It’s a standard gross-out fact passed around by middle school students: a peanut butter sandwich could easily have 10 insect parts in it and still pass government standards.
But how gross is that really? A story on Slate.com suggests that most people in the world would say not at all. And if we’re going to get a handle on the environmental implications of our eating habits, maybe we should join them.
Insects are a popular food in many parts of the world. In Oaxaca, Mexico, any tourist who considers themselves adventurous is duty-bound to try fried grasshoppers with lime and chile. And the Slate story notes that insects are a major part of the diet in Venezuela, Ghana and Thailand. In fact, it’s only the U.S. and Europe that have prejudices against eating bugs.
The argument for bug-eating involves a simple trade-off of resources for nutrition. Many insects are high in protein and minerals, and they use a fraction of the resources that cows and pigs do. Ten grams of feed produces one gram of beef, three grams of pork or nine grams of “insect meat.” And many edible insects can live on paper or industrial waste, so they don’t compete with people for food crops.
Western nations are beginning to wake up to the notion of eating ants and mealworms. The European Union is giving €3 million to countries that promote cooking insects, and at least one Dutch chain store sells worms and locusts. Some American chefs are starting to embrace the idea too.
Meanwhile, Chicago startup Entom Foods is approaching the subject with a similar angle to Marlow Foods, the company that gave us fungus served up in a relatively appealing form as chicken-flavored Quorn. Entom is working on a technique to de-shell insects and transform them into cutlets.
Photo credit: manbartlett/Flickr