Would you eat insects?
(Please dismiss the fact that a small, FDA-approved percentage of insect pieces make their way into our food.)
Snow Piercer. That’s all I’ll say.
I'm not sure they're part of my diet, but I have eaten insects. Some of them are absolutely delicious. I had some tiny red ants once that were amazing. The taste was exactly halfway between lemon and orange, and was delightful. They were lightly crunchy.
I've had others that were fine but a bit pointless on their own. Crying out for the right dip or sauce.
Algae can be delicious too.
I've had spiders, meal worms, scorpions, ants and grubs. Not all at once, but they all are pretty good. If you bake meal worms they taste like sunflower seeds 😃 also a very spooky topping for pizza
I remember growing up that my grandfather had a can of chocolate covered crickets in his pantry. Decades ago he was a bartender and on a dare would offer and sex for people to eat.
You have reminded of a very ingenious solution to one of mankind's most pressing problems, which is PAPER. It seems that we have entirely too much of it.
It used to be that our enormous quantity of waste paper (newspaper, computer printouts, etc.) that was just accumulating in landfills. Then somebody proposed recycling. Let's just turn all of our used paper into fresh, new paper. Unfortunately, that didn't quite get the job done. It seems that they grossly overestimated the demand for recycled paper.
Now, somebody has found a real solution. It seems that paper is almost entirely wood pulp, so that termites, which normally live on wood pulp, are perfectly happy to eat paper. They thrive on it. Now, this wouldn't be a real solution, if it were just trading a vast surplus of paper, for a vast surplus of termites. It might actually be a case of out of the frying pan, into the fire. The termites might potentially be harmful.
Fortunately, raising termites is only the first half of the proposal. The second half relies on the easily documented fact that termites are an excellent source of protein.
Now, if we would substitute termite protein for cow protein, we would even be helping to solve the problem of global warming.
If I was hungry enough, probably.
Only when the zombie apocalypse starts.
My work colleague brought some fried crickets once; garlic seasoned… yum. I’ve tried some protein bars done with cricket flour. Each one contains the equivalent to about 40 of those little suckers 😬 it tastes a little too organic for me.
Id eat them. Beggars can't be choosers. There would be many things id eat in a survival type situation or even in everyday life. I'm not a picky eater.
I heard bugs are good for us, but the thought of eating one terrifies me. I have entomophobia (fear of insects).
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-will-not-eat-the-bugs
I’ve had one in a lollipop! I can’t remember if it were a cricket or scorpion. I like to try different things! I definitely wouldn’t eat it again, but I’m proud to say that I have tried it!
I adopted a Keto lifestyle in June 2021 and I am going on the carnivore diet after Thanksgiving. No insects, just Beef, Butter, Bacon and Eggs.
Dung beetles taste like sh@t
If I was ever sailing ⛵️ and a current / storm ⛈️ pushes me out to sea 🌊 and I end up stranded in The middle of the ocean but wake up one day on a deserted island 🏝️ where there’s only coconuts and insects 🐜 🥥 🌴 only than …. maybe
@FunCartel I don't think you washed your dung beetle well.
Anyways insects are fine to eat, if you want to. I don't and they're certainly not the amazing low impact protein source many make them out to be(we have lentils and such for that) but they're an option. I mean, lobsters and crabs are just sea bugs really so are the land ones really all that gross?
I can't knowingly do it. Maybe if it's ground up and mixed with something and nobody tells me what it is, I might not notice. Also I'm not really a fan of bee vomit either lol (I assume this means honey). Come to think of it... Not for lobster or crab either. I'd sooner just stuff myself on salad and other vegetables if there's no meat available.
I anwered "other" because I'll happily eat crustaceans any time -crabs, crawdads, shrimp, lobster. Those are yummy bugs.
Only time that I can imagine intentionally eating terrestrial bugs is if I were really, really, really hungry. I haven't ever been THAT hungry . . . yet.
I am way too scared of insects to eat them. I don’t know why. Potato bugs are at the top of my list of insects that creep me the heck out.
Edit: I mean the Jerusalem Cricket, if it’s not a potato bug.
I used to breed crickets, mealworms and wax worms for pet tarantulas. When I had to much I would cook and eat them or use them for pan fishing.
@SSRequiescence I think that is a company called hotlix. They sell scorpion lollipops 😂
Aspire Food Group is based right here in Austin, Texas. It is a major player in cricket farming and cricket powder production.
I know they are a delicacy in other cultures, so the thought of eating one or two seasoned tastefully isn’t baffling to me 🙈
When I was a tiny little floor-crawler, my mother spotted a cricket in the kitchen and left for a brief moment to grab a can of bug spray. When she came back, the cricket's legs were hanging out of my mouth.
And then there was the time I lived in a sadly rundown basement apartment full of roaches....
In short: I have eaten insects in the past, yes—but I don't eat them anymore. (My living conditions are much less buggy these days.)
Frankly, I only enjoyed my very first bug-eating experience, and I've never had them prepared properly. I'd consider trying it again if they were fixed right! @CuddleDuncan's description of red ants sounds mighty tasty.
I wonder why there is such an almost universal aversion to eating insects?
@GreatHornedOwl: I think it's probably cultural. Western kids'll eat bugs no problem until they learn it's supposed to be disgusting (and sometimes even after that, depending on the kid).
Why Don't More Humans Eat Bugs? is an interesting article on the subject.
Help me. Help me.
Eating insects and larvae is actually pretty common in almost every other country. You can even find deep fried meal worms in germany as street food.
https://www.insectgourmet.com/examples-of-countries-embracing-insect-food/
@FunCartel Hahaha!!! Love me some Jeff Goldblum!
I would rather eat leaves of a tree, than eat bugs that run free. (Heehee)
@meowler I've enjoyed quite a selection from Hotlix! Their seasoned crickets and maggots are actually really good!
Once I found a roasted maggot in my bag of roasted pistachios and I ate it on a dare. Easiest $1 I've made in my life.