Eating Bugs! Does the idea make your skin crawl? Does it make your blood curdle? Is it offensive, repulsive, sickening? Still, you have to face it. The Food and Agricultural Organisation of the UN, (FAO) is suggesting, if not urging the world population to do just that. The International Congress on Forests for Food, Security and Nutrition has released a UN publication: “Edible Insects”, endorsing the contribution of insects to food security, and their many potential new uses of insects for human consumption. Are you nauseated already? This however, is a relevant issue of the 21st century, due to the rising cost of animal protein. The increasing demand for protein has advanced the idea of insects to replace the traditional protein, so necessary for a healthy life. You may not relish the idea, but humans have been consuming insects since the beginning of time. Before humans invented tools to hunt and farm, insects represented a major part of their diet. Yes, man is also an insectivore. How do we know that? The role of ‘entomophagy',(the practice of eating insects), regarding evolutionary food consumption is well documented. Analysing coprolites from caves in the US and Mexico found ants, beetles, larvae, lice, ticks and mites. Cave paintings in Altamira, Spain dated about 30,000 to 9000 BC, depict the collection of edible insects and wild bee nests, clear evidence of an ‘entomophagous' society. Cocoons with large holes suggesting the pupae were eaten were also discovered among ruins in China. But you may argue that we have evolved and refined our diets and our palettes. Wrong! Insects continue to be eaten to this day in 80 per cent of the world's nations like Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Southern Africa, Australia and Asia. If you have not quite digested the idea of eating insects, like most of the Western world, how come you can savour frog legs and garden snails! By the way, you may have already eaten insects, insect parts or insect flour used in protein bars, chocolate dipped and candy-coated worms, cricket cookies, cricket crackers, peanut butter, baked goods and Peruvian chocolates. If you live in Vancouver, Canada, you know that certain restaurants offer cricket-based items and may have enjoyed a slice of pizza sprinkled with whole roasted crickets. Stop shuddering! How would you know unless you try? Our aversion is more psychological. It is a matter of perception. Each population perceives edibles differently, as it is in all else! The UN is trumpeting crickets as the food of the future! Why not? It is an edible, eco-friendly solution to a certain protein shortage, which livestock can no longer provide. It is paving the way for crickets to replace beef. By 2050 the world population will have reached 9 million. Scientists assume there will be a severe shortage of animal protein. The only solution — is crickets! Whether or not you are adventurous or have a sophisticated palette, insect consumption is in our future, so why not get used to it and explore the tastiest, healthiest and most nutritious of these mealy bugs. You have a wide range to pick from, including 235 types of butterflies and moths, 239 species of grasshoppers, crickets and cockroaches, 39 species of termites, cicadas and dragonflies. Are you shuddering? Keep in mind that these toothsome morsels are heartily consumed in 4 continents. Several ANT species are edible and have been for centuries. The leaf-cutter ant tastes like pistachios and the lemon-ant, naturally tastes like lemon. Dragonflies are chunky viands, eaten regularly in China and Indonesia. Bees' larvae are prized delicacies, which is understandable when you consider their diet — royal jelly, pollen and honey. Any human would relish such richness. How about cockroaches? No, no, not that sickening pest that mortifies you in your kitchen. The edible cockroaches are fed fresh fruit and vegetables, how can we object to that? They are clean and tasty and can be toasted, fried, sautéed or boiled. If you have a craving for chicken, Madagascar hissing roaches are a perfect substitute. A high protein breakfast loaded with calcium is not in a bowl of cereal but in a bowl of fatty-acid pattern of house-fly pupae. Grasshoppers are also high in protein and calcium. Sprinkle with lemon juice and chile powder. If you are not already nauseous, you will be interested to learn that there is considerable demand for crickets and the future looks bright. The benefits of bug-eating are multifold! 100 grams of cricket contain 121 calories, 12.9 gm of protein, 75.8 gm of iron and only 5 gm of carbohydrates. A nice steaming bowl of termites contains no carbohydrates. Caterpillars are best! 100 gm contain 28 gm of protein as well as iron, thiamine and niacin. Protein seekers rejoice! There are 200 thousand million bugs to each human on this planet, so there is ample protein for generations to come. If these items are not available on the shelves of your supermarket, you can e-mail for them from a variety of suppliers. Now that you have the audacity to pick a few crickets or worms, munch, crunch and even swallow them, you are now ready for a scorpion or two. Keep in mind that in great or less measure you are contributing to the future food supply and the UN is grateful. If however you cannot partake of those delicacies, then stick to being a vegetarian, with no guilt attached. “This was a good dinner enough, to be sure, but it was not a dinner to ask a man to.” Samuel Johnson (1709-1780)
