Ants on a log, sautéed grasshopper tacos, scorpion curry, larva lollipops. Eating insects (and arachnids) is called entomophagy and it’s practiced by two billion people around the globe, “including North, Central, and South America; and Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Over 1,000 species of insects are known to be eaten in 80% of the world’s nations.”
Insects are also a healthy, sustainable food resource. From The Guardian:
Edible insects emit fewer gases, contain high-quality protein, vitamins and amino acids, and have a high food conversion rate, needing a quarter of the food intake of sheep, and half of pigs and chickens, to produce the same amount of protein. They emit less greenhouse gases and ammonia than cows and can be grown on organic waste.
If you’ve ever eaten bugs as a part of your meal, you might not think it’s Gross Science, but if those dishes sound unusual to you, watch Anna Rothschild cook and eat them as she makes The Case For Eating Bugs.
Related reading: The Bugs You Can Eat from The New York Times, and from National Geographic: 8 Popular Bugs to Try.
Next: Why eating insects makes sense.
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