Of course cows evolved to eat the same thing, but their growth rate (and hence profitability) is considerably better on grains and other human-suitable foods, and there's still that abysmal meat:feed ratio.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

This from a guy who eats chicken embryos?

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Joce640k]

I'm posting from Spain, where black pudding is called "morcilla". I think blood sausages are eaten all over Europe.

(I only had haggis about five times in my life, there's no place I know that sells it, snif. Wonder if they sell it on eBay...)

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Joce640k]

Wonder if they sell it on eBay...)

Update: Yes they do... 8-)

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

I think part of the problem is that insects are usually eaten without much preparation. They still look like insects when you're supposed to eat them.

Grind them up and make a meatball out of them and most people would be much less revolted by the prospect of eating them.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[poity]

An insect farming industry would try to produce the largest bugs to maximize meat/exoskeleton ratio. We'll end up with half kilo grasshoppers as big as our heads.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[mwvdlee]

Not really. Most bugs don't really taste like anything at all.
Though I must admit my experience is limited to crickets and beetles, covered with chocolote (you only taste the chocolate).

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[NotQuiteReal]

it's a cultural problem

Most problems are.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

And they are perfectly happy eating the red food dye until they find out what it is made from.

At least that is what Starbucks found out last year.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[TheCarp]

> But even I find the idea of eating insects a bit revolting. I mean, I'd give it a go, but I'd grimace a bit
> the first few times

Its not so bad, hell in some forms, you wont even notice, take it from me.... I have done it.

We had some grubs infest a bag of rice in our pantry area. Funny thing about grubs, they don't look so different from rice. The whole family was sitting down to eat, we were about halfway through the meal when i thought one of the grains looked "burnt", then I noticed it also seemed to be made up of a number of ring segments, which is odd for rice.

It took a few moments before I figured it out and let everyone know that there were grubs in the rice, and not just a few, quite a lot actually.

Of course, everyone looked disgusted, stopped eating the rice, and tossed the rest of the bag.... but up until that point, nobody had noticed. In fact, we had probably been eating steamed grubs with our rice a couple of times a week for a while.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[SuricouRaven]

Insect size is limited by oxygen concentration. No lungs, they rely on diffusion. Arthropods you could grow giant though.

Or you could raise the insects in an enriched oxygen atmosphere - it isn't expensive to bump it up a bit. Added bonus: You can run a petting zoo. Because who wouldn't want to stroke the five-foot-wide butterfly?

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[bossk538]

you don't eat softshell crab?

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[squidflakes]

Snails are a staple in some Vietnamese communities. Its even to the point now where you can get them at some of the more authentic restaurants here in the U.S.

They are boiled in the shell in a creamy sauce after being marinated with some native herbs and my god are they delicious.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[slim]

Black pudding, white pudding, fruit pudding, haggis all on the same plate - tattie scones, bacon and egg.

What a treat; and I'm not even Scottish.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[squidflakes]

A grasshopper can only get so big due to the way they breathe and some of the problems with being a large creature with an exoskeleton.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Damnshock]

As do we, catalans. "Cargols a la llauna" is a declicious recipe :-)

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[poity]

Somehow I doubt they really feel a visceral disgust on the same level as people do with insects. I mean, Jews/Muslims shun pork, but eat other things like chicken/lamb/beef that are very similar in experience; Hindus shun beef, but eat chicken/pork/lamb that are very similar in experience. Oysters I can understand, since not every country has access to the sea. It would seem to me that disgust for a particular item WITHIN a category of food would not be quite as strong as disgust for an ENTIRE category of food.

Any Muslims/Hindus/Jews like to add to this?

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

They are tasty, ever eat silkworm before? They have this umami and buttery taste, I often eat them fried as snack. Same goes for grasshopper, crickets and some other worms.... but then us asian eat everything, as long as it gives energy. One thing though, they need to be cocked properly or you will catch some really really nasty parasites.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[GNious]

Copenhagen restaurant Noma have won "Best Restaurant" a few times, on a menu that included candied ants.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't. They gross me out just as much, and for the same reasons.

Also, there's barely any meat. Mostly shells and thousands of antennae and inedibly thin legs.

No thanks. Call me when you find an arthropod where you can cut off pieces of meat the size of steak. (No gluing shit together!!)

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Kreigaffe]

Tongue is straight-up delicious.
End comment.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[uncanny]

i was dragged to the mall by my wife the other day to do some birthday present shopping and we stopped in to hot topic. They actually had a shelf with boxes of different flavored (dead and dried) crickets for sale! i might go back and get myself a box if i can stomach going through the mall again.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

Everyone knows white pudding is where it's at

Is it made from semen?????

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Kreigaffe]

That is brilliant.

Introducing deep fried american foods to europeans is fun too. Reaction is usually a statement of them now understanding why there's a weight problem in our country -- not derisively, either. Just straight up, "I'd eat this until I was fat as hell, too".

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[daem0n1x]

It's called "morcela", here in Portugal. Great with fava beans.

We also eat other yucky stuff like testicles, guts, snails and basically anything that swims and is not poisonous.

With enough garlic, anything is edible.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

We already eat other arthropods, like shrimp, crab, crawfish and lobster.

Speak for yourself. Those things give me the heebie-jeebies too, I don't care if they're delicious.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

We live in a society where lots of people won't even eat tripe, trotters, tongue or black pudding. Good luck getting these people to eat insects.

We live in a society where lots of people won't knowingly eat tripe, trotters, tongue or black pudding. Package them up as some processed burger / sausage, and many of these people will happily eat those things.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

NPR just had a story about how their is nothing safe to eat that is universally revolting. So what is or is not "Good", is purely cultural.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

I think this is the point. It is only unpleasant because we have been brought up that way. There are many examples of cultures around the world where eating mashed up flies or whole beetles is normal.

Anecdote: I friend of mine was hit by a lorry (no, seriously!) a few years back and as a result he lost all sense of small. Eventually it started coming back but nothing smelt/tasted like he remembered it from before the accident. He spent the next few years relearning smells and tastes and what he found was the new smell of faeces, vomit, rotting stuff etc.. didnt elicit the same involuntary response of disgust that he once expected.

He surmised that he simply learnt what was disgusting as a child and associated it to a given smell as a sort of short cut....

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Ol Biscuitbarrel]

And good luck with that: "Derivatives from cochineal are increasing in use due to the influence of the "natural" trend. Cochineal extract and carmine are ideally suited and utilized for a variety of food products, including meat, sausages, and red marinades. Cochineal and its derivatives find further important application in fruit preparations, jams, gelatin desserts, juice beverages, non-carbonated soft-drinks, baked goods, confections, icings, toppings and dairy products." Cochineal/Carmine Provide Hues of Red and Purple

There's a whole host of substances people utilize or ingest that have rather unsavory sources. Best to just not think about it.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Iniamyen]

If there's one thing my mom taught me, it's to always properly cock your food.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[ericcc65]

Same goes for black pudding, tripe and haggis. People that were brought up on it don't care. So the trick is to get people when they are young.

"Willie: Get your Haggis right here! Chopped heart and lungs boiled in a wee sheep's stomach! Tastes as good as it sounds!"

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[genejglewis]

I tried black pudding for the first time, just yesterday. I expected it to taste bad, or have a weird texture, or something odd to dislike about about it.
I found it to be quite good, and will surely eat it again next time my roommate makes himself a traditional Full Breakfast.

I think it most likely that at least initially, the primary use of insects for human food will be as stated in some other posts, powdered and mixed in with more traditional foods, like ground beef. Anywhere things like 'soy meal' vegetable protein, modified food starch, etc are already used.

As long as the foods that use them _taste_ good and have the right texture, _some_ people will try them, and tell others. Gradually more people will adopt them. Certainly not everyone, but I think that a substantial portion of people just _won't care._

Especially if bug-based foods are substantially cheaper than 'normal' food.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[DragonWriter]

Somehow I doubt they really feel a visceral disgust on the same level as people do with insects. I mean, Jews/Muslims shun pork, but eat other things like chicken/lamb/beef that are very similar in experience

That seems to be a perfect analog to people shunning insects but eating other things like crayfish/crabs/lobsters/shrimp.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

Speaking of learning opportunities, here's one for you!

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/opportunity

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[chthon]

I have seen a lot of things about eating insects, but there are two things to add.

Some insects just taste like dirt or earth or mould. I once bit into a plum which was infested with larvae, and it really tasted horrific. Escargots are tasty because they are fed on grape leaves, but normal snails also taste like dirt (my father in law once accidentally ate one on a strawberry).

Second, keratin is not digestible, and the smaller the insect, the more keratin it contains versus digestible parts. What is crunchy in some insects is just shell.

There is no doubt that grasshoppers contain enough protein to e.g. stop kwashiorkor.

I think the world would be better suited with learning people that they do not need to eat so much meat. Meat should rise in price, less meat should be produced over all. This would have two effects: more people could live by producing meat, because they would not need to raise as much animals. The health of people would also rise, because of consuming less meat.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

Speak for yourself.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

That's already done. Some red dyes are made of squished beetles. Does your food have cochineal, crimson lake, or carmine in it? Squished bugs. Heck, it might even be one of those healthy-sounding "natural flavors".

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

Speak for yourself, I don't eat giant underwater bugs.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Deus.1.01]

Jellybears and chocolate....does contain amounts of bugs in them.

Some sort of lice is used to make red food color dye...

And processing cacao... unfortunately...does tend to include some creepy crawlers .involuntarily.

Enjoy.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Jason Levine]

When I was in high school, I'd bring in beef tongue sandwiches which all my friends thought was gross*. Beef tongue is extremely tasty though.

* My friends said it was gross. Everyone else made crude high-schooler comments about me "eating tongue." And yet, I kept bringing in those tongue sandwiches. I was too stubborn to let people's rude comments dissuade me from something I liked.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[publiclurker]

Softshell crabs are only really affordable on the east coast. the last Time I saw them in Washington, they were over five bucks each for frozen ones.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[jez9999]

I wouldn't recommend the fire ants, though.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[jez9999]

Because who wouldn't want to stroke the five-foot-wide butterfly?

Yep or the giant spider cage is good too.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[CrashandDie]

Exactly. I recently saw some news regarding a local (Toulouse, France) entrepreneur who started growing insects in a small business lot (see 24s into the video to have an idea of what it looks like). The video I initially saw was more recent, and from a different channel (can't seem to find it right now), but indicated that in a room of maybe 40 square meters, he was capable of producing in excess of 10 tonnes a month (I'm fuzzy on the actual numbers, so do not hold it against me if I'm wrong).

The price, however, was relatively prohibitive: 150euros / kg. In comparison, the average cheap meat, in France, goes for around 8-10 euros / kg for the consumer; production is about 4-5euros / kg. The price difference, as explained by the CEO in the video, comes from all the "R&D" that is being done to find new ways of consuming the insects. They're actually trying to market a cereal-bar partially made from ground insects, as it provides a massive boost in protein, without a great deal of fat, and has the "nutty" taste reported in other posts above. In the video linked to earlier, some french dude who's good with chocolate alleges the taste is closer to a cereal than it is to meat (for the dried variety), and uses it in macarons and whatnot.

Also, I recall he sells the ground stuff as "farine alimentaire", which really means "human-consumption-grade flour". If that's what they can put on the ingredients list, it's only a matter of price and efficiency before we start seeing that stuff mixed in to whatever KFC/McD is serving these days.

Then again, it's always better than horse meat?

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Shadow of Eternity]

I google that, against my better judgment. For anyone else wondering Shirako is fish cum.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[X0563511]

Yea, well you're not the one who ate shirako...

Why? WHY would anyone eat that!?

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

I can tell you're talking bullshit. How? Lady bugs excrete the most foul tasting thing ever when they are distressed.

I know this why? The wind decided it should place a ladybug in my mouth. The dots were connected (see what I did there?) later when, after handling them, I found my fingers had that same taste and odor. (I was a kid, leave me be :P)

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Comboman]

Tongue is straight-up delicious.

The best part is, while you're tasting it...it's tasting you!

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

Let me know when grasshopper legs are the size (and taste) of king crab legs.

You'll notice them when they jump inside your third floor window.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

Human is supposed to be at the top of the food chain. Let's keep it that way.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Type44Q]

tripe, trotters, tongue or black pudding

Those sound so familiar; I'm thinking I might've come across them on urbandictionary.com (at the same time, if I'm not mistaken, as I found about the "dirty sanchez" and "rusty trombone")...

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[doesnothingwell]

I've had moth larvae in chocolate candies, I made it through one or two but it tasted off a little. When I saw them wriggling about I had to tell the rest of the room, much hilarity ensued. The reactions were less than positive, no one wanted to finish the bag. It was cheap Tequila shots all around and that tasted worse than the larvae. Always keep good booze on hand your guests deserve it, furniture polish for larvae its better than Tequila.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[nickersonm]

Personally, the "gross" part about eating insects is that they're too small to easily remove the guts and other undesirable portions from. With a large mammal it's (relatively) easy to chop off chunks of meat and fat and not much else. Even if it's not particularly harmful, I don't want to be eating insect brains, indigestible exoskeleton, and guts with my small amount of insect muscle.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Bob the Super Hamste]

With enough garlic, anything is edible

As proof I offer Braunschweiger. Too bad I shouldn't eat it anymore as the meat processor I get meat from loads theirs with garlic. Although I think most people would be disgusted if they found out what is actually used to make sausages and their "natural" casings.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Bob the Super Hamste]

then don't let them know about the red dye Cochineal used in a lot of foods.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Bob the Super Hamste]

sauteed banana spiders that tasted like shrimp

Count me out, I hate shrimp. I have had dragon flies and from what I remember they tasted a lot like black pepper.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Bob the Super Hamste]

They are boiled in the shell in a creamy sauce after being marinated with some native herbs and my god are they delicious.

I would be willing to try them that way so long as they don't taste like snail which I don't like. Same thing with fish, if it doesn't taste like fish (smoke or spice the hell out of it) I like it.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

yeah why eat insects when we have been fattening up Americans for decades. If Jeezbus didnt mean for us to eat them he wouldna made em out of meat!

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[houghi]

If we start distributing food to those who need it and adapt the production to what we need, then we can have a LOT more people.
We waste a lot of our food in production and sales. Supermarkets trow away a lot of still good food.

Just think how much food you trow away because it is out of date. That is because you bought with a want and not with a need.

The market nurtures that want and therefore overproduces as well so that if you have a want, it is in store and you can buy it.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Barsteward]

it seems reasonable as people already eat prawns which are the cockroaches of the ocean

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[suutar]

The answer to this question is usually "back when, this starving guy said 'what the hell', decided it wasn't half bad, got his neighbors into it, and it became the 'local specialty', which was thereafter sought out by foodies." When that's not it, odds are good that it's "to prove they can."

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[squidflakes]

I don't think I've ever heard "Wow, you can really taste the snail in this!" so I think you'd be fine.

I wish I could remember the name of the dish, but if you're feeling adventurous, head down to your local asian supermarket/shopping mall, find the food court and start asking if they have snails. Alternately, just look in the warming trays. If you see a bunch of pointy shells stewing away in a greenish-white broth, you've found it!

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Dr_Barnowl]

Actually much more boring - pork meat, suet, and oats. It's basically a cheap porridge sausage, which is about what you'd expect from the Scots. It's popular in Ireland too. I rather like it.

A friend used to speculate that if black pudding was the red blood cells, then white pudding was the white ones (ie - pus). But it would be prohibitively expensive to separate them out, and it really would be a luxury foodstuff as the white cells are only a tiny fraction of the total cells in the bloody.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Whorhay]

I've had it happen with brown rice. We found out that you can just freeze it for at least 24 hours and that kills the larva and eggs. So now pretty much any rice we buy goes in the freezer when it gets home for a day or two. If you go to a walmart and walk down the aisle with the brown rice you'll likely notice a few meal moths fluttering around.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Dr_Barnowl]

Andouillette - sausages made from the colonic intestinal linings - are a fine example. I ordered them unknowingly in a French bistro on holiday. I figured out what they were made from about halfway through the plate. While the remainder of the plate required me to engage in a kind of self-administered Jedi mind trick, they were still mighty tasty.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[jellomizer]

I would be game, if I had a good list of what are good to eat bugs and bad to eat, and how to eat them, as well as good recipes to prepare them right.

I remember reading about some culture in South America, who ate bugs and other stuff we considered gross, then they got ill when we presented them with Spaghetti. After I read that, I realized how disgusting spaghetti looks, like a plate of bloody raw worms. (Oh I still eat it and like it, but I know how to look at things differently).

Would I munch on live meal worms? No my limit is eating anything alive. But if they were fried up, I would give it a shot.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Whorhay]

I think at least for those things it's easier to eat them because they are meatier. For instance you can break open a crab leg and get a big hunk of muscle to eat. My Father enjoys sardines which always seemed disgusting to me because I remember him telling me if they gutted them their wouldn't be anything to eat. Personally I'm not real big on eating internal organs. When I think about eating most insects it would seem to be a sardines kind of deal.

All that said I think if they started making Buggy Burgers or something using bugs that were thoroughly processed enough that I wasn't crunching on carapace bits and was produced under sanitary conditions I'd be cool with trying them out.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Barlo_Mung_42]

Not me. Even before I was a vegetarian I thought those things were gross. Guess that makes me a hipster; I wasn't eating bugs before it was cool to not eat bugs.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

Hell, if you're going to go that far then why even use insects? Just use textured vegetable protein, or other alternatives.

I mean jesus christ... this is nuts to go that far to simply have "meat".

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[jonadab]

Actually, most people I know won't touch any of that either, on the grounds that it comes out of the water. (I live in Ohio. Seafood is not exactly a staple here. "Fresh" seafood, and I use the term loosely, usually comes from Lake Erie, which does not have a good reputation at ALL. Frozen seafood is available, but the majority of the population won't eat that either unless it's heavily processed, breaded, and deep fried -- unless you count tuna noodle casserole as seafood. Also, fish expensive compared to beef or pork or chicken, and any seafood other than fish is expensive compared to steak, so even those of us who do like seafood typically don't have it often.)

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[SeattleGameboy]

I grew up eating silkworm larvae and grasshopper legs. They are quite delicious, I assure you they are not at all gross. It is all cultural. Insects are very viable food source. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beondegi

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[xaxa]

Well, some of them are too small. But see this project (online catalogue of edible insects in central/west Africa). The first picture has larvae of a decent size.

(I've met someone who works on that project. He'll eat anything, and pretty much has to -- you can't visit a village then refuse the food they offer if you want permission to take photographs, insect samples etc.)

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[xaxa]

This larva is several bites large.

Or how about Gonimbrasia belina .

(Insects are sufficiently different to mammals that sanitary conditions are less important, so you have less to worry about there.)

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[mattack2]

You don't think that most people know that sausage casing is intestines?

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Marxist Hacker 42]

480 comments, and nobody mentioned the Calapuya of the Pacific Northwest, who used to use field burning to get their top delicacy- roasted grasshopper.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[bickerdyke]

Another one of my grandpa's favourites which I still think slightly gross. (but at least I've tried it...)

Funny enough, since a few years, I aquired a taste for several of his other favourite dishes that mostly come from the tradition that no part of a pig should go wasted after you've used a bit of your own food rations to raise it for a year.

This one for example tastes much better than it looks: https://www.google.de/search?q=eisbein&rlz=1C1GPCK_enDE415DE415&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=E2eRUbuwF8_Eswbdl4DIAg&ved=0CDoQsAQ&biw=1680&bih=959

I'm not yet ready for the boiled pig's head....

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[bickerdyke]

All that said I think if they started making Buggy Burgers or something using bugs that were thoroughly processed enough that I wasn't crunching on carapace bits and was produced under sanitary conditions I'd be cool with trying them out.

Crunchy Frog anyone?

Re: "UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

Pigsfeet ftw

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[hoboroadie]

I tend to notice the grub poop smell when I'm cooking it.
I air out the house after I bin the stuff.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[hoboroadie]

I can scarcely choke down crabs and frogs and such, but lobster tails and escargot are the best kind of meat.
Damn shame it's illegal to raise snails here.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Immerman]

I actually mentioned that, but even if we eliminated waste, doubling or quadupling the food availability, that still pales in comparison to the fact that most of the world's population is currently surviving on beans and rice (or local analogs) and as they move to a Western diet we'll still need to drastically amp up food production, which is unlikely to be sustainable even if we weren't on the cusp of a global climate crisis.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

"Do you actually like haggis?"

"No. I think it's repellent in every way. In fact, I think most Scottish cuisine is based on a dare."

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[UltraZelda64]

Indeed, it's a cultural problem that we'll likely have to rectify going forward, unless we either wipe out a large portion of the human population or all go vegetarian.

Rectify? Who says cultural beliefs and practices are a problem? I would say the real problem lies primarily in those people who can't keep their fucking pants on and have babies with absolutely no thought about any potential problems--whether it affects themselves directly, their family, their baby's future, or even national/worldwide problems like the economy and food supply vs. population overgrowth.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[UltraZelda64]

Because that is fucking sick, and as soon as some kind of insect makes it to the ingredients list of a commercial product, someone will find out and probably start a lawsuit. Surely no company in their right mind will advertise such revolting shit on their product labels.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[timpaton]

We already eat other arthropods, like shrimp, crab, crawfish and lobster.

There's an obvious starting point for the introduction of insects into the Western diet: "Seafood Extender".

Who knows WTF is in that stuff? I kind of assume it's made of mashed up bits of random arthropod... although that could be optimistic.

Would it make a scrap of difference to anybody if their seafood extender were made of mashed up bits of random terrestrial arthropods as well as aquatic ones (and whatever else is in there)?

No issue of how big a leg fillet you're going to get out of a grasshopper if you just mince them up into something unidentifiable.

Then batter and deep-fry it. Yum! Battered deep-fried protein stuff!

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Lotana]

Much more helpful to present links to readers in click-able form: National Geographic News . That will ensure that more people will read it and they will be more grateful to you for saving them the effort of copy-paste.

I honestly don't want to sound like an asshole, but I strongly suggest anyone posting online to be familiar with basic link creation syntax. This W3C page is very good. W3CSchools is a very good learning resource in general.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

By "arthropods you could grow giant", did you mean "other arthropods"?

Insects are a subset of arthropods, along with crustaceans (crabs etc.), myriapods (centipedes etc.), chelicerates (spiders etc.), the totally underrated springtails and the sadly extinct trilobites.

You could indeed grow other arthropods pretty big.

Centipedes and millipedes can grow over a foot long, but they wouldn't be very edible.

Crustaceans get pretty big, but they tend to prefer watery environments. Coconut crabs, though, are land-dwellers and they're very edible. And they're enormous! They might be hard to farm, because they can climb and they can dig - but if someone can figure out how to do it cost-effectively they could make themselves very wealthy and/or save the world.

Now seriously, who here is squeamish at the idea of eating insects but doesn't think 'coconut crab' sounds absolutely delicious.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[shikaisi]

On a recent trip to Shandong province, my wife brought back a box of the local delicacy - scorpions. We fried them up at home and they made a very nice crunchy, savoury snack. If you closed your eyes, it wasn't a whole lot different to eating any other bag of crisps (chips, for those non-British among you). We gave my son a bag of them to take to school and he shared them with his classmates at the international school. These were 9-year-old kids from all over the world, US, Europe and Asia included and I believe almost all the kids in his class tried them and were agreeably surprised. Even his (British, female) teacher tried one. These things are a lot less gross than you might think. I have also had deep-fried bees in Yunnan, and they were very good too. Don't knock it till you've tried it.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[bingoUV]

So the trick is to get people when they are young.

Right. Their parents were not got when they were young, so the trick is to get people when they are young without their parents watching. Doesn't the UN run some orphanages? Sounds like the right kind of places to start.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

> But even I find the idea of eating insects a bit revolting. I mean, I'd give it a go, but I'd grimace a bit
> the first few times

Its not so bad, hell in some forms, you wont even notice, take it from me.... I have done it.

We had some grubs infest a bag of rice in our pantry area. Funny thing about grubs, they don't look so different from rice. The whole family was sitting down to eat, we were about halfway through the meal when i thought one of the grains looked "burnt", then I noticed it also seemed to be made up of a number of ring segments, which is odd for rice.

It took a few moments before I figured it out and let everyone know that there were grubs in the rice, and not just a few, quite a lot actually.

Of course, everyone looked disgusted, stopped eating the rice, and tossed the rest of the bag.... but up until that point, nobody had noticed. In fact, we had probably been eating steamed grubs with our rice a couple of times a week for a while.

You should have just shrugged and kept going.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[dywolf]

ya but usually its fried.
and anything tastes good fried.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[BasilBrush]

Getting people young, when the parents weren't brought up on it? McDonald's managed it without running orphanages.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[mcvos]

I think shrimp is the best comparison. They're similar in size, and they're all legs and tentacles, yet inside,there's stuff that a lot of people love to eat. Similar stuff is inside grasshoppers. They're more than just legs too.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[goose-incarnated]

Copenhagen restaurant Noma have won "Best Restaurant" a few times, on a menu that included candied ants.

Frankly, what restaurant snobs think is good has no correlation to what normal folk find disgusting.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Immerman]

Hardly a fair accusation - almost nobody outside a monestary/nunnery keeps their pants on, anywhere in the world. The difference is that in the developed world we have education about, and ready access to, a wide variety of birth-control options. Pretty much everywhere in he developing world that family planning programs reach out to women to provide education and free/extremely cheap birth-control options, birth rates fall dramatically and living standards begin to rise almost immediately.

Still, even if every woman on the planet limited themselves to a "replacement only" two children as of *today*, global population would still rise to about 10-11 billion by 2050 before stabalizing because people are also living longer. And feeding that many people is going to be a real challenge, especially as the global economic disparity evens out and the developing nations adopt a more energy-intensive diet.

Also - by what right do you tell others that *they* have to be the ones to make sacrifices? I'm guesing you, like I, are from the US, which means we both are responsible for something like 5x the global average of resource consumption, and probably somewhere closer to 20x the resource consuption of someone in a developing nation. And as our per-capita economic advantage dwindles the only way we'll be able to maintain our current wasteful consumption practices will be by force of arms, and even if you think that's a reasonable option it won't last for long - we've already made great strides in turning world opinion against us with our ridiculous "War on Terror", if we start instead stealing food from innocent mouths it won't be long before the world allies against us and takes us out.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

Because of the sheer amount of fat, salt, sugar and glutamat on them?

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Agent0013]

Who says you cannot mix them with other meats or even heat dry and grind them as a powder additive to other foods? The nutrition is what we are looking for here - not necessarily the "grossing out" of folks.

Unless you're going to covertly introduce ground insects to food, people will know. And if they know, they'll be grossed out.

You seem quite uninformed about the ingredients you already eat. Look at your ingredient list sometime. If you see castoreum or sometimes just natural flavoring, typically used as vanilla or raspberry flavoring, that is beaver anal gland juice. L-cysteine is used as a commercial dough conditioner to improve the texture of breads and baked goods, that is made from from dissolved human hair or duck feathers. Carmine, a bright red food colorant often listed as carmine, crimson lake, cochineal, or natural red #4 on ingredient labels is made is actually the crushed abdomen of the female Dactylopius coccus, an African beetle-like insect. So in the last example, people are already eating insects. All they need to do is give it an alternate name for the ingredient list and nobody would be the wiser.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[UltraZelda64]

To be honest, I don't really care what they do--nothing's going to change anyway. Nowhere did I make any kind of "demand" that they keep their legs shut. I'm just stating that I do not believe cultural diets are the problem, and that a large part of the problem is, in fact, due to the surge in population that shows no sign of slowing. Add in the increasingly effective world of modern medicine preventing people in many areas of the world from dying until long after they're due, and you've got a problem. Yes, I am from the U.S., and I see people having babies for no good reason whatsoever all the time, with no thought about anything but a night of fucking without a rubber and/or birth control drugs. Couldn't care less about "third world countries" like Haiti and those in Africa, to be completely honest; the rampant disease and natural disasters alone, combined with lack of medical knowledge (or knowledge about, well... anything), will wipe them out somewhat and keep things balanced. Nature will sort it out.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Reziac]

Don't forget that the meat:feed ratio largely includes plant materials that humans can't digest, such as range grass that grows where it's not practical to grow crops (due to lack of water or lack of good soil). Feedlot finishing is a minor part of the calories that go into producing beef.

As to insects, nothing against 'em (I eat ants and aphids occasionally) but what are the relative processing costs? Say, for whole grasshopper. That chitinous exoskeleton is not digestible; indeed, it may be hazardous in sufficient quantity (I've had a cat kill itself by overindulging a taste for grasshoppers -- blocked intestine).

And remember, insects eat an appalling amount relative to their size. They are not free food that falls from the sky. So say we harvest 'em, but -- what do we feed 'em first? ever seen an area stripped by locusts? I have; they eat everything down to scoured wood and bare dirt.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Immerman]

Not really - In the US cows are about the only meat animal that can effectively digest cellulose, and they're often fed grain anyway since it boosts growth rate. Pigs and chickens pretty much require a diet not that unlike humans - useful if you're feeding them them your kitchen waste, but terribly inefficient otherwise.

As for what to feed the insects - as you point out grasshoppers and the like *love* cellulose - we can feed them the same exact range grass that the cows are eating now and get 9x as much meat. (locusts being an omnivorous swarming state of grasshoppers triggered by specific chemical stimuli, we now know enough that we can switch the state on and off at will, at least within a controlled environment). It's actually cows that consume an appalling amount relative to their size, you just rarely see giant herds of cows covering all avilable surfaces.

As for your poor cat - I doubt its unfortunate demise had anything to do with chitin per-se. The problem is that cats are consumate carnivores, and as such their teeth are built for grasping and tearing, not chewing. Eat enough of anything indigestible without chewing it first and you're going to have problems.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

I for one welcome our insect comestibles.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Bob the Super Hamste]

Given how it is labeled and what people believe with food, no I don't. Also it is what goes into sausage not just the casing. There is a rather large disconnect that people have with their food now days as everything comes prepackaged and processed. It is really sad when you have people that are horrified to find out that steak is a chopped up animal, and yes I have met people like this. When I was little I knew where meat came from and I remember one time watching my dad and one of his buddies butchering a deer and wondering where does the hamburger come from since nothing in there looked like hamburger. I could see where things like steaks and roasts came from but not the burger.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[WGFCrafty]

I don't think they break down cellulose, rather the stuff living in their gut flora does the job. Termites can't even digest cellulose, and rely on some single cell stomach creatures to do the work.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[WGFCrafty]

I'll eat roasted insects before some of that stuff you mentioned.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[WGFCrafty]

Was offered escargot at a not too fancy steak place, it's in most nicer supermarkets canned. This is in Texas.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Immerman]

Heck, for that matter we can't digest almost anything without the aid of our gut bacteria - in fact we couldn't survive long at all without the symbiosis of dozens (hundreds?) of different bacteria. Half the sugars in human milk are actually indigestible by humans, they exist to promote the growth of gut bacteria that the child will need to survive later in life. We're only beginning to reconize the interconnections, but the basic truth seems to be that life on Earth is microbial, with a few macroscopic species around that have learned to work with their diminutive cousins. Heck, supposedly the cells in our own bodies are outnumbered 10:1 by bacteria, a number that sounds ridiculous until you consider that the average bacteria is about 1/10 the diameter of the average human cell, or 1/1000 the volume (~= mass since we're all mostly water). Given that I would think the 6 lbs of bacteria in the average human would translate to a 600lb human, so either our bacteria are larger than average, or the 10:1 ratio is only an order of magnitude estimate.

So anyway, I tend to regard "macroscopic organism + symbiotes" as a single "entity" for most purposes. Dairy cows actually suffer horribly because they are typically fed grain which gives much higher milk yields, but the bacteria that aid in digesting grain are much harsher on the cow's system, and life expectancy typically drops by 30-50% over grass-fed cows.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[KingBenny]

tastes like hazel nuts but yea, i think they might want to give the example and serve fried locust and grinded wormcubes for tofu on high-level parties and receptions ... maybe with some tax-funded tap water to wash it down, after all, the greatest lead by example ... someone told me that sometime, i forgot who and i dont know if the man had a realistic view on the world

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[bingoUV]

Rather than fighting the "yuck" factor of grown-ups, McDonald's attracted everyone with the cheap, "tasty" food. That is not going to work with bugs.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[BasilBrush]

McDonald's added sugar, fat and salt to dress up poor quality food in a way that kids (and some adults) love. Why wouldn't that work with bugs?

From what I've seen the initial attempts to bring insects to western palates involve coating with chocolate or sugar glazing. Pretty similar idea.

Hell when I was a kid they used to sell "sweet cigarettes" to kids. Cigarettes made of candy. Don't know if they still do. I used to have them, though never with my parents knowledge or approval.

There's absolutely no reason way kids can't be introduced to eating bugs. It's something that won't happen over night though.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[bingoUV]

McDonald's added sugar, fat and salt to dress up poor quality food

Sugar, fat and salt have "yuck" factor? That is being discussed here if you read the thread.

There's absolutely no reason way kids can't be introduced to eating bugs. It's something that won't happen over night though.

Nobody is saying there is any reason kids can't be introduced. But someone needs to. Who will introduce the non-orphan kids? The "yucked out" parents?

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[BasilBrush]

Sugar, fat and salt have "yuck" factor?

Huh?!? No they counteract it.

Nobody is saying there is any reason kids can't be introduced. But someone needs to. Who will introduce the non-orphan kids? The "yucked out" parents?

The same people that introduced them to McDonalds. In what way am I not being clear?

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[bingoUV]

Huh?!? No they counteract it

Then why are they being compared to bugs, which have the yuck factor?

The same people that introduced them to McDonalds.

Yes because, as I said earlier, McDonald's doesn't have yuck factor, bugs do. So parents introduce kids to McDonald's, not to bugs.

 

In what way am I not being clear?

In comparing the incomparables, McDonald's and bugs? One much less nutritious, more tasty, more culturally accepted than the other? In utterly failing to understand the yuck factor?

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[BasilBrush]

Then why are they being compared to bugs, which have the yuck factor?

They're not. The mechanically recovered meat slurry patties are. The chocolate on chocolate covered bugs is being compared to added sugar, salt and fat in Mcdonald's burgers.

Yes because, as I said earlier, McDonald's doesn't have yuck factor, bugs do. So parents introduce kids to McDonald's, not to bugs.

McDonald's might not have the yuck factor to you. It does to many parents. Sorry, I wasn't trying to cater to your specific likes and dislikes. I don't know what they are.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[bingoUV]

McDonald's might not have the yuck factor to you. It does to many parents.

Many? Ok, compare the number of people eating and feeding their kids at McDonald's ; with the number of people eating bugs and feeding their kids bugs. You'll know how many people have the yuck factor for bugs versus McDonald's.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[BasilBrush]

Many? Ok, compare the number of people eating and feeding their kids at McDonald's ; with the number of people eating bugs and feeding their kids bugs.

Your question reeks:

a) Of American cultural imperialism. Not everyone is like you. In some countries "fermented milk" is disgusting. "American Cheese", i.e. fake cheese, even more so. In some countries eating beef is disgusting. Why on earth do you imagine they wouldn't find McDonald's disgusting.

b) Of conservatism. Small 'c'. My British grandmother (very conservative) thought curry was "foreign muck", and couldn't pronounce "pizza" properly. Yet they are now probably the most popular meals in Britain. Things change. McDonald's is relatively recent. "Bugs" may be something of the future. YOU can't get over the yuk factor, and I probably can't either. But that doesn't mean that future generations won't be eating them. They do already in plenty of other countries. And the mechanisms by which things change are not only there, and obvious if you look with a historical eye, they are unavoidable. In future decades, people won't have the same diet you have now.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[bingoUV]

Actually your choice of McDonald's for comparison already reeks of all this. And of your ignorance of the fact that bug yuck factor applies to much more of the world than the Americas.

It would, of course, be futile to tell you I've never set foot in the Americas, or that all your comparisons of bugs with McDonald's in the thread were in present or even past tense. So go ahead and change the nature of the discussion to one of an unknown future as it is the easiest recourse for you.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

Are you serious? There are ALREADY bugs in commercial products used for coloring.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

You granolas can go to hell. It's none of your business how much meat I eat.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[BasilBrush]

McDonalds was chosen because it's bad food that children love, but many/most parents don't.

And I have a very good idea of what countries have bug eating as a common thing. Hint, your country probably does. As I mentioned earlier: cochineal.

Tense? They are already trying to introduce other edible bugs. Present tense. They aren't yet a common thing in western countries, therefore when they are, that will be in the future. Future tense.

There's no changing the nature of the discussion. My point is exactly the same as the highly modded post to which you first responded. I've had to rephrase it a few times because you seemed hooked on a misapprehension that I'd compared bugs to sugar, salt and fat.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[bingoUV]

McDonalds was chosen because it's bad food that children love, but many/most parents don't.

You'd be surprised how many parents love McDonald's food. And "not loving" is not remotely comparable to "having a yuck factor for" as far as eating or introducing their kids to eating something.

And I have a very good idea of what countries have bug eating as a common thing

Which is completely irrelevant - as the UN cannot be hoping to "introduce" bug eating in cultures where it is already prevalent.Logic 101 disaster.

All statements here are obviously applicable to only cultures where knowingly eating bugs is NOT accepted yet.

because you seemed hooked on a misapprehension that I'd compared bugs to sugar, salt and fat.

Your statement "McDonald's added sugar, fat and salt to dress up poor quality food in a way that kids (and some adults) love. Why wouldn't that work with bugs?" wasn't clear what in all these nouns is being compared to bugs. NONE of the nouns in the statement are comparable to bugs in the strength of the yuck factor they evoke, so even if you compared bugs with any of the other nouns here, it is all equally colossally wrong.

Who will introduce the non-orphan kids? The "yucked out" parents?

The same people that introduced them to McDonalds.

But your comparison of McDonald's with bugs was clear. And colossally wrong too. Mentioning for the fifth time - McDonald's doesn't evoke the yuck factor with a strength remotely comparable to bugs. You yourself admit that "some parents" love McDonald's food. None of them love bugs. Also proven by the number of people eating food there in bug-incompatible cultures as compared to the number of people eating and feeding kids bugs. And for the second time - cultural acceptability, taste, and nutrition are all incomparable between bugs and McDonald's.

In case you get lost again - bug compatible compatible cultures are not being discussed. At all.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[BasilBrush]

Your statement "McDonald's added sugar, fat and salt to dress up poor quality food in a way that kids (and some adults) love. Why wouldn't that work with bugs?"

OK, I'm hitting my head against a brick wall here. Delete.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[bingoUV]

Stop doing that. You have already sustained enough brain damage that you have stopped posting coherently.

Re:"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

You have understood the Feed converion Ratio wrong. Read it again. Basically the lower the better.

Why not Zoidberg?

[Sockatume]

I started carefully reconsidering my emotional response on insects as food when I really considered the use of the term "mud bugs" for delicious little crawfish. It's totally apt: those little things (and most of the shellfish I eat) aren't really all that un-bug-like. Now I'm quite looking forward to trying some if the opportunity arises.

Re:Why not Zoidberg?

[HornWumpus]

I took the liberty of fertilizing the caviar.

Re:Why not Zoidberg?

[ExKoopaTroopa]

I agree, crustaceans are actually gross-looking and delicious, but you don't usually eat the external shell

Re:Why not Zoidberg?

[Nadaka]

At least half of people do not "suck the head" when eating crawfish. And nobody eats the body/head of shrimp/crawfish. I know that our little crustaceans have some nice meaty morsels, I am not so sure about grasshoppers, etc.

Re:Why not Zoidberg?

[Sockatume]

Who says you have to eat the entirety of a cricket, though?

Re:Why not Zoidberg?

[Nadaka]

Do they have a meaty part distinct from their organs?

Re:Why not Zoidberg?

[Clarious]

At least half of people do not "suck the head" when eating crawfish. And nobody eats the body/head of shrimp/crawfish. I know that our little crustaceans have some nice meaty morsels, I am not so sure about grasshoppers, etc.

Because the head is where they feces are.

Re:Why not Zoidberg?

[Anonymous Coward]

At least half of people do not "suck the head" when eating crawfish. And nobody eats the body/head of shrimp/crawfish. I know that our little crustaceans have some nice meaty morsels, I am not so sure about grasshoppers, etc.

I eat shrimp heads every time I go out for sushi. If you order the "Sweet Shrimp" alot of places will deepfry the heads and bring them along with the raw tails. The shrimp heads are, frankly, part of the appeal. Delicious and crunchy!.

Re:Why not Zoidberg?

[logjon]

I've pulled in a couple pounds every time I've put out traps the past couple weeks. Fucking delicious.

Re:Why not Zoidberg?

[Deus.1.01]

Which is funny because initially Lobsters were considered quite "unappetizing", and what was caught was grounded up into dog food.
It was not until recently( late 19th century that or such) that it began to grow in demand for the high diners.

But yeah, I read an article about researchers researching exactly bugs for human consumption....and you now what, in a tortilla...it all looks good.

Re:Why not Zoidberg?

[Hatta]

Who cares what's there? It's delicious and it's safe. I would suck the shit right out of a grasshopper's ass if it tasted half as good as shrimp intestines.

Re:Why not Zoidberg?

[Anonymous Coward]

Lobster used to be called the Cockroach of the Sea.

Re:Why not Zoidberg?

[Sockatume]

I guess not!

Re:Why not Zoidberg?

[Man Eating Duck]

Now I'm quite looking forward to trying some if the opportunity arises.

I once tried fried mopane worms in Botswana, bought from a street vendor in a village who sold them as snacks. They're delicious, the taste is somewhat reminiscent of bacon crisps. Recommended if you can get them :)

A sad day

[GhigoRenzulli]

The day we'll be _forced_ to eat insects. Humans would be at the very edge of implosion.

Re:A sad day

[Anonymous Coward]

You are right, and that day is right around the corner.

Re:A sad day

[Immerman]

Indeed, estimates are that we're already at 160% of sustainable agriculture levels. Of course 50%-75% of that goes to waste in Western nations, but even if we eliminated all waste we've still got to deal with the fact that the vast bulk of the human population is rapidly rising from the poverty levels that have made having any meat in their diet a rare luxury.

Re:A sad day

[Anonymous Coward]

>Indeed, estimates are that we're already at 160% of sustainable agriculture levels... rapidly rising from the poverty levels that have made having any meat in their diet a rare luxury

Who the F are you, Malthus the Meat Czar?

Do you even know a whit of economics?

Re:A sad day

[Anonymous Coward]

buy a condom save your taste-bug

Why not eat...

[Anonymous Coward]

People! They're everywhere, and they're delicious!

There's some excellent fat marbling on some of the North American specimens.

Re:Why not eat...

[SJHillman]

Well, soylent green sure as hell ain't grasshoppers.

Re:Why not eat...

[walterbyrd]

> There's some excellent fat marbling on some of the North American specimens.

But consider all the chemical crap those things eat. Read the ingredients on a bag of doritos, or a can of coke. Do you want to eat something that has been feeding on that garbage?

Re:Why not eat...

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually the people found in Europe are the anus of humanity.

Fixed that for you.

Re:Why not eat...

[Anonymous Coward]

Better than catfish...oh wait, no it's not.

Re:Why not eat...

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually the people found in Europe are the anus of humanity.

Fixed that for you.

You do realize that most of the people who settled the Americas were Europeans, and that includes South and Central America.

Re:Why not eat...

[camperdave]

You do realize that most of the people who settled the Americas were Europeans, and that includes South and Central America.

Yes. They had the sense to leave.

Re:Why not eat...

[Anonymous Coward]

You're saying that most of the Americans are what came from the anus of humanity?

You first

[Marrow]

See the whole part about them eating human waste and slurry and that stuff you just said? Thats why we dont eat bugs.

Re:You first

[SJHillman]

What do you think plants feast on? Then we eat the plants or the animals that eat those plants. It might not be human waste we tend to use as fertilizer, but it's got roughly the same "ick" factor.

Re:You first

[poity]

But most of the fish we eat do the same thing.
I don't see why we can't make protein powder from insects. Then you just need some celebs to endorse it and make it cool.

Re:You first

[firex726]

You actually can buy flower wit ground up meal-worms currently.

Re:You first

[0xdeadbeef]

If you eat or drink anything red, you're probably eating ground up insects.

Re:You first

[Aguazul2]

See the whole part about them eating human waste and slurry and that stuff you just said? Thats why we dont eat bugs.

Well, your industrial chickens and pigs eat crap like that (ground up waste from other animal production, slurry for pigs, dried for chickens). I'd certainly eat grasshopper, though -- sounds quite nice. There was a programme on the BBC about the Philipines (or was it Thailand) where they are a street snack. Mmmm.

Re:You first

[daem0n1x]

Because chicken and pigs are such clean animals?

Re:You first

[gsgriffin]

I see your point, but as someone that travels a lot to 3rd world conditions to help the poor (Kenya tomorrow), I can tell you that the UN often doesn't think things through well. The problem with this is two-fold: 1) Insects can digest and carry more disease than plants. The fact that insects are animal and not plant allows them to be carriers...like Malaria for mosquitos. 2) The insects are actually crawling around in the crap. Plants aren't. Food needs to be prepared carefully. This care of washing and cooking to the right temperature and separating raw meat cutting surface from cooked meat surface is not well practiced around the world.

While there may be same "value" in this food, I would easily imagine more people getting sick from trying to eat the insects and digesting the bad stuff inside and outside them.

Want to see other bad ideas from the UN, look up their Perma-Culture. While the concept is proven and helpful, try to going to poor people barely growing enough food and convince them to go 4 year with below normal crops in hopes that 7 years from now you will have a bumper crop...oh, yeh, then through in a drought every 7 years and see how much this idea helps.

Re:You first

[slim]

If you eat or drink anything red, you're probably eating ground up insects.

From that very article: "As of 2005, the market price of cochineal was between 50 and 80 USD per kilogram, while synthetic raw food dyes are available at prices as low as 10–20 USD per kilogram."

So most red things probably aren't coloured with cochineal.

Re:You first

[Anonymous Coward]

I imagine the biggest market is for foods marketed as only containing "natural" ingredients.

Re:You first

[Anonymous Coward]

That's right, you can. And do, whether you like it or not. :-)

Re:You first

[Anonymous Coward]

You are hilariously ignorant of the world of biology around you.

You do realize Earth is a closed-system, right?
That food you ate was probably part of 1000+ animals, fecal matter, insects and countless other things at some point in time.
Tell a vegan that and watch them explode in to rage. The hilarity.

Also, that human waste was inside of you once.
Human waste isn't bad unless you have a terrible diet already.
And human waste only becomes bad if it is placed in water because it kills the aerobic bacteria that helps break it down in non-toxic ways.
The waste that these things ingest become safe even if they were bad at one point because they get broken down and repurposed in to something useful again.
So even if there was lethal bacteria in there to most mammals, most times it becomes base minerals again.
Without that fact, biology wouldn't be around in any form larger than tumor-like life.

Re:You first

[BasilBrush]

The UN aren't suggesting anyone goes bug hunting. Even if it wasn't for all the health issues, it's be a highly inefficient way of getting protein.

This is about farming insects. The insects for human consumption would never have been outside in the open air. Everything they touch and everything they eat would be controlled.

I suspect your idea of permaculture is similarly whack.

Re:You first

[Anonymous Coward]

Feed a pig on that, and I'll still eat the bacon.

Re:You first

[AthanasiusKircher]

The problem with this is two-fold: 1) Insects can digest and carry more disease than plants. The fact that insects are animal and not plant allows them to be carriers...like Malaria for mosquitos.

Not all insects carry loads of human-communicable diseases. I think you're probably just as likely (if not more so) to get a serious illness by eating a sick farm animal than by contracting one spread to you from eating your average insect.

2) The insects are actually crawling around in the crap. Plants aren't. Food needs to be prepared carefully.

Umm, plants are often grown in "crap." Vegetables, legumes, and some grains, in particular, often have "soil" (and whatever was put in it as fertilizer) all over them. Meanwhile, excepting coprophages, most insects don't spend their lives wallowing in "crap," unlike many vegetables that are fertilized with animal dung. Oh, and by the way, "normal" farm animals often roll around in unsavory stuff too.

Even if your claims are true (and I've pointed out reasons they probably should qualified), you've only addressed why insects might be less safe than plants. But they have similar risks to other animal products. The GP's point was partly about animals too -- some are acceptable to some cultures, others are not. Insects may seem more "icky" to Westerners, but I'm not sure that they are actually less safe to prepare than what we think of as "normal" animals.

Re:You first

[larry bagina]

Maybe, but beet juice is also used.

Re:You first

[BasilBrush]

Cochineal used to be the standard red food dye until fairly recently. Pretty much anything with a strong red colour had it.

That there are cheaper synthetic dyes now is irrelevant. The change hasn't come about because anyone objected to eating insects.

Re:You first

[BasilBrush]

That's more of a purple colour though. Cochineal is proper red.

Re:You first

[gsgriffin]

Thank you for demonstrating my point. Though this article, quoting the UN, talks about insect farming AS ONE OF THE OPTIONS, they want to promote this as an alternative for more people around the world who are suffering from malnutrition, the article says. Here is the how this would play out:

People that are malnourished are often so because of lack of money to purchase food. If people start eating more insects, the poor (and malnourished) will try to get the bugs themselves or farm them (they won't have the money to purchase them). The result will be a more dangerous diet.

While many will look at this article in the context of their own living situation, the common failure of the UN is understanding how this will translate in the poor around the world.

Perma-culture, since you doubt it, too, can be easily looked up. I was in Zimbabwe last summer in areas where the UN had already been working with farmers. They were all talking about the UN reps and their plan to use perma culture as a way to improve yield. Not one of them was even going to try it, nor could they, unless they wanted their family to starve in the first three years.

My point is to step outside of our worldview when proposing ways to help and understand what will really happen when we head down a road. This is not a good idea and will be shot down by people that have real practical experience and knowledge in 3rd world conditions.

Re:You first

[bidule]

The problem with this is two-fold: 1) Insects can digest and carry more disease than plants. The fact that insects are animal and not plant allows them to be carriers...like Malaria for mosquitos. 2) The insects are actually crawling around in the crap. Plants aren't.

Pork.

Re:You first

[gnasher719]

Want to see other bad ideas from the UN, look up their Perma-Culture. While the concept is proven and helpful, try to going to poor people barely growing enough food and convince them to go 4 year with below normal crops in hopes that 7 years from now you will have a bumper crop...oh, yeh, then through in a drought every 7 years and see how much this idea helps.

I thought that was some Stalin-era invention that worked once by coincidence because it was tried in a year with otherwise perfect growing conditions, and then never ever worked again (but nobody would argue with a boss who had Stalin's nod).

Re:You first

[Immerman]

> Insects can carry more diseases than plants
1) Actually, not really. Very few diseases that can survive in insects can also survive in humans, we're just too alien. The exceptions, like malaria, are typically things which specifically evolved to take advantage of parasitic insects as a vector, and typically exploit the fact that many parasites vomit into your bloodstream either before or after feeding - they don't actually infect the insect, they just tag along in it's stomach for a while (bedbugs notably lack this trait, and are thus not disease vectors). You want dangerous meat? Try pork - damn near anything that lives in a pig will find you just as hospitable, biochemically they're practically human.

2) Insects are already widely consumed in the developing world - they're about the cleanest, safest, cheapest source of protein you can get. And we're talking about bringing insect consumption into the first-world, where microbial disease theory is broadly accepted, so even if they're raised in microbial cesspits to shame any current factory-farm, washing and cooking them can be expected, and their human-hostile microbial loads will be *much* lower to begin with than the meat of any vertebrate.

Re:You first

[quarterbuck]

If you go a little bit south of Kenya, they already eat insects (worms actually, but it is butterfly larva). If you see some of the cricket matches in South Africa, you can see them eating this out of tins.

Re:You first

[Gothmolly]

You lost everyone at "Kenya tomorrow" and "Perma-Culture" and your absurdly high Slashdot ID, hipster.

Re:You first

[Anonymous Coward]

There is a video on youtube showing people making mosquito hamburgers.

Re:You first

[BasilBrush]

What exactly is it you're trying to sell to the third world? Religion? Biotech? Pharma? Or just The Good Ole American Way?

Re:You first

[VortexCortex]

But most of the fish we eat do the same thing. I don't see why we can't make protein powder from insects. Then you just need some celebs to endorse it and make it cool.

Hell, why not just cut out the middle (mer)man and just eat our own shit!

We can make chocolate flavored protein powder from poo!

Re:You first

[RKThoadan]

I see at least one possible benefit to insects. Most food-borne illness (at least in US) comes from under-cooked meat or cross-contamination, which is basically just under-cooked meat that gets on your veggies. With the smaller mass of insects it should be much easier to make sure they are cooked completely.

Re:You first

[Anonymous Coward]

Just about every bit of food you eat is dead animal/plant matter in various states of decay.

Re:You first

[Andrio]

They'll just feed the insects corn like everybody else.

Re:You first

[lister king of smeg]

theres a reason i try to avoid eating pork, i mean i have seen people farm pigs. Some of my friends have said well have you ever seen the way cows live, yes i have i lived for a number of years across the road from a herd of cows being grown for meat they are much cleaner.

Re:You first

[Anonymous Coward]

"So most red things probably aren't coloured with cochineal."

As someone who is allergic to Red dye #40, I can confirm this.

Re:You first

[olip85]

I wonder if they use cochineal as a food dye so that they can label the food as "natural color"...

Re:You first

[wiredlogic]

My understanding is that cochineal is more commonly used in countries where certain synthetic reds are banned due to concerns about toxicity, allergies, or carcinogenic properties. Fortunately, profit is more important than public safety in the US so we get to eat the cheapest option.

Re:You first

[Anonymous Coward]

Whatever you may think of your experience of UN aid programs in Kenya, your concerns seem overblown here.
Why?
Because this isn't some random out-there untested scheme. Insects ARE currently farmed for food in several countries,
including Mexico where grasshoppers are raised (and fried with chili powder)
as well as other insects like some types of beetles (I believe, never tried that one).
So any health concerns have been and are being dealt with in those places,
all that the UN is doing here is trying to popularize these techniques to areas where they aren't currently used,
but the cheap/efficient source of protein could be of benefit for public nutrition...

As to UN Permaculture, I really don't see the complaint, this program isn't about convincing commercial agrobusiness scale farm to switch,
it is about educating poor farmers who currently don't have the means to be using the pesticides, herbicides,and fertilizers of 'modern' agriculture.
So they are already operating on a regime equivalent to 'Permaculture' in terms of lack of chemical inputs,
and the issue is merely making available modern permaculture techniques which anybody can apply once they know them.
It is not an issue of dealing with sub-par yields because these farmers are not using all the advanced industrial agriculture techniques in the first place,
these farmers already have sub-par yields compared to any modern industrial agriculture, and the programs are trying to improve that yield.
What is the other solution? Expelling the un-needed local population and converting land to modern plantations owned by transnational agro-business?
The pemaculture approach is obviously the one intended to work WITH the local population and not enslave them or make them redundant.
Your 'complaint' seems pretty simple to follow up on: are these program convincing any farmers? If so, your argument dissolves.

Re:You first

[dywolf]

when you open up a rice beetle, inside you find lots of undigested rice (its why theya re eaten...its what you scoop out and eat)

now...imagine opening up a bug that been fed on sludge. and consider that your eating undigested sludge.
ya. disgusting as hell.

Re:You first

[dywolf]

and there it is. you cant argue with him so you bring out one of your typical bashes. this is why you're nothing but a troll.

Re:You first

[BasilBrush]

It's still part of the argument. He's claiming he knows what's best for people based on the fact that he spends much of his time visiting third world countries. I'm pointing out that that's only part of the story.

The other half is his intention, which becomes more obvious if we know WHY he spends the time there.

For example, a Monsanto salesman knows about farming, and would be vigourously opposed to permaculture. But not because of what's best for the farmers, but because of what's best for Monsanto.

Similarly with an oil company man on the question of fracking. He may know about oil, geology and fracking. But you would be a fool to follow his advice about fracking in your area.

No troll, just a question of the important point he's omitting. I make no secret of my profession.

Parasites

[ArtemaOne]

I was thinking this sounded like a decent idea, but then remembered how many grasshoppers I've seen with parasites. I don't consider this worth the risk for me personally.

Re:Parasites

[Anonymous Coward]

Grashoppers are best deep fried with a slug of tequilla on the side. Any parasite surviving that means we're in real trouble.

Re:Parasites

[SJHillman]

Those are wild bugs. Wild animals tend to have lots of parasites and diseases too. However, if we farmed bugs they would be mostly parasite and disease free. Given that bugs need relatively little room compared to an equivalently sized cow or pig, it would be cheaper and easier to raise them indoors... maybe even right in cities where food is needed the most.

Re:Parasites

[Xest]

I think that's the biggest problem by far. For most meats like beef and so forth we have rigorous food safety standards and testing facilities. Adapting those to both the very different biology, very different scale (in terms of physical size, and number of creatures we'd need to test), and very different diseases related to insects is going to be where the problems are.

Re:Parasites

[Captain Hook]

You are worried about parasites in an insect but happily eat other mammals whose parasites are far more likely to be evolved to infest us?

Parasites in insects can be dealt with in the same same humans deal with almost parasites in our food, we cooked the meal first.

Re:Parasites

[ArtemaOne]

You have to realize that most of the people who advocate eating bugs will do so raw. Yes, cooking the grasshopper will kill that giant worm thing that I've seen come out of their butt. I just don't see cooking them as the norm. And what temperature do they need to reach? We have that down for mammal meat.

Re:Parasites

[Anonymous Coward]

Can't they just irradiate the bugs? Cheap.. safe.. effective.

Re:Parasites

[serviscope_minor]

We have that down for mammal meat.

We have that down for everything. Unless they are infested with extremophiles, then 80C will do the job. And the happy thing is that (a) extremophiles are archaeans and (b) there are astonishingly no known pathogenic archaeans.

Re:Parasites

[Xest]

"(b) there are astonishingly no known pathogenic archaeans."

To be fair, there was also nothing known quite like AIDS until someone decided it'd be a good idea to start eating the local monkeys and it crossed over into humans.

I think we'd have to accept that increasing our diet of insects is going to increase the possibility of new and fairly unique diseases. Things like the most nasty strains of bird flu we've seen have come about largely because of the way we farm chickens, the quantity of them, and the proximity of humans working with them. We can't preclude the idea that increased exposure to insects in greater numbers and possibly equally as unsanitary conditions as we farm chickens wont lead to super-strains of Malaria or whatever.

I'm not saying I'm against the idea or anything, but I absolutely think it's something we shouldn't jump into blindly without considering the possible implications and mitigating the risks. I don't think it's something we could start just doing tomorrow without any consideration as to how we're going to do it safely - if we start farming insects by the billions you have to keep in mind that that's billions of new hosts for diseases to propagate and mutate in at a way faster rate than they can in the natural environment given the confined spaces we'd likely be farming them in, and also, if done in the proximity of humans there's much greater risk of interspecies transfer.

Re:Parasites

[serviscope_minor]

To be fair, there was also nothing known quite like AIDS until someone decided it'd be a good idea to start eating the local monkeys and it crossed over into humans.

I'm not sure if that was the exact cause but your point stands. However, the difference there is that monkeys are comparitively close to humans.

We can't preclude the idea that increased exposure to insects in greater numbers and possibly equally as unsanitary conditions as we farm chickens wont lead to super-strains of Malaria or whatever.

Interesting choice: malaria since it does indeed infect insects (mosquitos) and humans.

That said, the further you diverge, the less parasites are able to cross infect. The thing with Malaria is that it's specifically targeting mosquitos as part of its life cycle, not as a cross infection.

I agree with your point: there is a risk.

However, given that our knowledge of disease has increased vastly and we still know of no archaean pathogens and the chances of a pathogen being (a) archaean, (b) heat proof extremophile and (c) somehow heatproof, extrempophile and living in insects rather than hot springs is extremely small.

Given that, I'd wager my health on thoroughly cooking at a sufficient temperature being sufficient to kill infectious agents.

Re:Parasites

[dwye]

To be fair, there was also nothing known quite like AIDS until someone decided it'd be a good idea to start eating the local monkeys and it crossed over into humans.

And the Ebola virus is probably native to some species of spider, which is why it is so virulent (no Darwinian pressure to avoid killing the human hosts, as they are just a minor portion of the available hosts).

Re:Parasites

[Anonymous Coward]

For most meats like beef and so forth we have rigorous food safety standards and testing facilities.

Then why do we (Canada and the US) keep having E.coli outbreaks?

Re:Parasites

[foniksonik]

What? No. Most cultures that eat insects cook them first. Fried, sautéed, broiled or boiled. I'm thinking you're just ignorant of common practices.

Re:Parasites

[PPalmgren]

A couple people getting sick every year out of 400 million isn't an outbreak, it just looks that way because the news is capable of reporting every single incident now.

Re:Parasites

[bmxeroh]

Well, I was considering trying them until this comment....

Re:Parasites

[ArtemaOne]

I completely am. I've mostly seen American ventures into eating bugs. Also I recall the chocolate covered ants I saw were not cooked. Bugs inside of candy shows little indication of whether it is cooked or not.

Re:Parasites

[Bacon Bits]

There's also prions like those that cause mad cow disease. Those cannot be reasonably destroyed by cooking. Heat can denature them, but you have to heat them so high that the resulting food is inedible.

Re:Parasites

[Anonymous Coward]

[...] To be fair, there was also nothing known quite like AIDS until someone decided it'd be a good idea to start eating the local monkeys and it crossed over into humans.

Eating... riiiight...

Re:Parasites

[dywolf]

its also a lot easier to innoculate a single beef cow against common parasites and disease, than it is to test and keep a few million grasshoppers (or bug of your choice), equivalent to the food potential of said cow, similarly parasite and disease free.

and then come inspection time (assuming the USDA inspection hasnt been furloughed), its also easier to inspect a single side of beef to determine fitness, than it is to check those said few million bugs.

Re:Parasites

[dywolf]

you dont seem to know much about how food gets on your plate do ya?
cooking isnt the cure all you think it is. things still get past cooking.
and do you like your steak well done? im guessing you dont. and if you dont, you are at serious risk for illness....except that we developed other means to keep our food chain healthy. things that allow us to consume undrcooked meat, to the point where today we can even enjoy medium rare pork steaks.

its a lot easier to innoculate a single beef cow against common parasites and disease, than it is to test and keep a few million grasshoppers (or bug of your choice), equivalent to the food potential of said cow, similarly parasite and disease free. and then come inspection time (assuming the USDA inspection hasnt been furloughed), its also easier to inspect a single side of beef to determine fitness, than it is to check those said few million bugs. about the only practice that would be as effective and easily applied to bugs as current foods is irradiation.

Re:Parasites

[Anonymous Coward]

You do realize most of animal biomass is already insects do you? There is enough breeding ground for any insect disease already. Also, people already eat a whole lot of them, just not in "developed" countries. Just cook them and they will most likely be safer than mammal meat as insect parasites are more unlikely to be able to survive inside humans.

And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[eldavojohn]

I say "Because OMFG, gross!!!"

If you live in the United States, you likely already engage in accidental entomophagy. Allow me to introduce you to the USDA's guide to what are the acceptable levels of insects in your food. Go head and CTRL+F on that page for 'insects.'

Having particularly good eyesight, I don't think I've ever eaten a blackberry that didn't have thrips or aphids on it. Guess what? They're delicious on blackberries!

Of course, getting my Wilderness Survival merit badge on my way to Eagle Scout gave me the opportunity to forage for edible insects and I would actually recommend the fly larvae that attach to grassland stalks and form 'bulbs' around them. Taste like walnuts! Too bad it takes forever to harvest them or I'd make a product out of that for the granola-brains community.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[OldeTimeGeek]

Yes, but would most people eat a handful of aphids all at once? There's a huge difference between eating the odd insect part or two because they were accidentally introduced in the process and choosing to eat them.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[wonkey_monkey]

Allow me to introduce you to the USDA's guide to what are the acceptable levels of insects in your food.

And if that doesn't gross you out, go ahead and google around for the acceptable upper limit of faeces. There is one, and it's not zero.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[TheRealMindChild]

To be fair, there is a measurable amount of feces on EVERYTHING.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[jefe7777]

I never eat anything with a faece.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[FatAlb3rt]

It's in your head.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not about to step up to the plate and show you how it's done, but it's in your head. A staunch vegetarian is probably as repulsed at the thought of eating a medium rare steak as you are that handful of aphids.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[squidflakes]

Funny enough, staunch vegetarians also unknowingly consume insects.

Agreed about it all being in people's heads though. I'd be all for some delicious grasshopper crunchies, or even a Bacon, Lettuce, and Termite sandwich.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[DroolTwist]

I never eat anything with a faece.

If you did, would that make you two-faeced?

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[dpilot]

I wonder how David Brin's (fictional) Kanten would feel about this...

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Synerg1y]

It's a little deeper than you think in there... in the nature vs nurture debate our predisposition to insects falls into the nature part probably under instincts, so have fun overriding that one.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Kreigaffe]

it's not just "IF you live in the United States" -- our food isn't more bug-laden than anyone else's food, and likely less so than some.

Thing is, if you don't know about it who cares. I only care if I know about it.. so I just have some foods that I only eat while I'm drinking, because beer is amazing like that and if I'm going to do something gross while drunk I'd rather it be eat sardines or bugs (crawfish are bugs!) or something squicky like that.

Maybe the UN should advocate beer consumption along with bug ingestion. Maybe instead of advocating it they should just make it a holiday. Start throwing parties. Bring beer, and, slightly later, the bugs.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[cayenne8]

I wonder how soon we'll start to hear problems with GMO grasshoppers and other insects?

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds like you have been to my house.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Curupira]

It's a little deeper than you think in there... in the nature vs nurture debate our predisposition to insects falls into the nature part probably under instincts, so have fun overriding that one.

Obviously, you've never been in China.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Anonymous Coward]

Plenty of cultures eat insects which suggests your aversion has nothing to do with nature.

If nothing else cultivating insects and adding that to animal feed-stocks is probably a good idea that would in no way affect your sensibility's.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Provocateur]

...for the granola-brains community

And I thought I was the only one of my kind. Wait for me, my brothers! We shall rejoin under the flag of the Bran Clan yet!

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Anonymous Coward]

Question is: do immigrants to china pick that up quickly or does it need some generations of inter-breeding before they adopt the meals?

Maybe it's just a few thousand years of evolution.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Jessified]

Hunger overrides aversion to insects. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/07/0715_040715_tvinsectfood.html QED on the instincts part.

Aversion to eating dog in Western society is about as strong as their aversion to consciously eating insects, and we can easily see how the former is culturally taught.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, haven't hung around kids much huh? You generally have to teach a baby what not to eat. If I cooked up some bugs and served it using the airplane "vroom vroom" sound they'd probably eat it.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[X0563511]

I draw the line here:

If, in it's "ready-to-eat" form, still resembles the animal when it's alive: no-go.

I won't eat anchovies, not because of the taste, but because it still looks like a fish. Likewise, I wouldn't eat a grasshopper.

Good luck cutting up some grasshopper filets though... unlike other food products, you don't have much you can do beyond presenting them as-is or mashing them into paste.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[JeanCroix]

No, the issue is multi-faeceted.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[X0563511]

I'm not sure why anyone would see this and think "I want to eat that!" Shameless plug: I took that photo.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[MightyYar]

In my middle age, I've taken to eating all sorts of things that used to disgust me. Once you pop a snail out of it's shell and suck it down, how bad could a grasshopper be? Goose liver foi gras is disturbing in concept and morality, yet it can be quite tasty. I actually prefer fish prepared whole now, whereas I used to want boneless filets only. And really, is there any insect more horrifying in appearance than a crab or lobster?

The one place I haven't been able to go is native in the Philippines.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[bmk67]

crawfish are bugs

No, they're crustaceans.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Anonymous Coward]

The beautiful part is what they do if there is too much feces in the grain: add more grain until it is below the acceptable level. Then it goes to market.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[K. S. Kyosuke]

If you live in the United States, you likely already engage in accidental entomophagy. Allow me to introduce you to the USDA's guide to what are the acceptable levels of insects in your food. Go head and CTRL+F on that page for 'insects.'

And if you just live, you already engage in regular accidental autocannibalism. But there's still a long way for ordinary people to chop up their neighbors and keep their body parts in fridge for Friday night barbecue.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Zontar The Mindless]

Agreed about it all being in people's heads though.

*ahem*

I can't eat anything that has more than 4 legs.

Every so often, I order fish someplace and they bring it with a bonus prawn or two on top. Which means I get to send it right back for a new one, as even a bit of cross-contamination can cause an unpleasant reaction. ("This time, please do not merely remove the crustaceans that have dripped their juice on the fish and bring the very same fish back out to me as you've just tried to do. My family are really very nice people who don't like filing lawsuits. Thanks.")

People actually express sympathy when I explain to them, sure I can broil some crabs for them if they'd like, I'll just have to fix myself something else... Which is weird, when you think about it--how can I miss something I can't eat anyway? (Even weirder--how can I be so good at cooking things that I daren't eat myself?)

I did try a fried grasshopper once. While it didn't knock me flat on my back for the next day or so, the way eating a bite of lobster would, I still got a fair case of indigestion--something I normally almost never suffer from.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[X0563511]

And really, is there any insect more horrifying in appearance than a crab or lobster?

Oh yes. There most certainly are.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[dcollins117]

And if you just live, you already engage in regular accidental autocannibalism.

Care to expound on this? I'm not sure I want to hear the answer, but I can't let this pass without asking for clarification as I don't ever recall accidentally eating people.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[K. S. Kyosuke]

Care to expound on this? I'm not sure I want to hear the answer, but I can't let this pass without asking for clarification as I don't ever recall accidentally eating people.

The epithelial cells of the lining of your mouth (cheeks, gums, tongue) habitually separate from the lining and get consumed with whatever you're eating, which means that with every lunch, you're eating a bit of yourself. It's the cannibalism equivalent of having a fly or maggot in your food every now and then (which also happens, of course).

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Dr_Barnowl]

Auto == self. You eat bits of yourself. The linings of your mouth, accidentally biting your cheeks and tongue, etc. Many people also nibble their nails, their skin, etc.

Cannibalism is daft though. You're far more likely to catch a disease that thrives in humans that way.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Anonymous Coward]

Just because China has to do it in no way means that everyone else needs to go through it.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[phrackthat]

As confirmed by: Mythbusters and Straight Dope

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[jonadab]

> It's in your head.

Thing is, it's in a lot of people's heads. Most of the residents of the first world, at a rough guess. The aversion to eating bugs is in people's heads, and it's stuck there real good.

Americans are also pretty averse to soybeans, and a fair percentage of Midwesterners are not real keen on fish either.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[cheesybagel]

From what I heard dog tastes like lamb. So I probably wouldn't like it. I hate lamb. Snakes however I could probably eat.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[ArsonSmith]

or this this

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[xaxa]

I'm not sure why anyone would see this and think "I want to eat that!" Shameless plug: I took that photo.

You may as well say the same about a prawn or crab, since that's just as "yuk" in some cultures.

I've tried waxworms and crickets (at the insect museum in New Orleans) and something on a stick in China. The waxworms and crickets tasted of cajun seasoning and fudge, since the museum was trying to make them palatable to unadventurous American children*, but the thing-on-a-stick was OK -- surprisingly meaty, like a prawn.

* They failed. The two teenage boys there at the same time as me ran away when they were told the fudge with insects in wasn't a joke. More for me!

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ok then you should INVOLUNTARILY have sex (it's not rape, because your opinion of the matter is just old fashioned) with whomever your elite global masters say so. See the problem with advocating the philosophy that any arbitrary choice that a person makes is simply invalid because it is due to "old, unsustainable traditions that are just racist/prejudiced and should be done away with"?

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Anonymous Coward]

Vegetarian here - well aware that there are bug parts and so on all ground up in ostensibly vegan food. I expect that most vegetarians are aware of this, they just prefer not to think about it for the same reasons that meatitarians prefer not to think about it. Eew!

However, I submit the following rationalization that allows vegetarians to eat bugs guilt-free:

The best scientific evidence of our day indicates that a creature's capacity to suffer increases with the complexity of the central nervous system. Make no mistake, the capacity to sense and respond to injury does not: even plants (with no nerve cells at all) demonstrably sense and respond to injury. But something more complicated, like pain response requires a more complicated nervous system to express it.

Some evidence: humans born without the proper nerves do not feel pain at all. They can state this plainly, and when injured they do not display the pain behaviors that normal humans do. These humans of course don't live very long (which is unfortunate), but it gives clear indication of the association between pain sensation and pain response (jerking away and so forth), as well as pain sensation and specific kinds of nerve structures. In lower animals, though they can't pontificate on the subtle distinctions of pain sensation, can and DO demonstrate crystal clear pain response when and only when the appropriate nervous structures are in place.

So...that's just pain in and of itself. Suffering is a superset of pain, further limited to animals that can contemplate things such as pain in the future, or different varieties of pain, emotional pain, or other forms of distress. Reflecting again on the body language and word-less vocal noises that lower animals make, we see that the ones with more sophisticated nervous systems clearly demonstrate the capacity to suffer in some of these ways, whereas the ones with simpler nervous systems can't do much more than wiggle about when poked with a needle.

So....I typed all that to type this:

Bugs have very simple nervous systems, and as such don't suffer nearly as much as, say, cows. So, the depth of evil in eating a bug is not very far above the evil of eating a plant, and still probably less than the evil of driving your car down the road. That, combined with the fact that the amount of bugs in your vegan food is low enough that you don't notice anyway, you can write off that level of evil as "rounds down to zero." :)

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Anonymous Coward]

I can't eat anything that has more than 4 legs.

Every so often, I order fish someplace and they bring it with a bonus prawn or two on top. Which means I get to send it right back for a new one, as even a bit of cross-contamination can cause an unpleasant reaction. ("This time, please do not merely remove the crustaceans that have dripped their juice on the fish and bring the very same fish back out to me as you've just tried to do. My family are really very nice people who don't like filing lawsuits. Thanks.")

So you have some freaky OCD and want the restaurant to waste food?

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Anonymous Coward]

Or Thailand, or Japan, or the Philippines, or most places in fact. Derp herp Murkinnnns talkin'!

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Anonymous Coward]

Vegetarian here - well aware that there are bug parts and so on all ground up in ostensibly vegan food. I expect that most vegetarians are aware of this, they just prefer not to think about it for the same reasons that meatitarians prefer not to think about it. Eew!

You mean normal peoples that eat normal food? Nobody eat exclusively meat, nobody is a 'meatitarian'. Only a retarded vegetarian would let perfectly nutritious meat go to waste over fashionable 'health' issue or bigoted moral value. A healthy human diet include both vegetable and animal food, also harvesting crops kill wildlife. Here goes you health and moral issue...

Bugs have very simple nervous systems, and as such don't suffer nearly as much as, say, cows.

How do you know that? How big a nervous system need to be to feel a uncomfortable level of pain? I would say that even plant feel pain. Prove is they move(plant do move very slowly, but they do) around what hurt them. I know that I hurt plants and animals when I eat them. I accept that, I do not need comforting lies. Life eat life, simple as that. The pain is irrelevant.

Your believe in the church of vegetarism is not ground in science or any observation of nature. TLDR; Fuck off.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[naff89]

If you're seeing talking merkins, you may have eaten some bad insects.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[fauxjargon]

I'd really like to try eating insects, I can't get past eating ones that are still alive, even if they are just larvae (of course if they are just tiny little aphids on a berry I don't care), but once killed they're pretty much land shrimp.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Anonymous Coward]

With enough eyes, all crustaceans are shallow.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[DrGamez]

I think it was a poorly-worded allergic reaction.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[DrGamez]

So....I typed all that to type this:

Bugs have very simple nervous systems, and as such don't suffer nearly as much as, say, cows. So, the depth of evil in eating a bug is not very far above the evil of eating a plant, and still probably less than the evil of driving your car down the road. That, combined with the fact that the amount of bugs in your vegan food is low enough that you don't notice anyway, you can write off that level of evil as "rounds down to zero." :)

This is a lot of hoops you gotta jump yourself through just so you don't feel bad killing something to survive.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[sanman2]

No, just Harvey-Dented

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Pseudonym]

Gagh is best eaten live.

FWIW, I don't want to chow down on exoskeleton either. I want my insects prepared properly.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Anonymous Coward]

For a well staged example. Don't worry, there's plenty more available.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[mjwx]

Yes, but would most people eat a handful of aphids all at once? There's a huge difference between eating the odd insect part or two because they were accidentally introduced in the process and choosing to eat them.

Go to a night market in Thailand.

You'll find more than just Aphid's there.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Zontar The Mindless]

Did you miss this?

knock me flat on my back for the next day or so, the way eating a bite of lobster would,

Do you not understand what "cannot eat" means, which is what I said, as opposed to "don't like" or some other thing which I did not say?

Fine, I'll spell it out for you, dumbass:

I AM HIGHLY ALLERGIC to CRUSTACEANS.
EATING A HANDFUL OF POPCORN SHRIMP COULD POSSIBLY EVEN BE *FATAL* FOR ME.

Happy now?

I love how little drama queens like you assume that I must be one, too.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Anonymous Coward]

Indigestion can be psychosomatic, just so you know. In other words, your brain can reject foods that wouldn't bother your stomach.

Imagine the selective pressures that helped this ability evolve. The whole tribe is munching away on a bison slaughtered that afternoon. It's delicious! Best bison they've had all year! Until they notice the pus-filled tumors inside the rib-cage. So half the tribe throws up in unison. The rest throw up because everyone else is throwing up. Except Larry, who's still eating, because it's still delicious.

We are not descended from Larry. Larry had no descendants.

So your reaction to fried grasshopper might have been plain old fear of (eating) the unknown.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Hognoxious]

I was sitting outside drinking beer once and an aphid landed on my hand. For no good reason, I ate it. Surprisingly, considering it was so small, the taste was noticeable. Like cucumber but slightly bitter. Not unpleasant in the least.

Big step from there to chomping down a grasshopper madras, though.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Hognoxious]

Plenty of people are seriously allergic to shellfish.

Then again, why doesn't he tell them in advance?

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[darkonc]

No. There are so many examples of cultures that eat insects, that it's got to be nurture. In fact, you can find all sorts of recipes for cicadas which are about to hatch in the eastern US around Memorial day... They were a staple of local natives before Europeans became ubiquitous.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Hognoxious]

You'll find more than just Aphid's there.

I'll find the thing that belongs to it too?

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[philip.paradis]

No, it seems the GP has a shellfish allergy, which can result in problems ranging from mild discomfort to anaphylactic shock and death. Exposure to the bodily fluids of shellfish can elicit the same response. People with such issues may also exhibit adverse reactions after consuming other invertebrates, such as insects.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[philip.paradis]

Restaurant menus generally inform customers of the visually identifiable components of a dish. Wait staff in establishments offering seafood, at least those who have been doing their job for more than a couple of days, are generally aware of shellfish allergies and the consequences of consuming such things for customer who are allergic. Wait or kitchen staff who would proceed to simply remove shellfish from the plate served to a customer, and subsequently attempt to serve the same dish again, should be terminated.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[philip.paradis]

It's rather unlikely that an individual with diagnosed shellfish allergy, which in some cases is limited in scope but in cases of severe reaction is more frequently quite broad in scope, could reasonably attribute gastric distress following grasshopper (invertebrate) ingestion to psychosomatic causes. Please reference ample documentation of anaphylaxis following ingestion of grasshoppers.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[mcvos]

It's in your head.

It's not just in his head, but also in mine. I know eating insects makes tons of sense because it's healthy, efficient, environmentally friendly, etc, but I'm never going to, because they're "icky". I don't even eat molluscs for that same reason.

A staunch vegetarian is probably as repulsed at the thought of eating a medium rare steak as you are that handful of aphids.

I've been a staunch vegetarian for many years despite loving meat, including rare steak. Vertebrate meat is great despite being bad, whereas insects are icky despite being a lot better.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Dins]

I never eat anything with a faece.

If you did, would that make you two-faeced?

No, shit-faeced.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Reziac]

And I particularly like certain types of ants. Fried or raw. :)

I remember a study that concluded Asian-style vegetarianism actually consumed about 20% animal-sourced protein, mainly from feces and insects.

Interesting about the FDA generally-acceptable contaminants levels... and that most are merely "asthetic" defects (well, of course, being essentially protein of varying digestibity). And now I'm wondering what our natural mycotoxin tolerance might be, since it's not exactly rare either.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Asmor]

It's in your head.

Sad but true.

I was raised not eating beef or pork. I can count on one hand the number of times in my life I've (knowingly) ingested them. It's incredibly inconvenient and annoying, and I just can't get over the mental block. The thought of eating either disgusts me, and I wish I could get past that and just eat a god damn hamburger.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Anonymous Coward]

Have you ever eaten a shrimp? Different number of legs, but in many ways similar to an insect.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[RockDoctor]

Ah, the clarification I was looking for :

I AM HIGHLY ALLERGIC to CRUSTACEANS.

Your original claim, that you couldn't eat anything with more than 4 legs, seemed quite bizarre to me.

So, eating spiders or scorpions would be fine for you? Vastly different biochemistry, though IIRC their exoskeleton is still chitinous. Squid and cuttlefish (10 tentacles)? Centipedes and millipedes - also a lot more than 4 legs, but not crustaceans.

Incidentally, I think you'd find that health-care professionals would generally reserve the phrase "highly allergic" for people who are likely to be dead before an (air) ambulance can get to them to get them intubated. The normal cause of this is inflammation of the throat causing strangulation. Being "laid up for a whole day" as said in one of your other posts may well be an allergic reaction, but it's hardly a "severe". Drama queenery aside, that's the sort of misdescription that makes life really difficult for emergency responders. But you'd probably know that and have the actual details of your allergy written out on your emergency injection kit (nor-adrenaline, isn't it, normally).

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[morgauxo]

No, they are not in your head but alergies aren't really what is being discussed here.

Re: And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Anonymous Coward]

I took it as a shellfish allergy...

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[tedgyz]

Why didn't you spell it out the first time? Like the others, I assumed it was a mental block, not an allergy. Get to the point to avoid confusion and flame wars.

My daughter is allergic to eggs and peanuts. We have learned to be very explicit at restaurants and such to avoid any mixups. If you tell someone you don't want eggs in your food, you might get an apathetic response. If you tell them you could have an allergic reaction they are more likely to take you seriously.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Anonymous Coward]

Awesome response!

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Anonymous Coward]

IT's totally learned disgust. Lil kids are not afraid of insects, or disgusted by them. My one year old will happily eat spiders.

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh yes, how is little Renfield?

Re:And You Are Some Magic Insect Sorting Entity?

[ShieldW0lf]

Why didn't you spell it out the first time?

Wanted attention.

But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[carlhaagen]

Why this weird perspective that a "no meat" diet is out of the question? Why even think in terms of eating bugs and insects as a last resort instead of just... not?

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[operagost]

Because they don't have Whole Foods stores whence to get their environmentally-conscious tofu.

In case you didn't notice, agriculture is difficult in these countries that are ruled by warlords and have intemperate climates.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[Bill_the_Engineer]

Because insects produce fewer harmful greenhouse gases than what is produced during the manufacture of fertilizer and the planting and harvesting of the plants themselves. This doesn't include the clear cutting required to grow more plants, fresh water used for irrigation, or run-off pollution from fertilizer.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[Sockatume]

It's just nice to have other options in the moral acceptability/environmental impact/deliciousness phase space.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[Anonymous Coward]

Humans cannot survive on full veg diet for long.

There are only 2 essential things human body needs: 1) protein 2) fat.

You don't need carbs, you don't need vegs. These 2 are what you absolutely need to survive. Eat only vegs without any protein, and all your muscles are gone within a year. Don't eat any fat for a year and you die.

Humans aren't vegetarian race, and that's why we don't eat that way. Some choose to do so on ethical basis, but these people need to get essential stuff for us that's only got from meat, from other sources, usually pills. Like B12 vitamin. Drop that and you drop dead pretty quickly.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[Anonymous Coward]

Because we did not evolve to eat a solely plant-based diet, and trying to do so requires eating stupid shit like "tofurkey" and "soyburgers."

Fuck you, if I want something tastes like a turkey or a beef patty, I'm gonna eat a chunk of real turkey or real beef.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[Anonymous Coward]

some people such as myself simply cannot be vegetarian. I have a bowel disease that makes it extremely difficult to even eat nuts. meat and bread is basically all I can eat.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[Sockatume]

Believe it or not there are some fats and protein in vegetables. It's entirely possible (if a bit of a culture shock) to satisfy your dietary needs with a completely vegan diet.

I say that as someone who made some really kick-ass sliders at the weekend and thoroughly enjoyed them.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[fazig]

Veganism would even be better since vast parts of the milk and egg supplies are provided by intensive livestock farming, but the problem is to motivate people for this change.

Even given the proper environment with plenty of food sources from vegetables, to fruit, berries and mushrooms and grain products, from my experience abrupt changes are often deemed to fail. It's better to convince people to become a vegetarian gradually by reducing the amounts of meat they consume until they realized that besides of the taste of animal fat and protein our tastebuds seem to enjoy, meat isn't really necessary to live 'healthy'. I myself had to make this change gradually because I was just that much used to the taste of meat. And to be completely honest I might not even refuse to eat a steak once in a month that originated from a local farm where the animals were treated properly and if I can be sure of this.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[CRCulver]

Humans cannot survive on full veg diet for long.

Never been to India? Members of the Brahmin caste in Hinduism have survived on a pure vegetarian diet for forever. Fat can be had from milk. Indian cuisine prominently features vegetables like lentils that are high in protein.

Surviving on a purely vegan diet has not been possible for the human race until recently. However, there are centuries of evidence to show that populations can survive on a pure vegetarian diet.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[gsgriffin]

The reason is that some cultures, like India, that are predominately vegetarian by choice or situation are often malnourished. While you may be able to maintain health in 1st world conditions and supplement your diet with all kinds of vitamins or special plants, those around the world without a Whole Foods store are suffering from malnutrition that could be avoided with a little meat added to their diet. Ever seen a malnourished child that eat a lot of food. I have. Promote vegetarianism is developed countries, but help those in less developed countries get what they need today so their children get a fighting chance in a hard life.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[HornWumpus]

Careful, I got flamed just for discussing getting whale meat shipped from Japan.

People just ignore science they don't like, whale brains are used for sonar processing. They are more or less as smart as pigs.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[Anonymous Coward]

As a fellow Human, I assure you that I am an omnivore. And not in the sense that I need a wide variety of food in my diet, but in the sense that I can sustain myself on whatever scraps of food(roots, berries, nuts, seal blubber, whatever) that can be found. My ancestors were able to do for thousands of generations before me, and I'm confident that I retain that same ability. It is likely how college students can live on instant ramen, coffee and pastries.

Also, you say there are 2 things, then you point our that humans need some B12. How many things are there really? 5? 100?

(but yes, you're absolutely correct that vegans need to eat food that has been fortified with B12, or take supplements. or quit being vegans and drink some milk)

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[Savage-Rabbit]

Humans cannot survive on full veg diet for long.

There are only 2 essential things human body needs: 1) protein 2) fat.

You don't need carbs, you don't need vegs. These 2 are what you absolutely need to survive. Eat only vegs without any protein, and all your muscles are gone within a year. Don't eat any fat for a year and you die.

Humans aren't vegetarian race, and that's why we don't eat that way. Some choose to do so on ethical basis, but these people need to get essential stuff for us that's only got from meat, from other sources, usually pills. Like B12 vitamin. Drop that and you drop dead pretty quickly.

Humans are not carnivores either they are omnivores. It is one of the secrets of our evolutionary success. If it looked like it could possibly be edible humans would try to eat it. Humans have even developed methods for making otherwise toxic fruit, vegetables and meat edible that are so complex it make you wonder how they figured them out in the first place. If you try to subsist only on a diet of meat you will start feeling some effects just like if you go vegan without supplements. The first one is probably going to be scurvy unless you start eating your meat raw or rather rarely cooked and start eating parts of the animal that are normally not eaten by modern westerners but that contain vitamins such as certain internal organs, eyeballs, spinal fluid (you suck it out of the spine like a straw) and the skin. Of course these would have to be eaten raw or cooked very rare since too much cooking will break down the vitamins. Are those fruits and vegetables starting to look good yet? And before you answer keep in mind that raw or rarely cooked meat can contain some nasty parasites.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[camperdave]

No fat in plants? Ever hear of margarine (soy bean oil), olive oil, canola oil, sesame oil, corn oil (the stuff that most of your french fries are deep fried in)... all plant fats.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[Anonymous Coward]

The problem is that those "vegetarian" cultures still consumed bugs, butter tea, and other animal products.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[Nadaka]

Yes, it is possible. But it is difficult and requires a very carefully curated diet.

On the other hand, a diet that includes some meat has much more flexibility and room for alternatives.

Humanity evolved on the plains of Africa as a scavenger and hunter. Meat is a natural part of our diet.

Should the average American eat less beef? Yes

Should the average American eat less meat? Probably.

Could we eat bugs instead? sure.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[Anonymous Coward]

Whey protein powder - I frankly don't give a fuck about what the vegans say, cows want to get their titties milked.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[Nadaka]

You are thinking of vegetarians. Milk is not allowed for vegans.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[Nadaka]

That is why the Innuit ate whale blubber.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[dkleinsc]

That's absolute nonsense.

Vegetarian sources of protein include (but aren't completely limited to):
- beans
- whole grains
- soy, including tofu, tempeh, and most "meat substitutes" like veggie burgers
- nuts
- eggs and dairy (if not vegan)

That's why when the USDA puts together food groups and food guide pyramids and such, it puts beans, nuts, and eggs into the same category as meats.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[Sockatume]

Yes, it's much more difficult to live on a restricted diet than an omnivorous one. You'll agree that's a fair cry from the original assertion that one would drop dead in days, though.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[Immerman]

>whale brains are used for sonar processing
Actually they have a whole third lobe we believe is dedicated to that. Meanwhile the two lobes they share with other mammals are larger and generally considerably more convoluted (a characteristic typically correlated with intelligence) than almost any other mammalian species, humans included. They are also tool users that display sophisticated communication and problem-solving skills. They are typically ranked at or above the level of chimpanzees by cognitive tests (i.e. above everything but humans), and there is considerable debate as to whether those tests may actually be giving artifically low results since they are designed to test human-like intelligence - chimpanzees can reasonably be expected to display human-like intelligence because we both descended from the same highly-intelligent primates in the recent past (a million years or so ago), and thus there hasn't been a lot of time for drastic cognitive divergence. Whales on the other hand diverged from our own ancestors long before any sort of high intelligence is likely to have evolved, and they proceeded to evolve their intelligence in an environmnet wildly different than anything humans have experienced, so our cognitive tests may be leaving a significant portion of their cognition completely untested.

And from a more human-centric perspective - we've driven virtually all whale species to the brink of extinction - some are beginning to come back, but these are very long-lived, slow-breeding creatures that play an important ecological role in one of the most important ecosystem on the planet - kill the oceans, which we're well on the way to doing, and oxygen-breathers will follow swiftly, the oceans (specifically diatoms and plankton) are responsible for most of the planet's free oxygen production.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[Anonymous Coward]

Not it doesn't require a carefully curated diet, but it may require some vegetables, legumes, or fruits that the typical person may not have encountered before due to their 'sheltered' omnivore diet. Nonetheless, they are widely available foods.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[HornWumpus]

The 'scientist' that boldly asserted whales are 'about as smart as humans' was on acid at the time and spent the rest of his life (on acid) trying to learn dolphin/teach dolphins English. He failed at that, but succeeded in never really working again. Good gig if you can get it.

Whales/dolphins are about as smart as pigs. Which is pretty smart.

The extra weight of brain is dedicated to 'sonar processing'. I put the rest of the perceived whale intelligence down to Disney, bad science and wishful thinking.

fMRI isn't leaving much doubt.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[Joey Vegetables]

There have been small but healthy vegan populations for practically forever, mainly in southeast Asia. It was believed until recently that a person could not get enough B12 from a purely vegan diet. That has recently been proven incorrect, for a large variety of reasons. (a) The amount we need is tiny, and the body can store enough to last a long, long time. (b) It is naturally present in some vegan foods such as nutritional yeast, soy sauce, and many fermented products. (c) Most people inadvertently ingest enough insects, spiders, dust mites, etc. to more than fulfill their requirement. In modern times we also have B12 added to many kinds of foods. When people have B12 deficiencies, it is usually because of digestive problems such as celiac diseases, and in that case, an monthly injection of B12 is usually sufficient to prevent major problems that the deficiency would otherwise cause.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[CRCulver]

Maybe you should read my post and the OP's again.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[Immerman]

That's a bold claim, care to site supporting research? While the "smart as humans" opinion has always been a minority position among researchers I can't think of a single cognition study outside the whaling industry that doesn't class dolphins at least on par with chimpanzees. Less is known about larger whales for the simple reason that they're considerably more difficcult to study.

As for pigs - they're pretty smart compared to say dogs or cats (not exactly a high bar there, though dogs have been bred to have a more human-compatible cognition than any other animal), but hardly in the same ballpark as the higher primates, and a glance at their brain suggests why - it's a small fraction of the size of a human brain and comparatively quite smooth. You've got to move pretty far down the primate intelligence ladder to find something comparable.

And as far as the researchers who have tried to establish sophisticated communication with dolphins (there has been more than one attempt), I don't see how that has much bearing on anything. While multiple experiments indicate that that dolphins have some means of communicating non-trivial information among themselves, there's absolutely no reason to expect that it bears any resemblance to human language. Human languages consist of nouns, verbs, and various modifiers (adjectives/adverbs), but there are no such divisions inherent in the world, those simply reflect the ways in which early humanoids partitioned their conceptual model, and those partitions remained as the languages branched off and became more sophisticated. A language which lacked those partitions, or had completely different conceptual partitions, would likely be completely opaque to humans, and vice-versa. If we ever make contact with an extraterrestial intelligence we'd reasonably expect to have teams of the best linguists in the world on the job trying to bridge the language gap, supported by mathematicians, chemists, and possibly physicists to establish some presumably common ground, and might still fail spectactularly if the alien's conceptual partitions were completely different than our own. Dolphin consciousness is likely as alien as anything that might come from the stars, and I see no reason to assume that it would take any less dedicated a team to establish communication, assuming such a thing is possible. And I can't site a source for this, but I seem to remember hearing that dolphins *might* be able to synthesize crude sonar images for each other, which could utterly disrupt the development of something we would recognize as language. Imagine if our ancestors, instead of making some crude "food" grunt, could have just as quickly and easily have created an image of a specific plant or animal - how could gross abstractions like words hope to compete with that?

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[Zontar The Mindless]

A representation is a representation. You're splitting hairs.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[Hatta]

Are those fruits and vegetables starting to look good yet? And before you answer keep in mind that raw or rarely cooked meat can contain some nasty parasites.

Most food borne illnesses are caused by fruits and vegetables these days. Why? Because no one eats raw meat, lots of people eat raw vegetables.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[Immerman]

I assume you're refering to the potential effects on synthetic sonar-images on language, in which case I would say "perhaps". For a language as we understand it there needs to be a certain level of consistency in between symbol and concept to enable communication - some people may say poh-tay-toh, and some poh-tah-toh, but nobody understands the guy that calls it a grunklewobbit. For synthetic sound-images though every single individual might have a different way of representing say "tuna" - different positions, different orientations, etc, and might even use a different representation every single time it referred to one. Among individual who can "see" the image the differences are immaterial, but would render the "language" totally opaque to those, like us, who cannot "see" the image, and instead hear many completely unrelated sequences of sound. It might also render the concept of using arbitrary non-representitive sound-sequences to represent concepts completely alien to an image-speaker, to the point that learning such an alien language might prove virtually impossible.

It's also possible image-speaking could cripple the development of abstract resoning, with potentialy devastating consequences for the development of symbolic reasoning - human language likely started as radical abstractions - "food", "danger", etc,with more precise words being added as we gained the mental capacity to retain them. Whereas if we could instead readily communicate the image of *exactly* what we were referring to - think mind-controlled TVs in our chests or something, we could engage in *extremely* detailed communication without any symbolic intermediary, and might never have developed the ability to think in symbolic abstractions.

If you were instead referring to conceptual partitioning then that's a very different conversation, and if you don't see the communication difficulties it would introduce then we'd have to first establish some baseline concepts. I'd be up for it, but am not going to put much energy into it unless that's actually what you're referring to. I will just say: try to imagine attempting to establish communication with someone to whom the concepts "red", "ball", and "throw" are nonsensical concepts each incompletely spanning multiple word classes. You might be able to eventually translate phrases or concepts, but a English-Alienese dictionary would be a logical impossibility.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[Anonymous Coward]

Surviving on a purely vegan diet has not been possible for the human race until recently.
 
Care to elaborate a bit on this? Because, frankly, I'm calling bullshit. I've seen a million of these arguments in my time and let me tell you outright that none of them withstand any scrutiny. And I can cite sources... can you?

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[shutdown -p now]

Believe it or not there are some fats and protein in vegetables. It's entirely possible (if a bit of a culture shock) to satisfy your dietary needs with a completely vegan diet.

No, it is not. A vegetarian diet, yes, it is possible. A healthy vegan diet is impossible without artificial supplements.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[Anonymous Coward]

Inuit are pretty much carnivores. Yeah, they eat the blubber and internal organs.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[Xarvh]

You make some good points, but what we evolved for and how we live now are two very different things.
A diet that makes you mature fast, reproduce at 14 and die at 40 is good for the specie, but not what most modern individuals would want.

As an occasional meat eater, I see hard-line vegans that look surprisingly healthy (AFAIK you just need B12 supplements every now and then).

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[Anonymous Coward]

Eating the organs etc. of fish can be a decent way of getting those vitamins and avoiding scurvy. Ask the Inuit. Inuit populations used to go years at a time without even seeing fruits or vegetables.

Also: freezing mammal meat, fat & organs does a pretty good job of killing parasites.

Re:But why not settle for vegetarianism?

[Anonymous Coward]

The UN's constituents are mainly bug/insect growers. So, why wouldn't they
proclaim that 'eatin' buggies is good fer 'ya'? They (and their
constituents) stand to make a lot of money.

Picky

[allypally]

A good rule of thumb is:

If you are going to be a meat eater, don't be a picky one.

Eat cow but not horse? Picky!

Eat crab but not spider? Picky!

Eat dog but not cat? Picky!

Re:Picky

[Sockatume]

The "pickiness" you criticise is a side effect of the same sense of morality with regards to food that's useful if someone's going to decide to cut down on their meat consumption. I certainly wouldn't encourage people who currently eat meat to drop whatever restrictions they place on their meat choice for a purely aesthetic reason like "I don't want to seem picky".

Re:Picky

[Anonymous Coward]

remember xeno-estrogens (soy mainly) has side effects. Like for males it lets you grow the best bitch tits around along with shrinking your genitals and reducing your fertility rate. If you are female makes you estrogen bound and increases breast cancer rates.

Don't let that stop you from being a vegetarian though.

Re:Picky

[Nadaka]

cats are a purer carnivore than dogs are, and they are slightly less removed from musk animals like ferrets and skunks. Their meat will be taste a lot different, most likely less pleasant than a dog.

Re:Picky

[Anonymous Coward]

Won't sleep with smelly obese girls? Picky!
Won't eat rancid meat with maggots in? PIcky!

Your rule of thumb is stupid.

One thought.

[Anonymous Coward]

Human flesh is also edible. Just saying.

Re:One thought.

[Anonymous Coward]

buy a condom, save on soilent green.

Yummy!!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/those-beady-eyed-bugs-are-back-cicadas-spotted-in-northern-virginia/2013/05/12/225d6a78-bb44-11e2-89c9-3be8095fe767_story.html?hpid=z4

Re:Yummy!!!!

[Psyborgue]

They're actually pretty good. I grew up in Northern Virginia. Would be a waste not to eat them as they're literally trillions of them. If you eat crustaceans, you're basically eating bugs anyway. I don't see the taboo. They're not particularly pretty insects, but let's face it, neither is a lobster.

Re:Yummy!!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

I grew up in Maryland, and lived in Northern Virginia for a couple of years. They're still grasshoppers, and not lobsters.
They're about as fun to eat as mealworms, or other

because meat is tasty

[aepervius]

There is a good reason if given choice we eat meat , because it is tasty, because we have the taste bud for it. Because our stomach is also made to consume various stuff including meat, we are omnivore, not vegetarian or carnivore. Now why not insect ? Giant Grasshoper grilled and dunked in honey. Eggs from spider. Various insect I tried. They all taste OK-ish. But compared to a good prime ribe steak ? No way they taste as good.

Re:because meat is tasty

[simonbp]

And the truth is, meat actually isn't all that expensive. If it were, maybe there would be pressure for this or other "extreme measures", but as it farming techology keeps improving at a much faster rate than demand for meat. In real terms, meat is cheaper now than at any point in human history, and we should be proud of that.

Re:because meat is tasty

[rvw]

And the truth is, meat actually isn't all that expensive. If it were, maybe there would be pressure for this or other "extreme measures", but as it farming techology keeps improving at a much faster rate than demand for meat. In real terms, meat is cheaper now than at any point in human history, and we should be proud of that.

More and more people in India and China alone earn more and more money and want to eat more meat. They are not big meat eaters like in the US, they simply cannot afford it, but they can afford a little bit more. And because they are so many, they take up a increasing part of the market. For each cow we can produce 10x the food in weat and corn etc. The result is that for every cow we lose 10x the food production in other products, so we lose 90% of production capacity. I don't know of any method that can handle this.

Re:because meat is tasty

[Anonymous Coward]

I will be proud of that the second any human on this planet who would like to eat, can get some of that meat.
Seriously, is there any other reason for hunger in the world except for economics?

Re:because meat is tasty

[Aguazul2]

There is a good reason if given choice we eat meat , because it is tasty, because we have the taste bud for it.

We learn out tastes. If your culture ate insects every day, it'd find a way to prepare them that brings out their flavours. If you were brought up eating insects, they would remind you of your childhood. Some bloody mess of half rotten cow wouldn't be so appetising if you'd never become accustomed to it. (I'm certainly not attracted to it.)

Re:because meat is tasty

[SteveFoerster]

At least in the U.S., there are subsidies for agribusiness that make it cheaper in the store than it would otherwise be. Were it not for this, people might be more interested in substitutes. Probably not bugs, though.

Re:because meat is tasty

[camperdave]

Food isn't about production. We can easily raise enough food to feed the planet. The problem is cost effective distribution.

Re:because meat is tasty

[Anonymous Coward]

At least in the U.S., there are subsidies for agribusiness that make it cheaper in the store than it would otherwise be. Were it not for this, people might be more interested in substitutes. Probably not bugs, though.

It's the other way around; the subsidies for agribusiness are to compensate them for how cheap food is, to make growing food cost effective. Many farmers receive subsidies to not plant food. The government purchases tons, literally tons, of food via subsidies that sits in warehouses and rots. The purpose of the farm subsidies isn't to lower the cost of food for consumers, but to raise the rates argibusinesses earn.

Re:because meat is tasty

[Andrio]

Meat is expensive. You don't feel it on your wallet, but that is because of massive government subsidies. Everything from the immense amount of water the animals need, to the their food (corn) is subsidized. If it weren't, there would be no such thing as dollar menus at fast food chains (at least with any meat).

The fact is, meat is cheaper now than ever before because vegetables (corn) are cheaper now than ever before. It all comes down to energy. When converting the energy of the food the cow eats (grass at first, then corn to fatten it up quickly), only 10% of that energy gets converted into biomass. The rest is lost to entropy.

Meat will always be less efficient than vegetables for feeding people. That's just how it is due to the laws of physics. You could give a cow an acre of grass to convert into cow protein, or you can use that acre to grow edible plants for food; the latter will yield 10x more food.

Re:because meat is tasty

[chthon]

Some things are naturally disgusting. I was brought up to eat everything that was served, but I cannot stand anything intestinal. I could never understand why my family liked liver. To me, it smells and tastes disgusting. This is not something I learned, this is something innate.

I am pretty sure that evolution took care that the people who liked insects or grub had more offspring than those who did not.

Re:because meat is tasty

[Bob the Super Hamste]

From my experience most of the cost of meat (or any food for the most part) is in the various middlemen involved. The beef I get is raised by a farmer I have known most of my life who has a small herd of between 12 and 14 animals on 35 acres. they are alfalfa fed and wander around on his property grazing. I pay the farmer for my share and pay the processor for the butchering which is about 30% of what I pay the farmer and I have to go get it. Typically what I end up paying per pound comes in at about the same price as the really cheap ground beef but includes good steaks, good roasts, sausages, ground beef and I can get it butchered how ever I want. Neither the processor or the farmer receive a subsidy but then the only middleman is the processor who is still providing a valuable service (I can butcher an animal but it is a hatchet job). Then again there aren't warehouse costs, trucking costs, distribution costs, etc just to get it to some place that I am willing to drive to. The farmer makes money, the processor makes money, and I get some really good beef.

Re:because meat is tasty

[Anonymous Coward]

Taste? Really? How about citing some science instead? I know science is a taboo subject around Slashdot unless it's being used to bash religion but maybe you can do a bit better than "because it is tasty."

Re:because meat is tasty

[Xarvh]

More than the production we lose, is the environment we consume, the pollution we create.

How do they taste?

[Kelbear]

If they don't taste good, or if you can't gin up appealing recipes for them, nobody'll eat'em. Aside from countries that are already eating these insects, convincing other countries to cast aside cultural taboos on insect consumption will be difficult. Even if you price them cheaply, there is still a price floor from costs of transportation to bring them to market.

I wonder how you'd market this product? What kind of pitch do you make? Talk up how it's all-natural, earth-friendly, or high in nutrition? One way or another, somewhere on the product you'll have to cop to the fact that you're selling bugs as food, which is a massive hurdle in western countries. The easiest way would probably be to just blend them up, and batterfry them or cover'em in chocolate to get people to ease into the idea of eating them.

I can get over the visuals of eating bugs if you can make it taste good. Escargot doesn't look all that different from some bugs. Ate fried mealworm too (and it was TERRIBLE, like eating pure flour).

Re:How do they taste?

[Hans Adler]

Obviously, in affluent countries you will have to make them expensive, not cheap.

Insects aren't so different from shrimps, and apparently grasshoppers have a similar taste. Here is an article on the taste of insects: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniella-martin/what-do-bugs-taste-like-a_b_901775.html

Re:How do they taste?

[J'raxis]

We already eat some insects: Skittles and other glazed candies use the lac bug. Red food dye comes from the cochineal scale insect.

Re:How do they taste?

[bickerdyke]

Even if you price them cheaply, there is still a price floor from costs of transportation to bring them to market.

I wonder how you'd market this product?

Wrong sales tactic. You need to set the price as high as possible to sell otherwise unsellable stuff. Caviar, escargots, oysters....

Re:How do they taste?

[Joehonkie]

Grasshoppers do not taste even slightly like shrimp, sorry.

Re:How do they taste?

[Anonymous Coward]

Insects (and arachnids) are common snacks in many parts of Asia. I tried a range of bugs when travelling and most of them were very nice. I'd highly recommend the larger varieties of scorpion for example, fry them in a little soy sauce and they're delicious. It's the same with grasshoppers and locusts, although personally I wasn't a fan of caterpillars and the like as the texture wasn't to my liking.

Re:How do they taste?

[Anonymous Coward]

Shellac is made from an excretion of the lac bug. It is more on par with eating honey, although it is a bit easier to filter bees out of honey than lac bugs out of shellac.

Re:How do they taste?

[Anonymous Coward]

This has already been tried before, several times. The West will not eat insects regardless of how expensive a restaurant makes them. The only possible solution is to process them into something that can be used to replace meat, like burgers, sausages, etc, then put on the shelves next to things like Quorn.

Re:How do they taste?

[Anonymous Coward]

Lobster...

once the waste only given to the most hated person on the ship. Seen as a punishment. ...until they found out that if you tell rich morons from inland how "special" they were, they would pay shitloads of money to eat them.

It's still crap. Dirty mud-eaters. The recycle bins of the ocean. Together crabs, plaice and catfish.

Re:How do they taste?

[Anonymous Coward]

This also worked with buffalo/bison meat. When stores first started selling bison meat again, the price of each steak was actually less than that of beef/cow meat. People didn't flock to it though, because the idea going through their mind was "If it costs less, what is wrong with it?" Some stores then took bison meat off their shelves, waited a while, and put it back out at a higher price and they sold like crazy. And we're talking bison meat here, not some gross, on-the-fringe kind of food. It's leaner and tastes better than cow meat(subjective, I know...), and people had to be tricked into buying it in order to try it.

Re:How do they taste?

[alfredo]

Prairie Chicken sold well, until people found out it is actually called the Prairie Dog.

Re:How do they taste?

[stymy]

Some people actually like the taste of things like caviar. It's too salty for most people, but I personally love it. Moreover, I started eating it as it has always been a staple of big family meals to have some with crackers, pate, and so forth, and I had no idea it was expensive, I just liked it since I was like 6.

Re:How do they taste?

[chthon]

Caviar and oysters are tasty. Escargots taste fine too, but the way they are cooked is too greasy to be healthy.

Re:How do they taste?

[Anonymous Coward]

None of those are expensive and the last two can be quite good and cheap. The first one can also be cheap but is gross.

Re:How do they taste?

[Anonymous Coward]

When I was a kid I would have said, "The West will not eat raw fish". Then came sushi.

Re:How do they taste?

[feraudy]

Actually you can get them as luxury goods in France. http://www.insectescomestibles.fr/ I would like to see them used as food for dogs and cats first, because that would give us an opportunity to see how to grow them in large quantities. I suppose I might squirm at first, but I cant predict what my reaction would be once I have chewed. Many of the reactions I see on this post remind me of little kids who dont want to try something new.

Re:How do they taste?

[Anonymous Coward]

I have eaten grasshopers while in China. They do not taste like shrimp. They are actually pretty disgusting. I liked spider, though.

Insecticides

[walterbyrd]

My understanding is: if you are going to safely eat insects, they have to be specially grown. Wild insects are loaded with insecticides.

Re:Insecticides

[Joce640k]

Wild insects are loaded with insecticides.

This word "insecticide". I don't think it means what you think it means.

Re:Insecticides

[Anonymous Coward]

"Wild insects are loaded with insecticides."

Well, the dead ones maybe. It's not an insecticide if an insect can eat it and live.

Re:Insecticides

[Joey Vegetables]

Incorrect. Insects have successfully adapted to a wide variety of both natural and man-made insecticides which, though no longer fatal for them, may still be harmful to us.

Re:Insecticides

[coinreturn]

Wild insects are loaded with insecticides.

This word "insecticide". I don't think it means what you think it means.

I take it you've never head of Median Lethal Dose

Re:Insecticides

[Anonymous Coward]

Why not? Pesticides/insecticides are on everything (more than you probably realize). They spray like crazy to kill them. They keep having to come up with newer ones as the bugs have adapted. Which means they are covered in the stuff but not harmed by it. Most of the really good ones that always work are banned (for good reasons). Not because they do not work. But that they work too well. They have really nice long term side effects of things like cancer or nerve disorders.

To make this work they would have to figure out how to grow large populations of insects and make sure they are not contaminated. Then they have to watch out for naturally occurring predators (such as fungus and virus). As the sort of volume you would need to replace things such as corn/wheat is massive.

Also you have to make sure you are feeding things to animals that can eat this sort of thing. For example feeding it to a cow may not be a good idea. As they are into eating grass (corn is ok as it is a grass).

Re:Insecticides

[J'raxis]

Insecticides, like nearly all poisons, are not fatal at sufficiently low dosages. Poisons are frequently rating with a system called "LD50" which tells you what dosage is lethal for 50% of test subjects exposed to it, e.g., the the LD50 of nicotine is 50 mg/kg for rats, 3 mg/kg for mice, and 30-60 mg/kg for human beings.

And a lot if insecticides will bioaccumulate in human beings (being fat-soluble, rather than water-, they build up in human fat tissues), so if a person eats enough of the insecticide, over time they may end up carrying a harmful or fatal dose of it.

Re:Insecticides

[Psyborgue]

People have been eating Cicadas in the NoVa area for as long as I can remember. So far as I know, nobody has been poisoned. Then again, they only come out once ever few years.

Re:Insecticides

[Yaotzin]

LD50 is not a very good measure of safety though, try TD50 (or maybe NOAEL if that's applicable to food). Death is not really interesting for food, like you said most toxins don't kill until very high dosages or very long chronic exposure. If prolonged exposure makes you sterile or whatnot, that risk won't be described by an LD50 rating. Having said that, I doubt any farm grown insects will be exposed toxins. What would be the point?

Re:Insecticides

[Anonymous Coward]

This is a flawed comparison. Still harmful to us = increase the risk of cancer by one in a million. No longer fatal to them = a few survive.

"UN Says: Why Not Eat More Insects?"

[Anonymous Coward]

Most people enjoy a good crustacean, not really a giant leap from insects since they are both arthropods.
I guess it is just one of them things that is not generally accepted (at least in the west) because "insects are icky!"

Lobsters

[yoghurt]

We already eat lobsters, crab and shrimp. And you don't have to directly eat the insects, you can process them through a hog to get yummy bacon.

Re:Lobsters

[Anonymous Coward]

We already eat lobsters, crab and shrimp. And you don't have to directly eat the insects, you can process them through a hog to get yummy bacon.

And lobsters are just giant sea cockroaches!

Re:Lobsters

[Anonymous Coward]

Mmmm... insect-fueled bacon...

That's 8 drumettes per critter, y'all

[rot26]

I have been told that roasted spiders taste just like shrimp.

I will never know first hand of course.

Re:That's 8 drumettes per critter, y'all

[Anonymous Coward]

I hear ya, who has the patience to roast them? Pan-fried, that's the way to go.

So ants can be a source of meat

[Anonymous Coward]

But how much does it cost to separate 1kg of meat from 2kg of ants?

Re:So ants can be a source of meat

[Joce640k]

Probably a lot less than getting it from a cow.

Slicing up a full-grown cow is easy, sure, but you're ignoring the years of feeding, housing, medical treatments, etc. that went into making that cow.

Re:So ants can be a source of meat

[SJHillman]

Why separate them? Just mash the little buggers up and eat them whole. As far as I know, humans can digest or pass every part of an ant.

Re:So ants can be a source of meat

[HornWumpus]

I see your mistake. You are eating cow. You should be eating steer.

Cows are female, steers are castrated males.

Cows live for years, producing milk and calves, they taste bad as they are slaughtered only when they are no longer profitable as milk producers.

Steers live for less then a year, eating, they taste delicious.

Re:So ants can be a source of meat

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, thousands of heifers (i.e. female cows that have not bred) are slaughtered every day. They use different breeds for dairy products.

18 months is a pretty typical age for cattle to be slaughtered. I'm not sure if it's still in effect, but for a while at least Japan had import restrictions on importing beef that was more than 18 months old. They were known to reject entire shipments consisting of tons of beef if there was even one box that didn't meet their restrictions. (The Japanese claimed this was to safeguard against BSE, but everyone I worked with was pretty sure it was just them exercising protectionism).

Re:So ants can be a source of meat

[Bob the Super Hamste]

Depends. There are more female cattle than are needed so a lot of them are sold as feeder cattle. The farmer I get my beef from gets excess calves from a dairy farmer and raises them for 2 years (no hormones and not feed corn so they grow slower than the ones pumped full of hormones) and then sends them to slaughter. They are delicious and 100% Holstein. Then again it is a small operation and the cattle aren't in a feed lot knee deep in their own filth.

Purdue bug bowl

[anthony_greer]

Bugs aren't that bad - anyone in the area when its happening should check out the Purdue University bug bowl event that happens each year on the West Lafayette, IN campus - they have some tasty samples!

Re:Purdue bug bowl

[BradleyAndersen]

2nd weekend of every April, baby!!

They need to market them - at least in the US

[Anonymous Coward]

There's a huge image problem in cultures that haven't traditionally eaten insects. I would gladly try samples and would probably even like them, but even if they were available I would be a bit reluctant to buy them without knowing how to cook them or if I would like them.

Or do they expect me to find them around my house or backyard because I think I would starve if I did that. There are hardly any bugs in the house and I can't spend all day foraging for bugs outside.

I do know in some parts of the world it's common to eat bugs and I've heard they can be quite tasty, but just issuing press releases saying we should eat more bugs isn't going to convince many people in much of the world to change our eating habits.

Enough!

[Evtim]

I have just had enough of all this!!!

Look, if we preserve the way we do things as civilization, there is never going to be enough. Of anything. Ever.

At this moment there is enough food to feed well the whole humanity. Period.
At this moment if we stop our Ponzi scheme of a civilization and continue to develop technology while the need for ever increasing number of people and consumption per person is gone we will have ever more per person. Do you hear me? Finite demand in infinite Universe - is that so hard to understand?

Why is everyone hailing the "green revolution"? What did it do to us? Allowed us what, 2 decades of "phew, we fed the world" warm feeling? While replacing food with tasteless accelerated growth watery fodder! You know, people pay premium prices for "biological food", but in fact this is food. Not biological , just food. The other stuff is different - processed food. This should be the division - food and process food, rather than food and biological food.

Without going into discussion why and what , here is a statement for you - the green revolution did not "save people from starvation" Those people where already there. Understand! Noone started developing the revolution in anticipation of an increasing population. The increased population was already there. It existed, therefore it had food to eat. Instead the green revolution increased the yield so we can throw the food in the sea to keep the price "right". The revolution helped very little (if at all) the actual people that were lived with malnutrition.

So now we will eat the bugs. Then the fungi and the rest of the microorganisms. And then what? "Low environmental impact"? Are you kidding me? So 1 billion people eating beef or 3 billion eating insects - what is the difference. As I said it many years ago here - there is no "low environmental impact" as long as the Ponzi scheme works. More efficient engines - cars get cheaper - people buy more cars. Better plane engines - cheaper prices - people fly more. And so on...ad infinitum.

We are trying to cheat reality! It won't work!! It never does!!! Why nobody hears?! The whole issue is as usual heavily distorted by political and business interests. Why am I surprised...

Re:Enough!

[Anonymous Coward]

>So 1 billion people eating beef or 3 billion eating insects - what is the difference.
The difference is insects don't produce greenhouse gasses. This was directly stated in TFS.

Re:Enough!

[fazig]

These are makeshift solutions. With an ever growing population all solution we come up with, besides of reducing population and consumption, is rather temporary.

Re:Enough!

[Anonymous Coward]

Sorry, not an infinite universe. And certainly not an infinite earth. 1 billion people eating beef? There just isn't enough land.

Re:Enough!

[Anonymous Coward]

Dude, you write like a paranoid schizophrenic. Ease up off the exclamation points and stilted wording, brah.

Re:Enough!

[AmiMoJo]

Population control, which is what you are talking about, is a recognized part of the move towards a sustainable world. Realistically though you are not going to get some parts of the world to do it in the short term, so we have to try and deal with the situation as it is now while also trying to improve it. I'm not sure what the alternative is - left a couple of billion starve to get the numbers down?

More efficient engines - cars get cheaper - people buy more cars. Better plane engines - cheaper prices - people fly more. And so on...ad infinitum.

You are not listening to the whole argument. Greater engine efficiency must be combined with increased occupancy in private vehicles and greater use of public transport. Cities where you don't need a car most of the time are wonderful places to live. Flying per-se isn't a problem, it's the fact that engine efficiency hasn't nearly kept pace with increasing passenger numbers, and the more passengers the cheaper the flights and so on.

Re:Enough!

[Anonymous Coward]

> Sorry, not an infinite universe.

Wrong. there are orders of magnitude more galaxies than there are life forms on this world. We could give each person, each dog, each amoeba in the universe its own galaxy and still have enough galaxies left over for expansion for the next few billion years. Do the math yourself, we and our population on earth is microscopic compared to the universe:
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d32/whyteeford/space.jpg

Of course, we might take some time to get there and we may need to do some terraforming, but if we keep navel-gazing until all our energy supplies die out and we've finished causing all higher food chain animals to die out because we ate all their insects and plankton, we will run out of energy and we'll run out of time and be stuck here to die.

Re:Enough!

[Anonymous Coward]

"So 1 billion people eating beef or 3 billion eating insects - what is the difference."

There's a massive difference in how much resources it takes to produce 1 kg beef and 1 kg grasshoppers.

Re:Enough!

[Anonymous Coward]

Wrong. there are orders of magnitude more galaxies than there are life forms on this world.

I don't think you understand what infinity is.

Re:Enough!

[swillden]

These are makeshift solutions. With an ever growing population all solution we come up with, besides of reducing population and consumption, is rather temporary.

We don't have an ever-growing population. Worldwide, we're already basically at replacement level reproduction, and the industrialized world is at less than replacement level when you remove immigration. Europe's population is declining, period. In Hans Rosling's terms, we have reached and passed "peak child"; there are just shy of 2B children in the world and that number is not increasing and -- based on current trends -- not going to increase.

Assuming we maintain a constant level of 2B children, that means that there will be 2B people in each living generation, putting us at a steady-state population of about 10B. Actually, barring significant changes in current trends, that won't be a steady state, it will be a high water mark. As wealth and -- more importantly -- female education levels continue to rise around the world, the birthrate in what we now call the developing world will also drop below replacement and the population will gradually decline.

Rosling explains it well: http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_religions_and_babies.html

Re:Enough!

[Ryan101]

There is no reason not to consider makeshift solutions. By consuming a more efficient food, we have less ground to cover on the limit population and consumption front.

Re:Enough!

[Ryan101]

"Low environmental impact"? Are you kidding me? So 1 billion people eating beef or 3 billion eating insects - what is the difference.

The difference is 2 billion people. Which is a pretty big difference regardless of if you are one of those people or not.

Re:Enough!

[fazig]

That sounds good. I hope that education levels continue to rise everywhere.

Re:Enough!

[fazig]

You're right, it wasn't my intention to devalue makeshift solutions, because those often represent the best thing we can do at the present time to adapt to the circumstances.

Re:Enough!

[fazig]

Everything alive that isn't a photosynthesis driven plant produces greenhouse gases while it is alive in some way. Arthropods, invertebrates, vertebrates like birds, reptilians, mammals, bacteria and even fungi produce greenhouse gases in their metabolism.
Carbon besides of hydrogen is they key element in organic chemistry. Carbon and hydrogen can form methane, which is a greenhouse gas by itself, it reacts in the earth's atmosphere to CO2, which is another greenhouse gas. Carbon itself can react pretty easily with oxygen to carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide.
Aerobic organisms require oxygen and will emit CO2, anaerobic microbes like in the case of methanogesis microbes will consume CO2 but emit methane on the other hand. Even plants release methane and CO2 via decomposition after they die, due to microbes.

No matter how you want to look at it, greenhouse gases are part of life on this planet and you can't get rid of them that easily. Far more important is to control the rates at which these are emitted by our population.

Re:Enough!

[stymy]

The population of the developed countries has already stabilized, and the only reason many countries don't have a decreasing population is due to immigration. Once parts of Asia and Africa catch up to countries like Chile, there won't be any population growth globally. We just need to be able to feed about 2 billion more people, since UN population predictions show the global population stabilizing at around 9 billion in the neighborhood of 2050.

Re:Enough!

[Solandri]

Why is everyone hailing the "green revolution"? What did it do to us? Allowed us what, 2 decades of "phew, we fed the world" warm feeling? While replacing food with tasteless accelerated growth watery fodder! You know, people pay premium prices for "biological food", but in fact this is food. Not biological , just food. The other stuff is different - processed food. This should be the division - food and process food, rather than food and biological food.

Note to Americans: "bio" or "biological" is the EU equivalent term for "organic" in the U.S.

Without going into discussion why and what , here is a statement for you - the green revolution did not "save people from starvation" Those people where already there. Understand! Noone started developing the revolution in anticipation of an increasing population. The increased population was already there. It existed, therefore it had food to eat. Instead the green revolution increased the yield so we can throw the food in the sea to keep the price "right". The revolution helped very little (if at all) the actual people that were lived with malnutrition.

The thing is, thinking up more ways to feed hungry people actually exacerbates the problem of overpopulation. Most people see the ever-increasing world population, see that consumption of resources is disproportionately greater in technologically advanced societies, and incorrectly conclude that it's the technologically advanced societies which are to blame for the problems caused by overpopulation.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Nearly all of the world's population growth is in developing countries. Industrialized nations have nearly zero population growth. Some are even decreasing in population (e.g. Japan). There is just something about living in a technologically advanced society and economy which makes people want to have fewer kids. So the solution to population growth is to help developing countries develop. Educate the people, help them build infrastructure and a functional market economy. Then the problem of population growth takes care of itself.

If instead you concentrate solely on providing people in developing nations with donated food, clean water, and medicine, you actually exacerbate the problem by increasing their population growth rate, requiring an even larger financial investment in infrastructure and education before they can develop a functional economy. In fact, if you plot population growth in developing nations on a log graph, I suspect it started to explode about the time the West decided to start providing massive humanitarian aid - around the middle of the 20th century.

Re:Enough!

[Zontar The Mindless]

I'd only heard or seen "biological" in British TV commercials in reference to underarm and other, um, personal stains on clothing. :)

Here in Sweden, the usual word is ekologisk.

Arachnids

[Anonymous Coward]

"The agency noted that its Edible Insect Program is also examining the potential of arachnids, such as spiders and scorpions."

Would you eat a bowl of spiders once a day for a month, to get 2 million dollars?

Re:Arachnids

[dwye]

"The agency noted that its Edible Insect Program is also examining the potential of arachnids, such as spiders and scorpions."

Would you eat a bowl of spiders once a day for a month, to get 2 million dollars?

Well, dead ones, maybe. Alive, it would be too much like the Mayor of Sunnydale in season 3 of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, without the benefits. Also, guarantee that the spiders are safe to eat. Supposedly, the source of Ebola virus is a disease of some African spiders or mites.

Why not Zoidberg?

[Anonymous Coward]

I made them myself.

The "ick" factor

[sohmc]

It doesn't matter how ingenious, how wonderful, or how awesome a product is. If people don't want it, they won't buy it.

The US suffers from the "ew, bugs are gross" factor. Until this changes, the US won't adopt eating bugs en mass. This will be a fringe thing until we're basically forced to because meat becomes prohibitively expensive.

Re:The "ick" factor

[Anonymous Coward]

F that, I would start eating people before bugs!

Re:The "ick" factor

[J'raxis]

Never underestimate the power of marketing, especially the guilt-based marketing endemic to "green" foods. Someone will start selling insects as food marketing it as good for the environment, an alternative to factory-farmed meat, having a low carbon footprint, or whatever, and environmentally-conscious types will line up to buy them in droves. Some vegetarians will eat animals like fish, one argument being that simpler life forms like fish don't experience pain and suffering like cows and pigs do, so there's probably that market, too.

You're not going to see bugburgers at McDonald's any time soon, but this kind of stuff will be hitting the organic/whole/alternatives foods markets within a few years, I'm sure.

This is what turns people off environmentalism

[Anonymous Coward]

People will cling to their steak when told they must eat bugs to save the planet.

Radical lifestyle change doesn't work. We won't get cooperation by forcing or nudging people towards such ends. If asked, they won't, and if forced, they'll replace the government.

What saves the planet?

1. Nuclear power
2. Zero population growth

The first can be accomplished by getting government's boot off the throat of modern scientists with modern problems to the risks of 40 years ago.

The second can be accomplished by stopping the massive institutionalized subsidies for childbearing and child rearing.

Re:This is what turns people off environmentalism

[joss]

> The second can be accomplished by stopping the massive institutionalized subsidies for childbearing and child rearing.

Sure, people would never have children if it wasn't for the tax breaks, its not like wanting to reproduce is innate.

Re:This is what turns people off environmentalism

[Anonymous Coward]

2. Zero population growth

Which can be achieved by waging war, which creates taxable profit for MIC. An active solution. The passive solution of reducing tax write-offs reduces profits and taxable incomes. It's a non-starter.

"Let them eat cake!"

[Anonymous Coward]

At least that is kind of what this sounds like.

Great....

[CFBMoo1]

This could bring a whole new meaning to debugging code when you mix chocolete covered ants and touch screen computing.

"SOILENT INSECTS IS PEOPLE!"

[Anonymous Coward]

Ahhh! The great circle of life

UN's prerogative?

[Anonymous Coward]

and is this really the best use of the united nations? to dictate dietary decisions?

Re:UN's prerogative?

[darkiver]

It's better than another strongly worded letter to the editor.

Potential fish feed?

[Dr. Spork]

Farmed carnivorous fish right now get fed bycatch, a slurry of little fish of no commercial value that fishermen pull out of the sea. There are many problems with this, one of them being the mercury that concentrates in the farmed fish and eventually humans. I wonder if they would be able to feed on farmed insects, which could be obtained in a much more responsible way, and clean of poisonous metals.

Question?

[Anonymous Coward]

Which day is Soylent Red day?

Duh

[Anonymous Coward]

Because I can't buy insect meat in the grocery store, that's why not.

chocolate coated ants

[TapeCutter]

If they don't taste good, or if you can't gin up appealing recipes for them, nobody'll eat'em

I accidentally ate chocolate coated ants once. My wife had left half a mars bar neatly wrapped in the console, I spotted it while driving and with one deft movement popped the whole thing into my mouth without taking my eyes off the road. At first I thought I had hair on my face but it soon became apparent some ants were also feasting on the chocolate. I wound down the window and spat the ball of half chewed insects and toffee out the window. For the next half hour if felt like I had hair stuck at the back of my throat.

Re:chocolate coated ants

[Whorhay]

I once served hot chocolate with a boiled fly to my wife. I had prep'd a couple mugs with the hot chocolate powder and then went to do some chore while the water boiled. I came back in a few minutes and filled the mugs up without inspecting their insides. My wife was soon wondering why something with a little chew was in her sip. Apparently a fly had decided to taste test the hot chocolate and got a boiling bath. No, I still haven't lived that one down.

Re:chocolate coated ants

[bingoUV]

Sorry, doesn't count. Ant coated chocolate just isn't the same as chocolate coated ant. Not even in the same ballpark.

Cultivation

[ZeroSerenity]

I assume this is the problem. One grasshopper provides enough for a small snack by itself. An entire cow can feed dozens of people. Which leads to the problem of efficiency. Try to harvest the good bits from an insect, then try again from a cow.

Re:Cultivation

[Yaotzin]

You don't have to harvest good bits from an insect. It's mostly just the armoured ones. A grasshopper or a spider you can devour whole.

How are they compared to a tenderloin filet?

[Overzeetop]

That's fine for additives, but you're not going to dive into an 8oz filet of ant. Americans already eat stuff that would likely be considered nearly inedible in its native form, but have managed to make items of no redeeming dietary value into a party for our tastebuds. It's not necessarily what you're eating, it's the marketing and flavor you get on the consumer end. Make it transparent and you've got yourself a market.

Here's an idea

[al.caughey]

Grind them up and tell everyone they're horse meat...

Or... just stop breeding like rabbits

[Dakiraun]

Whether it be religion, lax government regulations, or just plain sexual addiction, we have concocted an endless list of reasons to justify lack of control when it comes to procreation. So... we have a planet with too many humans, and not a lot of food. Until we fix our little willpower problem, "bugs" are not a solution - that's just ignoring the problem with a VERY disgusting fix.

Re:Or... just stop breeding like rabbits

[Anonymous Coward]

Whether it be religion, lax government regulations, or just plain sexual addiction, we have concocted an endless list of reasons to justify lack of control when it comes to procreation. So... we have a planet with too many humans, and not a lot of food. Until we fix our little willpower problem, "bugs" are not a solution - that's just ignoring the problem with a VERY disgusting fix.

The planet has enough food to feed everyone several times over each day. Quantity is not the problem. Distribution is.

Re:Or... just stop breeding like rabbits

[Megane]

Hint: population is actually going down in developed countries. The only reason US population keeps going up is an influx mostly from the lesser-developed countries to the south. Japan is headed for a crisis where they will have problems finding enough people to take care of their elderly without increasing immigration. Right now the big overpopulation problems are China and India.

One of the main factors is when children turn from an asset into a liability. In pre-industrial cultures, more children are needed to account for child mortality, and the lack of child labor laws lets them provide income. Once child mortality goes down (as it has in the 20th century), population skyrockets until "big family" culture goes away. In post-industrial cultures, children are a drain on income and leisure time, leading to later and fewer children. Given the progress of civilization, and assuming no major wars or other problems that affect population or lifestyle, it's entirely possible that humans could top out at (IIRC) 11ish billion before shrinking back.

Re:Or... just stop breeding like rabbits

[Nidi62]

Whether it be religion, lax government regulations, or just plain sexual addiction, we have concocted an endless list of reasons to justify lack of control when it comes to procreation. So... we have a planet with too many humans, and not a lot of food. Until we fix our little willpower problem, "bugs" are not a solution - that's just ignoring the problem with a VERY disgusting fix.

You are missing the entire reason why some places(read: third world/developing states) have higher birth rates than others: survival. Families in poor areas need to be larger so that they can earn enough income or grow enough food for the family to survive. Add to this a higher infant/child mortality rate and you get families that have as many children as possible because they know some won't survive, and they need as many surviving children as possible. As conditions within the state improve (better healthcare, stronger economy, stronger government, better access to food), birth rates always go down, because families need fewer children to support the family, and those children that they do have are more likely to not only survive, but remain healthy. The problem is twofold: first off birth rate always lags behind societal and government reforms; secondly these reforms are in many cases extremely hard to enact. Corrupt local governments, warlords, famine, even the presence of things like diamonds, gold, or oil make it incredibly hard to make these reforms. If you want to solve population pressure, you have a whole mess of other problems that need to be solved first. Either that, or just start a couple wars.

Re:Or... just stop breeding like rabbits

[Zontar The Mindless]

Whether it be religion, lax government regulations, or just plain sexual addiction, we have concocted an endless list of reasons to justify lack of control when it comes to procreation.

Ever hear of a thing known as "history"? You should try reading a bit of it sometime, then you'd see just how very subjective and completely backwards your perspective is. And you would also perhaps realise that for tens (maybe hundreds) of millennia--up until the last couple of centuries or so--it was the same for us as for any other species: Breed like rabbits, or die out. *Limiting* our population is by comparison a very new and very radical concept. Of course there's going to be some inertia--this goes against everything we've needed to do to ensure our survival since the first slimies slimed on the Precambrian seabed.

You mention religion. Let's look at the Roman Catholic Church. Did it ever occur to you to wonder *why* the Church holds the positions it does regarding sexuality and reproduction?

There are some very good historical reasons for them--you might, for instance, recall a little travelling show known as "The Black Death" that toured Europe pretty extensively during the Dark and Middle Ages. ("BRING OUT YOUR DEAD! BRING OUT YOUR DEAD!" Funny in a Monty Python skit now--a fact of life back then.) With millions dropping dead like flies, the Church was deeply (and justifiably) concerned that it might itself die right out. *Literally*.

So of course the Church instituted teachings intended to maximise reproduction. (In their position, I'd have done much the same, absolutely.) Only now it's 6 or 7 centuries later, we're no longer facing a possible population crash and extinction, but we've still got the teachings from those times.

(And every time I see someone use the term "sexual addiction", I can't help but think that I'm probably dealing with someone who cannot accept the simple fact that we are engineered to want to fuck as often as possible. It's baked into us.)

 

So... we have a planet with too many humans, and not a lot of food. Until we fix our little willpower problem, "bugs" are not a solution - that's just ignoring the problem with a VERY disgusting fix.

"Our little willpower problem"--dear me, I didn't realise that Church Lady had a Slashdot account.

Seriously, you come off sounding like someone's (very repressed) maiden aunt.

Or not...

[ternarybit]

It's kind of strange to me that people would first investigate eating insects before plants. Evidence has never been stronger[1] that a plant-based diet can fully supply all nutritional needs. It's even in Wikipedia's list of common misconceptions that a vegan/vegetarian diet doesn't supply enough protein.[2] Do ants seem more appetizing than some whole grains and legumes? Really?

Disclosure: I'm vegan for health and environmental reasons.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veganism#Health_arguments
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_misconceptions#Human_body_and_health

Re:Or not...

[Anonymous Coward]

Do ants seem more appetizing than some whole grains and legumes? Really?

Yes. I've tried going vegetarian on multiple occasions, and the desire for meat turns into an all consuming hunger by the end of the first week that has me inhaling everything in reach until I just finally scratch that "itch." I've heard it gets better later, but I've never been able to make it.

The claimed nutty-tasting shrimp of crickets? That sounds delicious. The sort of quinoa/kale/balsamic salad thing that nearly ever vegan I've ever met seems to think is a great main course? I'd rather eat my own foot -- after cooking it, with no anesthetic.

(Besides, ants are supposed to have piquant, lemony flavor thanks to the formic acid. That's sounds better on a salad than f'ing kale. God, I hate kale so much...)

Re:Or not...

[DragonWriter]

It's kind of strange to me that people would first investigate eating insects before plants

In most of the world, eating plants, unlike eating insects, has moved far beyond the "investigate" (or even "experiment" or "fringe practice") stage. So, while it might be strange if people would first investigate eating insects before plants, I don't see that actually happening anywhere.

Re:Or not...

[shutdown -p now]

Vegan diet will supply sufficient protein, but not all the sufficient microelements. You need to go vegetarian for that, or else use artificial supplements.

The reason why vegans and vegetarians are often more healthy is not due to the specifics of their diet, but because they generally pay attention to what they eat. Most meat lovers just grab whatever is available with no filters. However, the ideal healthy diet for humans does include meat, for the simple reason that humans have evolved that way (omnivores, but with meat being a larger part of our diet - we're actually more naturally carnivorous than any other great ape).

Isn't easier control the population

[Anonymous Coward]

Growth, then everyone will have food, space to live, jobs and together with others benefits we should have less criminality?
Looks like that the humanity today has lost the creativity and instead attack the problem choose a shortcut that will not fix the problem but leave it to be resolved later on.

Religion

[ameen.ross]

I'm sure nobody here's interested, but here goes.

In Islam, insects are prohibited as food. Locusts are an exception (the only one AFAIK), so they may be eaten.

What about the other major religions?

Re:Religion

[Shados]

Pork and beef are also prohibited in certain religions. They're still useful and viable for the rest.

Re:Religion

[ameen.ross]

My comment was not intended an an argument for or against. I was just curious.

Re:Religion

[iggymanz]

animals that are basically insects from the sea are permitted in some sects of Islam (such as lobsters)

Re:Religion

[Anonymous Coward]

Same deal in Judaism. I guess they figure that if the locusts destroy the crops that they have to eat something.

The Abrahamic religions basically cover the cultures that find eating insects repulsive. In most of the rest of the world it is standard practice and as such their religion doesn't care, excepting those religions that forbid consumption of meat entirely.

Re:Religion

[Rogue Haggis Landing]

What about the other major religions?

There are some pretty explicit food laws in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Chapter 14 of Deuteronomy gives a good list. 14:19 says, "And every creeping thing that flieth is unclean unto you: they shall not be eaten." This is presumably referring to insects, so they're out. Also out are pigs, camels, rabbits, anything from the water that doesn't have scales and fins (God hates shrimp!), any animal that "dies of itself" (i.e., carrion), and a smattering of other animals -- no eating bats, people.

Anyone who is actually keeping kosher will follow these laws, which means most Orthodox Jews and many other Jews. Not many Christians follow these dietary laws, but some do.

Re:Religion

[ameen.ross]

*sigh*
Yes they are allowed in most schools of jurisprudence. Anyway I wasn't interested in useless arguments such as this.

Re:Religion

[stymy]

No rule against using insects to feed pigs or other animals.

Re:Religion

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm sure nobody here's interested, but here goes.

In Islam, insects are prohibited as food. Locusts are an exception (the only one AFAIK), so they may be eaten.

What about the other major religions?

Almost exactly the same for Judaism

Re:Religion

[Anonymous Coward]

If the reason you and your family starve to death is because the magic sky fairy told you to, then that is indeed a problem. Fortunately, Darwin has a rather obvious solution.

Re:Religion

[Flere Imsaho]

Why are locusts allowed when other insects aren't?

Re:Religion

[Xarvh]

You'd be surprised about how many Muslim have no problems with alcohol and do NOT pray 5 times per day.
If customs change, religion will follow.

Re:Religion

[Zontar The Mindless]

That's hilarious. Thanks for the linky. :D

Waiter!

[sp1nl0ck]

There's some soup on my fly!

Re:Waiter!

[Anonymous Coward]

There are hardly any flies in this soup!

Re:Waiter!

[Anonymous Coward]

We also would have accepted: 'Waiter, there's no fly in my soup!'

Show us the way, UN

[DNS-and-BIND]

I'll go for this when the dining rooms at the United Nations serve insects instead of Foie Gras Terrine with Brandied Cherry, on pretzel bread or Lamb Tartare on Japanese cracker with Tsar Sturgeon Caviar. And not insects as an option, either. I'm talking all the other stuff is off the menu.

Oh, it won't be happening? You mean we proles get to eat insects while the UN gets Seared Beef Filet with Onion Soup Boule, Asparagus, and Bearnaise Sauce or Roasted Veal Medallions with N.Y. Pretzel Crumbs, Bockwurst, and Mustard Sauce? Yeah, that's pretty much what I thought. Fuck you, UN.

Re:Show us the way, UN

[iggymanz]

the UN is a bunch of elitist oligarchs who want to subvert the sovereignty of nations to cram their world view down various countries throat. The United States should give two hours notice to vacate then demolish the HQ building.

Re:Show us the way, UN

[DNS-and-BIND]

I would love to see insects on the menu at NATO headquarters, as well. What's your point?

Re:Show us the way, UN

[PolygamousRanchKid]

Marie Antoinette: "Let them eat cake!"

UN: "Let them eat bugs!"

Re:Show us the way, UN

[Anonymous Coward]

Haters hate. I am part of U.N. and it is good for all. In Africa, many of my peoples live in spider holes and eat insects. They do not need to waste resources on guns; my families will protect them, if I say it is so. What is good enough for them, is good enough for you Ameicans.

Re:Show us the way, UN

[roman_mir]

Excellent find. Here are some actual items from their menus (I downloaded the PDFs):

INTERNATIONAL STATIONS EUROPE
(Please Select 3 Items)
Organic & Artisanal Selection Of Focaccia, Olive, Tomato, & Raisin Bread Heirloom Tomato, Fresh Mozzarella,
Cold Press olive Oil, Opal Basil, With 6 year old Balsamic Vinegar;
Classic Caesar Salad; Anchovy Dressing, Hearts of Romaine, Grated Grano Padano, Spiced Croutons; Local Heirloom Field Greens with Candied Walnuts,
Kunik Goat Cheese and Poached Pears
Tomato, Chickpea
Lentil & Quinoa Salad with Mint; Local Arugula, Frisee & Mizzuna
With Citrus Salad & Basil Vinaigrette; Grilled Asparagus, Pimento and Olives
Fried Chickpeas and Sea Salt; Israeli CousCous
Marinated Roasted Peppers; And Herbed Feta

FAR EAST ASIA (Please Select 2 Proteins)
5 Spice Duck with Sauce Bigarade; Soy Sauce Braised Chicken; Moo Shoo Pork; Scallion Pancakes and Plum Sauce;
Accompanied With; (Please Select 2 Accompaniments); Shrimp Shomai Mirin, Soy Dressing; Asian pear, Watercress, Mizzuna, Lemon Ginger Vinaigrette; Soba Noodle Salad, Julienne Vegetables, Peanuts, Scallions, Ginger Soy Sauce, Vegetable Fried Rice; Peking duck Spring Rolls; Sweet Chili Sauce
Jasmine Rice; With Eggs, Shitake & Tamarind; Blackened Chinese Long Bean; Jade Green Baby Bok Choy

INDIA (Please Select 2 Proteins)
Curried Goat with Spicy Mango Chutney; Mushroom Briyani; Garam Masala & Yogurt Marinated Lamb;
Roasted Sweet Potato; Curried Chicken; Cinnamon & Cardamom Scented Basmati; Roast Salmon; Garam Masala SpicedTtomato Chutney;

Accompanied with (Please Select 2 Accompaniments)
Spiced Green Beans with Coconut; Tomato, Peas & Paneer; Smoked Salmon, Raita, Pappadum; Hummus, Raita; Pita Bread

LATIN AMERICA
(Please Select 3 Proteins)
Watercress, Frisee, Oranges, Pickled Red Onions, Basil Lime Dressing
Monterey Seafood Ceviche
Beef Empanadas with Tomatillo Sauce
Dungeness crab Gazpacho
With Fried Yucca with Mojito
Arroz Con Pollo
Ropa Vieja (Beef Stew)
Pork Belly or Pernil (Roast Pork)
With Fried Plantains
Accompanied With
White Rice & Beans
Sweet Fried Plantains
Heirloom Tomato, Red Onion & Avocado Salad

CHILLED SUSTAINABLE SEAFOOD BAR
(Please Select 2 Items)
Jumbo Gulf Shrimp; Top Neck or Littleneck Clams;
Blue point Oysters; Snow Crab Claws;
Smoked Salmon;

Accompanied with
Cocktail Sauce, Ginger Cream, Capers, Onions, Lemon Halves & Bread Sticks

TSAR SUSTAINABLE CAVIAR STATION
Paddlefish, Osetra & Sevruga
Served with Chopped Egg, Onion, Blini & Toast Points
Optional with frozen vodka at additional charge (Ice Carvings are additional)

VIENNESE TABLE
Assorted Petit Fours; Mini Profiteroles; Mini Fruit Tarts, Individual Cold Soufflés; Italian Butter, Fruit Macaroons; And Mini Fancy Cookies; Organic & Fair-trade Coffee

Love this one:

UNITED NATIONS MENUS SUSTAINABILITY
"The ability to meet the needs of the present without ompromising the ability of future Generations to meet their own needs."
- United Nations, World Commission on Environment & Development
BUTLER PASSED HORS Dâ(TM)OEUVRES (Please choose 4 ambient & 4 temperate)
Ambient Sustainable
Sea Scallop & Halibut Seviche
Dungeness Crab
With Spicy Gazpacho
Foie Gras Terrine,Brandied Cherry, on pretzel bread
Fig, Artisan Goat Cheese
& Hazelnut on Puff Pastry
Salmon or Lamb Tartare
On Japanese cracker, Tsar Sturgeon Caviar
Local Hudson Valley Goat Cheese, Date & Artichoke Bruschetta
Scottish Smoked Salmon
On Irish Soda Bread, Clotted Cream
Assorted Sushi & Sashimi
Tuscan Toast; Goat Cheese, Red Pepper, Spinach and Artichoke
Mascarpone, Dates & Lemon Zest; Multi Grain Toast
Smoked Trout Salad; Seasonal Apples, Taro Chip
Trumpet Crusted Beef Tenderloin; Roasted Shallot Marmalade
Murray

Re:Show us the way, UN

[bmk67]

You don't really expect the UN delegates the eat the same fare as the proles, now do you?

P.S. Shrimp are not insects.

Re:Show us the way, UN

[Anonymous Coward]

The US and the west are the most influential part of the UN. They would never leave it because they hold so much power. Just look at who holds veto power in the security council. US, UK, France, China, and Russia. All of them are not interested in replacing the UN because it would result in the loss of power. The west is 3 out of the 5 votes with veto power.

BTW, the report was made with the help of a Dutch university.

Re:Show us the way, UN

[Anonymous Coward]

P.S. Shrimp are not insects.

Roman_mir never took biology. It got in the way of his religious studies.

Re:Show us the way, UN

[Anonymous Coward]

Remember WWIII? Neither do I.

Re:Show us the way, UN

[Anonymous Coward]

You know she never really said that, right?

Re:Show us the way, UN

[shutdown -p now]

The United States should give two hours notice to vacate then demolish the HQ building.

US was the major founding force behind UN. By your own argument, it means that it's chief among the "elitist oligarchs who want to subvert the sovereignty of nations to cram their world view down various countries throat", which actually sounds about right, so you must be on to something here. But you might want to propose a different course of action.

Re:Show us the way, UN

[DNS-and-BIND]

The UN of the 40s and the UN of today are vastly different entities. The UN lost its way several decades ago and now only exists to perpetrate itself.

Re:Show us the way, UN

[Anonymous Coward]

This comment sounds delicious.

"Let them eat cake"

[Anonymous Coward]

Basically.

You first

[Anonymous Coward]

When billionaires start eating bugs I'll join in.

Hiwe mind

[Anonymous Coward]

Dont underestimate the power of a hive. First ten years we will breed tons of ants for food. The next ten years we will figth against them for survival with flamethrowers.

Because some people are allergic

[Culture20]

Didn't the UN read about the guy that died after the roach-eating contest?

Culture

[gmuslera]

Probably being a cultural taboo is, by far, the main reason. But is something that must be handled with care, another thing that goes in hand with it in our culture is poisoning bugs, so it could strike us back.

Cheese and mites: save the mimolette

[Anonymous Coward]

This is a very good case for more cheese imports in the US:
http://www.connexionfrance.com/Mimolette-cheese-US-FDA-mites-Hollande-14625-view-article.html

Eat Insects by Proxy

[PPH]

Chicken.

They want us to eat bugs

[fustakrakich]

That's so those fat, bald-headed bastards can have more steak and tell us who to bomb next.

fuck that

[Anonymous Coward]

lets see the UN leading the way in showing how it's done....

ffs

..and so it begins..

[GigaBurglar]

Chow down on bugs while most of the worlds capital sits in offshore accounts.

Scorpions

[Phoenix666]

I've eaten scorpions in Northern China. Crunchy, salty, oily, mostly flavorless like a pork rind. So, yeah, you can eat them but apart from the initial Fear Factor aspect, why?

Spirulina

[Phoenix666]

I'd rather cultivate and eat spirulina. It's a perfect food, grows quickly, and doesn't have near the same yuck factor, especially if you add it to soups and smoothies and such. And it gives you a boost of energy better and smoother than that from energy drinks.

Check out AlgaeLab. They sell live culture to start your own algae setup and also offer online classes on how to cultivate it.

Dogs

[Frankie70]

Why not dogs? A lot of countries are overrun by stray dogs. They sterilize them to reduce the population. Why not just let them breed and eat them. Dog meat tastes very similar to goat meat or beef.

Why not link to the actual report?

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3253e/i3253e00.htm

Our Overlords

[Anonymous Coward]

I for one don't wish to eat our insect overlords.

Need to eat more arthropods?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why not Zoidberg?

It is a farce.

[Anonymous Coward]

World hunger is not a production or availability problem. It is a distribution problem. America alone can already grow enough grain to feed the entire planet a couple times over. Doing so, however, would make the bottom drop out of the grain market and have disastrous economic consequences. That is exactly why the American government pays farmers to not grow food.

More info here.

Re:It is a farce.

[Anonymous Coward]

buy a condom save a bug

Re:It is a farce.

[Mashiki]

It's not a distribution problem. It's a dictatorship problem an example, back before Mugabe came to power Zimbabwe fed itself, half of Africa, and supplied between 20-30% of all corn grains to Europe. Following up with around 15% of rye and wheat grains.

Re:It is a farce.

[Anonymous Coward]

World hunger is not a production or availability problem.

Sure it is. Maybe not right now, but with the population approaching 9 billions there is not going to be enought nutrients in the soil to grow enough food. Two thirds of the current population would not even be here today if it were not for a certain Mr. Haber and his process of extracting nitrogen from air. That process which is fully dependent on availability of cheap fossil fuels. And don't get me started on phosphorus...

Re:It is a farce.

[Bacon Bits]

I've heard this before. Apparently in Africa there's a huge amount of resentment towards the starving people in Africa because they refuse to leave land that can obviously no longer support them, and then expect the government (or foreign governments) to save them.

Who would have thought that Sam Kinison was right?

Re:It is a farce.

[Hatta]

"It's a distribution problem", which is to say "It's a capitalism problem".

Re:It is a farce.

[Anonymous Coward]

"It's a distribution problem", which is to say "It's a capitalism problem".

More like, "It's a political problem." Not all of the places with starving people are capitalist. Sometimes, there's just no political will to solve the local distribution problems.

Re:It is a farce.

[ArsonSmith]

Actually quite the opposite. It would actually be a good place for a capitalism solution, but the problem in most places is government and political.

Re:It is a farce.

[Anonymous Coward]

What? No, of course it's a production and availability problem. Better distribution would be a solution, but lack of distribution is not the problem itself.

If food was produced everywhere and available everywhere, it wouldn't need distribution at all. If everyone could farm grasshoppers in their own back yards - enough to meet their dietary requirements - nobody would worry about distribution, because food would be produced available where it was needed.

Finding practical ways to farm insects (and convincing people to eat them) is a more direct approach to solving the hunger problem.

Sign me up. I'm eating insects right now. Well, it's mostly nuts, but every now & then I get a nut that tastes funny. So I just inspected one and found a dry-roasted larva of some sort. And I'm still eating.

Re:It is a farce.

[mcvos]

It's a mismanagement problem. Mugabe is a very extreme case of mismanagement, but there's a wide variety of mismanagement in many very different African countries, and the intentional mismanagement in the EU and US just makes it worse. (Basically we pay taxes to drive African farmers into bankruptcy.)

Re:It is a farce.

[cvnautilus]

"It's a distribution problem", which is to say "It's a capitalism problem".

This is exactly right. World hunger today is an emergent consequence of the global capitalist economy. People who were once able to grow crops to feed their families now have their land aggressively taken over by corporations (often with threats of violence). They then have no choice but to work growing whatever luxury crops the corporation dictates, such as hot peppers or coffee - crops that are rarely capable of sustaining a community. Then, whenever the value of that crop plummets or there is a drought, these communities are left without money to buy food.

Even during the worst famines, marketplaces can be seen selling an abundance of food. Those that die of hunger die not because there isn't food available. They die because they cannot afford it.

Re:It is a farce.

[mi]

But admitting that would be impossible for any UN committee/commission. Because each of those dictators has a vote in the Assembly, that's not any different from the votes of the free(er) countries...

Stop Burning Our Food

[Anonymous Coward]

I would be more interested in this once we stop growing corn then tossing it into our gas tanks, burning it instead of sending it to a place where people are starving. It isn't efficient, the fuel produced is not very good, and it's taking food out of the food supply. The Ethanol lobby is a direct attack against the poor.

Strangely, the CAPTCHA for this post was 'liberals' - I swear that Slashdot has some kind of CAPTCHA AI...

Fried Worms!

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

If only there was a book of instructions for how to eat them!

OK

[Anonymous Coward]

OK UN, lead by example.

Give up your steaks and seafood for bugs..

Re:OK

[DragonWriter]

Give up your steaks and seafood for bugs..

Seafood (except for fish) is generally aquatic bugs to start with, so that's not much of exchange.

Cicadas

[Curunir_wolf]

Here on the East Coast we're about be inundated with the 17-year cicadas (Brood II). Everybody eats cicadas, even squirrels and your pets. Looking forward to seeing some good cicada recipes when the things get plentiful.

Re:Cicadas

[PolygamousRanchKid]

Here on the East Coast we're about be inundated with the 17-year cicadas (Brood II).

TSA: What is the purpose of your trip to the US, sir?

Passenger: I have come to eat your 17-year cicadas . . .

TSA: . . . um . . . ok . . . now if you'll just go down the hall with those gentlemen pointing the guns at you . . .

Size issue.

[JustAnotherIdiot]

Do you know how many bugs you'd have to raise to make a single hamburger?

Re:Size issue.

[linear a]

One. Grow 'em big in these parts.

You ever eat Shrimp or Lobster?

[alfredo]

I think some people would hurl if they unknowingly ate horse. Some people won't eat wild animals.

Re:You ever eat Shrimp or Lobster?

[BeaverCleaver]

"Wild animals?" Do you mean "game?" Like, venison, buffalo, rabbit, pheasant... Are there really people who would prefer to eat something that was force-fed on a farm than an animal that roamed free?

And why is a horse a "wild" animal. Horses have been domesticated for thousands of years. Even "wild" or feral horses are just escapees from farms. Zebras, maybe.

Finally, I direct you to some delicious horse burgers. Horse meat is like beef, but more tender and delicious. Link in English : http://www.hot-horse.si/en

Re: You ever eat Shrimp or Lobster?

[alfredo]

I'll eat just about anything, I just know people who won't eat Venison or elk. I don't know why, but I guess they are people who are unwilling to try something different. My wife was like that, but since she's tried Bison, she has had a change of heart. I think it has to do with the factory farms and all the crap put in the meat. Michael Pollan's books have helped broaden her diet.

Re: You ever eat Shrimp or Lobster?

[Hognoxious]

I just know people who won't eat Venison or elk.

Over-hung it's pretty disgusting, I can see why that might put someone off.

Re: You ever eat Shrimp or Lobster?

[BeaverCleaver]

Interesting... I'll have look for some of his books.

Re: You ever eat Shrimp or Lobster?

[alfredo]

It's all in the processing.

Soylent Green

[JobyOne]

Soylent Green is SPIDERS!!!!!

Invasive species taste good.

[alfredo]

If we are overrun by Monk Parrots, eat them. Same goes with feral pigs, Asian Carp and Snakehead fish. Feral Pig is very tasty. Don't eat Florida Pythons, they contain high levels of mercury. Rabbits are a good alternative to beef. They are high in protein, and offer high iron for those who need iron in their diet.

Re:Invasive species taste good.

[linear a]

What about the most invasive species of all?

Re:Invasive species taste good.

[Bob the Super Hamste]

Yes they do. I usually pop a few rabbits out in the garden each year before they stop showing up and end up having a couple nice stews. I would love to go hunting for feral pig as my uncle and cousin who I go hunting with have brought some back from when the go to Florida to my uncle's parents.

Re: Invasive species taste good.

[alfredo]

Telemarketer?

Re: Invasive species taste good.

[alfredo]

The Chinese Carp is a real problem too. I think they are real boney lik shad.

Shrimp are Sea Bugs

[Anonymous Coward]

You guys like shrimp? Lobster? Those are sea bugs.

What about the other major religions?

[managerialslime]

I'm sure nobody here's interested, but here goes.

In Islam, insects are prohibited as food. Locusts are an exception (the only one AFAIK), so they may be eaten.

What about the other major religions?

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosher_locust

"
Kosher locusts are varieties of locusts that are deemed premissible for consumption under the laws of kashrut (Jewish dietary law). While the consumption of most insects is considered to be forbidden under the laws of kashrut, the rabbis of the Talmud identified eight kosher species of locusts. However, the identity of those species is in dispute

The Torah states in Parshat Shemini:

        "Every flying insect that uses four legs for walking shall be avoided by you. The only flying insects with four walking legs you may eat are those with knees extending above their feet, [using these longer legs] to hop on the ground. Among these you may only eat members of the red locust family, the yellow locust family, the spotted gray locust family and the white locust family. All other flying insects with four feet [for walking] must be avoided by you."[2]
"

Bugmeal instead of fishmeal

[HighOrbit]

Please don't consume bugs directly. Use ground-up bugmeal for animal feed instead of fishmeal. I've actually thought about this for some time. Tons & Tons of anchovies and sardines are caught every day to the point that the overfishing is stressing the food chain in the oceans because there are fewer prey fish for the bigger fish (like tuna) to eat(especially off the coast of Peru which is the biggest achovy fishery) . Almost all of the anchovies (like high 90s%) and a significant amount of the sardines are ground into fishmeal for use as animal/aquaculture feed. Why not replace that with bugs for similiar protein content in the feed? This would allow the fisheries to recover which in turn will bring up the population of the fish we actually consume directly (tuna, mackerel, etc).

I doubt your numbers.

[coyote_oww]

I would like to see a source for your claim that insects are 90% efficient. And cows produce milk, which per this source, is pretty damn good (magic??), so good i'm not sure how much to trust the source: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/78/3/660S/T3.expansion.html

Re:I doubt your numbers.

[Immerman]

Hmm, I believe it was a TED talk a year or two ago, the fellow was part of a push to get the EU to endorse insects as a food source (or maybe it was the UN and he succeeded). At any rate the meat:feed ratios were roughly in line with your chart, as I remember them they were:
cow 1:10
pig 2:10
chicken 3:10
insect 9:10

As for the "magic" of milk - I think that's likely due to the fact that cow milk is almost entirely water, which is quite heavy. Only about 4% of it is fat, and I think the other protein and nutrients total even less. Ever purchased powdered milk? There's really not much there to make a gallon of rehydrated milk - pound for pound milk is a pretty lousy food source.

Re:I doubt your numbers.

[mosb1000]

There's more in milk than just fat. Reconstituted nonfat milk is only about 90% water by weight.

Re:I doubt your numbers.

[Anonymous Coward]

"Marcel Dicke: Why not eat insects?"
www.ted.com/talks/marcel_dicke_why_not_eat_insects.html

Re:I doubt your numbers.

[Anonymous Coward]

Most of the insect weight is indigestible chitin and isomeric proteins. You're just as well off eating dirt.

Re:I doubt your numbers.

[Immerman]

Oh, absolutely, and it seems like I under-guestimated the weight of non-water portions. But that still means that whole cow milk is roughly 86% water, so that 1:1 feed:milk ratio actually translates to something more like 1.4:10 when you ignore the water. Still worse than pig. Or not I suppose, meat is typically mostly water as well, just not *quite* as bad.

And yes, I insist on specifying the species - whale milk for example is something like 80% fat IIRC, enough that it's only barely liquid. Fat is vitally important to sea mammals.

Re:I doubt your numbers.

[Reziac]

Most fruits and vegetables are largely or almost entirely water. Grain has to be cooked to be edible, so the edible product is either largely water, or has been cooked in water then dried. So it's not like water isn't a component, and often moreso than in meat.

Re:I doubt your numbers.

[Immerman]

True, but most meat animals aren't fed fruits and vegetables, they're fed leaves, stems, and grains, which typically contain far less water.

As for grain - no, it doesn't need to be cooked, it's perfectly edible as-is. Cooking it really only provides a particular advantage to humans since we've been evolving to eat cooked food for a long time, to the point that our digestive system, teeth and jaws especially, are no longer nearly as capable as they once were (for example chimpanzees have something like 10x the bite strength as humans). Cooking something typically makes something like 20-30% more calories accessible to our digestive systems, and as such harnessing it as a form of "external digestion" gave our ancestors a distinct advantage, but there were consequences to that adaptation.

Re:I doubt your numbers.

[Reziac]

Sure, you can eat uncooked grain and get by... but how long will your teeth last?

More food equals more people

[Princeofcups]

When will people realize that every time we increase the food supply in a region, the population increases in the same proportion. There will always be starvation until people slow their breeding down to zero population growth, or dare I even suggest it, negative growth. And I'm not saying don't feed people that are already here.

Flame away breeders. I'm getting used to it.

Re:More food equals more people

[DragonWriter]

When will people realize that every time we increase the food supply in a region, the population increases in the same proportion.

Never, because its not true.

There will always be starvation until people slow their breeding down to zero population growth, or dare I even suggest it, negative growth.

Which actually has happened in many of the more developed parts of the world: economic development (which, perhaps unsurprisingly, doesn't seem to happen in places with inadequate food supply), especially when coupled with a political-econonmic system with a strong social safety net, strongly tending to produce reduced (and often even negative) rates of natural population growth.

So the best way to deal with the problem you seem concerned about regarding population growth rates is to assure that the conditions for strong economic development -- including adequate food supply -- are present in as much of the world as possible.

Re:More food equals more people

[iggymanz]

nonsense, human population will peak in 2075 and decline thereafter. Increasing the food supply to the levels of luxury makes the breeding rate go below 2.1 per couple and population growth goes negative. There is thus no problem in the longer term

Re:It is a farce... not really

[mexsudo]

Yes, distribution is a HUGE problem. The virtue is that nourishing tasty bugs can be propagated everywhere. No more dependence on transporting everything vast distances.

The last damn stray

[paiute]

I was uneasy when the UN black copters came over to try and take my guns and when they tried to take over the Web - but making me eat bugs is too much. The resistance begins today!

The logical choice...

[Anonymous Coward]

is not always the easiest one.

Huffington Post

[Anonymous Coward]

Be very careful on Huffington Post:

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupprofile.asp?grpid=7129

Or, as eating insects is otherwise known,

[Anonymous Coward]

the North Korean Peoples cuisine.

Closed system?

[DragonWriter]

You are hilariously ignorant of the world of biology around you.

You do realize Earth is a closed-system, right?

If you ignore sunlight, meteors, and a bunch of other interactions with the outside universe that, taken together, might arguably have some effect on the biosphere, sure, Earth is a closed system.

Re:Closed system?

[Anonymous Coward]

If you ignore sunlight, meteors, and a bunch of other interactions with the outside universe that, taken together, might arguably have some effect on the biosphere, sure, Earth is a closed system.

Fine. The Universe is a closed system. Are you happy now?

Everyone that do not wander off topic will deliberately ignored the "sunlight, meteors, and a bunch of other interactions with the outside universe" because this thread is about the biosphere. Everything the AC said still hold on earth, in the solar system, in the galaxy, in the entire universe or beyond. I am not sure what was the point of your post, but I will return and mod appropriately whenever I get mod points.

Re:because meat is tasty FTFY

[Anonymous Coward]

there are "More and more people in India and"
save the money buy a condom

I've had them. Not bad!

[Natales]

I had the chance to eat deep fried crickets and ant eggs when traveling in Mexico. They were both surprisingly good. Once you forget *what* are you actually eating, it's not bad.

The folks at Mini Live Stock have been doing this for years, and there are several other underground movements on ths subject. Remember, they don't have to LOOK like insects. Some of these folks will make patties that will look and taste like hamburger.

Yummy termites, eat 'em up!

[k6mfw]

Interesting article today as I watched PBS program on savannah wildlife which they showed a ant-eater (or similar animal) digging into a termite mound. With its long tongue scooping up number of termites and narrator saying termites are very high concentration of nutrition so makes a great meal for the ant-eater. However, for me eating insects is really gross. It has been said insect meal is much more energy efficient and less prone to transmittting diseases as they are lower in the food chain. This can be debated as others pointed out earlier many insects carry significant disease, maybe it depends on what kind of insect to eat like plants. Some are very edible while others are highly poisonous.

Going back to the PBS program, the ant-eater must have scooped up a few thousand termites but with a total population of million(s) that is insignificant. And the queen termite delivering eggs at one every three seconds. They also showed organization of the termite mound. Huge queen termite serviced by many transporting eggs to various locations, soldier termites constantly on duty, many others performing tasks to continue expanding the mound. Like an ant colony or a bee's nest, socialism rules! Except when a capitalistic creature like the ant-eater wrecks havoc.

Eat the UN

[Anonymous Coward]

Leave the bugs alone. Let the poor eat UN personnel instead. They're fat on tax dollars, quite tender and tasty.

When Rachel Ray shows us how

[Provocateur]

...and when Martha Stewart comes up with an arachnid-themed dinette set, I'm there

Hempseed

[dbreeze]

http://www.ratical.org/renewables/hempseed1.html
https://www.bible.com/bible/1/gen.1.kjv (see vs.11-12 and 29)
Too many human beings are fairly ignorant( https://www.bible.com/bible/111/hos.4.6.niv ). The leaders of humankind are mostly evil( https://www.bible.com/bible/1/eph.6.12.kjv ). It appears this will remain true until the Lord comes to snatch a knot in humanity's collective unsaved ass.
Yea Lord, come......

The Big Oyster

[westlake]

You need to set the price as high as possible to sell otherwise unsellable stuff. Caviar, escargots, oysters....

Oysters were the universal snack food in nineteenth century America.

Upmarket you'd find handsomely decorated and now very collectable plates and utensils. The Art of Oyster Plate Collecting

Unlike in Europe, oyster consumption in North America after colonization by Europeans was never confined to class, and oysters were commonly served in taverns. During the early 1800s, express wagons filled with oysters crossed the Allegheny Mountains to reach the American Midwest. The oldest oyster bar in the United States is Union Oyster House in Boston, which opened in 1826. It features oyster shucking in front of the customer, and patrons may make their own oyster sauces from condiments on the tables. It has served as a model for many oyster bars in the United States.

By 1850, nearly every major town in North America had oyster bar, oyster cellar, oyster parlor, or oyster saloon --- almost always located in the basement of the establishment (where keeping ice was easier). Oysters and bars often went hand-in-hand in the United States, because oysters were seen as a cheap food to serve alongside beer and liquor.

By the late 1880s, an "oyster craze" had swept the United States, and oyster bars were prominent gathering places in Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Denver, Lousiville, New York City, and St. Louis. An 1881 U.S. government fisheries study counted 379 oyster houses in the Philadelphia city directory alone...

Oyster bar

Re:The Big Oyster

[bickerdyke]

Already posted.. otherwise it would be a +1 intresting

Antoinette to Africa

[Anonymous Coward]

Let them eat spiders.

What?!? Any food relationship with insects?

[DaJoky]

OVER MY DEAD BODY!!!

So instead...

[DiEx-15]

...of the UN telling poor, underdeveloped nations to "Let them eat cake", it is now "Let them eat bugs"?

Makes perfect sense since we all know about the cake being a lie by now.

Quite right.

[bdwoolman]

And, paradoxically, the arthropods we do eat are foul feeders. It is common knowledge that crabs and lobsters and their ilk eat sea-bottom carrion. Many insects (also arthropods of course) are vegetarians (take crickets). There are tribes in South America that think eating shrimp is disgusting (and with some justification), but who will scarf down a cricket with relish. There was a good upbeat article in the New Yorker some time ago on bug eating... Hmmm. Found the New Yorker citation, anyway. Paywalled so no link.

DEPT. OF GASTRONOMY GRUB BY DANA GOODYEAR ,AUG 15, 2011 (P.38) ANNALS OF GASTRONOMY about entomophagy (eating insects). Insects were among the original specialty foods in the American gourmet marketplace...

I lived in Thailand for about five years and have eaten my share of bugs by choice. Toasted hoppers are very nice. And my particular favorite is a rich brown sauce made from rice bugs. I confess that for some time I thought it was made from peanuts. But once I found out it was made from big fat rice bugs I paused, shrugged, and continued to eat it.

I am not so fond of lizards... However, rural decorum has forced me to eat a few dishes of kow paht (fried rice) that included them. It is amazing how quickly one can adapt to new foods. Chocolate is notorious for its allowable inclusion of bug parts (as another poster has pointed out.). I have known this since boyhood. It never stopped me from eating a Hershey bar. The truth is pretty much everything that moves is edible. Plants, however, are a different matter. Many are highly toxic. Best to know what you are doing before tossing up a bush salad. My guess is that the "foraging" fad is going to kill a few people. They should stick to bugs. Much safer.

Re:Quite right.

[Anonymous Coward]

Inasmuch as many plants are poisonous, you should know that the bugs that eat THOSE plants might well be poisonous too. The Viceroy Butterfly has based its entire survival strategy on that very fact, since it is hard to distinguish it from the Monarch Butterfly, (cute names, huh?) which (as a caterpillar) exclusively feeds on the milkweed plant, which is toxic to most species, except perhaps, the monarch butterfly. When an animal like a bird eats a Monarch, it gets very sick, vomits, and makes a note to itself not to eat THOSE anymore. The Viceroy, as I understand it, cannot eat milkweed at any developmental stage, and is itself non-toxic, and probably tasty. Because it looks a LOT like a Monarch, most things that eat butterflies steer well clear of either.

But to get back to the point, I'm sure Monarch Butterflies are not the ONLY things in the animal kingdom you shouldn't eat, either because of something they make themselves internally, something that grows in them, or something they themselves eat and/or concentrate. Another notable example is the blowfish, (parts of which are deadly poisonous, IIRC,) and I'm sure there are others.

But as for the original topic, some clowns at the UN asking "why not eat more insects?"... I say this: If they're so damned tasty, YOU eat them, and leave all those delicious chickens and cows for US! We who worked for our prosperity should benefit from it. If we all have to eat insects because people in other lands can't produce at least as much as they consume, let's eat THEM instead. Or, as an alternative, we'll continue to eat what we want, and you UN guys can boil your shoes, eat insects or plaster or shit or spiders or lick lichen off rocks, for all I care. 'Cause that's the prerogative of a prosperous civilization: we don't have to eat dirt, our shoes, etc. We sure as hell don't HAVE to eat bugs either, thank you very much. Now you UN guys go enjoy your boiled grasshopper in aphid sauce. I'm sure it's Delitritious (TM)!

Re:Quite right.

[Reziac]

That's an interesting point about contamination from plant matter being more likely to be toxic. How many common weeds contain some toxic compound? what is the relative damage from, say, moldy grain?

The worst I can see from animal contaminants would be parasite eggs/larva (those that can survive dehydration or cooking and are not species-specific), and protein-specific allergies (someone upstream mentioned his crustacean allergy apparently extended to insects). Admittedly not zero risk, but you could bite down on a rock in your bread and break a tooth, too.

Re:Quite right.

[xupere]

There are tribes in South America that think eating shrimp is disgusting (and with some justification), but who will scarf down a cricket with relish.

Oh, well as long as you put relish on it, count me in! Maybe a little horseradish too for kick?

Why not eat Bugs?

[Borg Bucolic]

Because motorcycles are dangerous...

Bug Herds

[Anonymous Coward]

Bigger bugs could make some tasty steaks I bet.

An episode of Futurama had that old oriental guy as the proud owner of a huge herd of what appear to be xenoc insects. Very tasty looking. Bet we could engineer something like that. Good bye cows, hello GM-cricketCows.

Let me tell you why I don't eat insects..

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't eat them because none of the "eat more bugs"-articles actually tells you WHERE TO BUY THEM...

Yes, It's a pet peeve

Common in Mexico

[LDAPMAN]

I just spent a couple of months in Mexico. While I was there I had tried several types of insect dishes. They were delicious, especially the Escamole. While they are not really part of the daily diet, they are not uncommon either. In fact, it's kind of trendy now.

http://www.slashfood.com/2009/11/13/escamole-mexican-ant-egg-delicacy/

Honey.

[bdwoolman]

Bee excretia anyone? Excretia, not excrement. There is a difference. More like bee vomit. By the way, I'll take any honey you don't want any more.

It is very interesting to see the negative reactions here to the prospect of eating these non-traditional insect foods. (In the West. Or perhaps I should I say "The North?") Anyway, such food aversions can be very powerful. People have died rather than eat survival foods like bugs and other bush tucker. Literally starving to death in the midst of plenty -- even when they are presented with the option by knowledgeable companions. As Spock would say: "Fascinating."

Re:Honey.

[Dr_Barnowl]

Yeah, it's not even the vomit of one bee, they all have a massive mutual "20 bees, one cell" eating each others vomit and sicking it up again party.

Re:Honey.

[Anonymous Coward]

When the mind turns against what you are eating and forces a vomiting reaction, it doesn't matter what you think.

Can't make it to work today, I have a stomach bug

[buxomspacefish]

Gives new meaning to saying that you have a "stomach bug".

Obligatory

[triffid_98]

Leonard: Hey, you got Snoopy out! (Referring to the snow cone maker.)
Sheldon: Yes.
Leonard: Can I have one?
Sheldon: Sure.
Leonard: Hmmm. What flavor is this? This is good.
*Leonard guesses a few flavors.*
Sheldon: Mango caterpillar.
*Leonard spits it out and trashes the rest.*

Pink dye = bug carcasses

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm used to drinking bugs, how do you think they make pink dye in soda? Plus, veggies, mc donalds, and if you've ever been out of the country you've had your share of bugs. Let's not forget how many bugs you eat while you sleep and as you walk/run while breathing with your mouth.

East vs. West, Filth v. Hygiene, etc.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yet another war declared on the Western cultural continuum.

A delicacy is defined as...

[Anonymous Coward]

something eaten that is repulsive, repugnant, disgusting, nauseating and generally offensive to Torah observant individuals.

What is the UN?

[briancox2]

The UN is not the United Peoples of the World. It is the United Governments of the World.

It is pretty clear that most governments are corrupt. So a society of corrupt leaders doesn't really forward the best interests of people. Isn't it about time to ask them to kindly relocate?

Just process the hell out of it. Works with whey.

[Anonymous Coward]

There was a fair amount of fish in dairy deserts, candy and all sorts of other foods before jelly was invented. The people who ate it and hated fish otherwise didn't even care.
Just grow the little buggers and grind the texture out of them. I'm sure with a little creative food engineering, the same people who can sell me horse left-overs as gourmet cow, can probably find just the right ingredients for a delicious grasshopper soup.

Fish prion diseases

[handy_vandal]

Fish have prion diseases -- Mad Cow for fish.

Feeding little fish to big fish may compound the problem, just as feeding "downer" cows (wobbly, unstable, sick cows) to healthy cows may be contributory to Mad Cow.

Cool.

[bdwoolman]

You learn something new every day.

Got milk? Or should I say: "Have you some glandular secretion of a lower mammal?"

Oh these humans. The things they eat... And drink. Ha ha ha.

Marie Who?

[Anonymous Coward]

Let them eat bugs! What a wonderful solution. After all the masses rioted when they were ordered to eat cake. Or maybe we should consider halting the entire system, redistributing wealth and reworking law so that people succeed rather than starve.

well.........

[Anonymous Coward]

Translation from elite CFR Bilderberg frontgroup speak: We need more cheap slaves in order to continuously devalue labor, but logistically this is a challenge, given what a slave-human needs as basic input to survive. Therefore, we need to come up with a way to make it "hip" for our slaves to eat non-foodstuffs in their new subsistence level existence living in shanties without electricity (aka green, sustainable smart villages).

HUGE PROBLEM WITH THIS THEY NEVER THOUGHT OF

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey, now, I think this could be a potential SECURITY THREAT. You know, with all that is going on in trying to control food for various control freak reasons, I don't think TPTB are wise to develop know how about some unrestricted, cheap food source that can be quietly grown inside a room of some residence. Hard for governments to use food access as a weapon at that point!!!

Not so bad really

[Anonymous Coward]

While I was traveling in Thailand, I bought some deep fried grasshoppers from the street vendor.

They were actually quite good. Crispy, oily and a bit salty snack which was perfect with a cold beer.

Worms were not so good. I mean, they were ok, but perhaps a bit too floury for my taste.

Other insects I haven't tried yet.

However, if you guys happen to travel, I really recommend that you try foods like those and be positively surprised.

China

[BeanThere]

China had the cultural revolution, which drove hundreds of millions to absolute dire poverty .. that's why the previous generation got used to eating instincts, not because it would be preferred in a prosperous society. I suspect you'll find the next (more prosperous) generation starts losing its taste for some of the more disgusting foods.

What's happening in Western society now is a sclerotic degradation, caused by fascism and corporatism, that is driving the average person closer to poverty ... now the rich folk are telling the plebs like you and me to get used to eating insects.

Re:China

[Anonymous Coward]

China had the cultural revolution, which drove hundreds of millions to absolute dire poverty .. that's why the previous generation got used to eating instincts, not because it would be preferred in a prosperous society. I suspect you'll find the next (more prosperous) generation starts losing its taste for some of the more disgusting foods.

Very true - it's not as if the English are still eating black pudding, white pudding, yorskhire pudding (for the unaware, none of these are desserts) - or as if the Scots are still eating haggis, lorne sausage or various other dishes made from offal...

Oh wat - yes we are... All those 'poverty-imposed' imrovised foods are still in popular demand today - we know what's in them, we know the crap processes used to make them, we still ask for them.

I suppose the modern American equivalent would be Taco Bell - I've had one (i've also made tacos at home - massive difference from the bought ones...) and I cannot understand how they stay in business, nor can anyone other Brit I know that's had one. Yet I keep hearing Yank tourists decrying our lack of Taco Bells on this side of the water. They are cheap and rank (beyond disgusting) - yet I guarantee you they will still exist in 50-100 years because some people actually like them (assuming we still have minced beef or a 'suitable' substitute).

Re:China

[BeanThere]

If offal is the most poverty-imposed food you can think of, then sorry, but you know nothing about the Chinese eating habits we're talking about here, or poverty of the Cultural Revolution induced kind ... if you want a clue of the kind of eating habits we're talking about, I honestly suggest (for a start) that you watch the episode of "Idiot Abroad" where Karl Pilkington goes to China (season 1 episode 1), it might open your eyes a bit - that type of "cuisine" results when large numbers of people, for sustained periods of time, are truly looking to find absolutely any edible thing they can. Also, you seem to be forgetting that richer people even in the West often do tend to prefer to avoid offal if they can.

Re:China

[BeanThere]

Sorry, adding to side comment, but here's the Idiot Abroad clip of the sort of thing we're talking about. We're well beyond a bit of offal here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGTIs9fvkUA

Grasshoppers, rats, scorpions, centipedes, lizards, cockroaches etc.

This is not just some weird cuisine, it's living history, a hand-down of living memories of mass starvation ... it's estimated that 60 to 80 million people may have died from starvation due to the Cultural Revolution. That's more than the entire UK population today.

I Love P.E.T.A.

[Anonymous Coward]

Animals taste good.

(People eating tasty animals)

Re:Why not dogs?

[Anonymous Coward]

I will happily eat Not Dogs

But when it comes to canines, I say "dogs are friends, not food!"

The read problem is unequal distribution ...

[ajyand]

The root of world food problem is unequal distribution of wealth and resources. With reports like this which suggest ways to patch the problem superficially, UN is only confusing people and delaying real action.

heh

[lothie]

Insects are best...

Sure

[Greyfox]

Dude on another forum I read was talking about hanging out in Malysia or somewhere and getting barbecued tarantula. I'd give that a shot. I eat crawly things out of the ocean on a pretty regular basis, don't see as how it's all that much different.

I find it vaguely ironic how many of my fellow US citizens wouldn't just eat anything that's put in front of them.

efficiency

[Anonymous Coward]

Whenever we produce meat from feed that could be eaten by humans, its a loss. No organism is capable of lossless conversion of input to meat. Eating the grains instead of feeding them to whatever is in every case more efficient.
However, considered that insects may thrive on waste that could not be considered edible by humans, nor cattle, nor is easily convertible to edible food, they may well be part of a solution to fight world-hunger. Growing edible insects using already edible resources however is just as unrational as producing meat from edible food.

Re:because meat is tasty FTFY

[bingoUV]

Hope someone from the UN is reading this. Next sermon from them might be about the nutrition one can obtain by eating human babies.

Grasshopper Salsa

[rleibman]

I have in my fridge a container of grasshopper salsa that is The Yum. From Diane Kennedy's Oaxaca book. It's not the only insect recipe there either. Ant grubs (Escamoles in Mexico) are delicious (to those that can afford them!)... and don't get me started on how good agave worm tacos (Gusanos de Maguey) are!

No, it's not possible

[Anonymous Coward]

Show me vegetables that have bio-available B12? So far vegans are living on their reserves (it can take years to deplete them) or are using supplements made in a lab and chocked full of science, generally based on bacteria and yeast.

Sure, having some stuff made in a test tube so you can survive is technically vegan. But it's not really an all natural and organic lifestyle.

ilgazpet.com

[fvolkan27]

tahmin edilebilir güzel bir yaz http://www.ilgazpet.com/

If you live in the United States...

[GPS Pilot]

If you live in the United States, you're likely to consume fewer insects than most humans, because to the extent that other countries even have standards for insect contamination, they tend to be more lax than the USDA's standards.

The capitalism problem

[GPS Pilot]

"It's a distribution problem", which is to say "It's a capitalism problem".

You're absolutely correct: countries that embrace capitalism have the mans to have food distributed to them -- and even those individuals who don't directly participate in the capitalism benefit from the social safety nets that are paid for by the individuals who do directly participate in the capitalism.

Countries that don't embrace capitalism tend to be abjectly poor, with no means to construct social safety nets. They have a big hunger problem caused by their dire capitalism problem.