Eating insects isn’t anything new; around 2 billion people in the world are eating them daily while most North Americans are running the other way. But as it turns out, these little critters could be the big change we need for a better future. A 200 page report from the UN claims eating insects to be the solution to world hunger, food shortages, and food security. If that doesn’t convince you enough already, consider these bug facts:
1. Insects are loaded with nutrients and deliver them in comparable amounts to traditional meat protein sources.
100 grams of caterpillars offers more protein than 100 grams of steak. This chart can help you compare the nutritional values of different insects to beef and fish.
http://www.ent.iastate.edu/misc/insectnutrition.html
2. Insects take very little compared to what they give.
Crickets can offer the same amount of protein as beef does while requiring 12x less the amount of food cattle requires.
3. We could be eating bugs off of plants rather than be using pesticides.
Fewer pesticides = healthier plants
More bugs = healthier people
4. Oh yeah, and they taste good.
Bet you didn’t know ant eggs have a pleasant “buttery and nutty” taste or that larvae taste like bacon.
So far it looks like entomophagy (eating insects) is in our future, so get ahead of the game and educate yourself on the multitude of edible insects out there and put some insect recipes in your repertoire for down the road. Until then, these cricket protein bars made with cricket flour might be an easier place to start.