Why Not Eat Insects?

[firebreather]

I will try most things. Nothing is particulary off limits. At christmas my family bought me some locust and other little beasties as a joke because im always saying ill eat anything.
They are fans of i'm a celebrity get me out of here. So to test what i was saying about the bush tucker trials, when that annoying program is on ( they watch ray with me so i have to watch their junk). They set up a bush tucker trial and sat me down in front of several dishes and dared me to eat them. I was in my element and tucked in straight away. loved all the stuff. A couple of them later tried a few of the beasties and enjoyed them but would not eat all. Good fun and more power to your elbow if you know how to forage ,prepare and cook the little beasties. Its something i need to learn more about .

 

[Jodie]

Funny how cultural attitudes to food vary, isn't it? Plenty of people who couldn't stomach the thought of eating terrestrial arthropods (insects) are only too happy to tuck into marine arthropods (shrimp, lobster, etc).

I avoid all arthropods* and seafood in general, but if it was a choice between
living and dying I'd rethink this strategy pretty quickly! Not sure how much I
could get down without gagging though

*adult or larval forms ;-)

We're on safe ground with cheese though, which is also a fairly disgusting
concept when you think about it!

 

[grebo247365]

Cheese? what about honey, thats just fly spit innit! seriously though if its available and ethical to eat we should try it, I would rather have a plate of signal crays and garden snails over a tasty bit of cod as they are everywhere and not being harvested to extermination.

 

[Jodie]

Yes, I wish I had your attitude. Unfortunately I am weak-stomached

 

[fredcraft]

I'd like to try eating insects that are well prepared in a meal. Personnaly, the picture i saw in the BCUK gallery about an ant eggs soup made me drool

There is a place in Montreal called the Insectarium and it was founded by one of the world most famous self-taught entomologist, Georges Brassard (amazing guy that demistify our fears and prejudices about those creatures). Every year, with the cooperation of, also famous, exotic cooks, they prepare nemerous insect based dishes.

A fun fact about those edible insects available by breeders for sale (I'm not sure if it's the way we call them) is that they are bred in environments much cleaner than the average cattle farm where our steaks come from.

So I guess it's only a matter of culture and education that makes us european/north american repulsed by insects as a kind of food. For my part, I'd be more than willing to try one those juicy looking chocolate-dipped crickets

Cheers !