If you can’t stand bugs, you’re gonna have to get out of the kitchen.

According to a new article by Will Wei for Business Insider, the world’s projected population growth will be 7.2 billion to 9.6 billion people by 2050. One possible solution to feeding all these billions of people: bugs. Yes, those creepy crawlies may be your next go-to meal.

bugs

Photo Taken by Nicole Feretich

The Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations claims insects are very nutritious; they’re full of essential proteins, fats and vitamins, meaning they’re almost as good for you as the meat you have now at family barbecues. They’re also the better option for environmentally conscious folk (which should be all of you!).

Many places around the world already eat these evidently delicious and nutritious critters. Specifically. 80% of nations consume 1,900 different insect species. Some startup businesses in California have begun preparing bug farming kits for the inevitable switch from bug swatting to ug steaming.

bugs

Photo Taken by Nicole Feretich

Sharon Oosthoek (for Society for Science) wrote about how beneficial bugs were to our primitive ancestors. They may have made their brains bigger, and may have also made them capable of both handling and completing complex tasks.

So… maybe, if we embrace this new diet, we can be smarter still? Sidenote: Does this possibly mean that bugs could replace Adderall in the fad studying habits?

bugs

Photo Taken by Nicole Feretich

If you really want to know (which I’m sure you do) which inhabitants of your backyard you should start eyeing, I have 5 bugs you should start eating listed below:

1. Grasshoppers (77% protein)
2. Palm Grubs (nature’s energy bar, which are 69% fat)
3. Mopane Worms (have between 31 to 77 mg of iron)
4. Meal Worms (basically beef!!)
5. Black Soldier Flies Maggots (A name so long you kind of forget it’s a bug! Kind of. They’re also pretty healthy being 42% protein and 35% fat.)

Don’t knock it ’til you try it. And who knows? Maybe they’ll taste like chicken.

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