Insect Foodies Buggin' Me Again

Update--April 2016:

Will Consumers Step Up to the Plate? This writer says insects provide protein that comes not only with enormously positive environmental consequences but off-the-charts health benefits as well.

December 2015: Entomophagy 
According to this reporter, these restaurants are making insects taste delicious.

Feb. 2015:  Camren Brantley-Rios, a student at Auburn University, focused on entomophagy (the eating of insects) for a month. As he said, "For breakfast I had an omelette with avocado and mealworms. And then for lunch I'm going to have crickets and rice. And then for dinner, I'm going to have waxworm tacos."

** I'm open-minded about this global push to eat insects--I sampled a grilled witchetty grub in Australia, stir-fried grasshoppers in Japan, and probably flies that stuck to my Tootsie Roll Pop when I was a kid in bib overalls hanging out near the feedlot on the farm.

But on most occasions, I'm not looking for a restaurant that offers scorpion on toast, and I haven't yet bought in with the Texas group that is creating a line of nutritious, environmentally sustainable cricket protein bars. Jiminy Cricket is still a cute little cartoon character to me.

So, for those ready to look into the edible insect world, here are a few links that might help:

Palm weevils are relatively unassuming, perhaps even slightly creepy to the insect-adverse. But some say they are the solution to many of the ills facing the developing world. Check here to see if you agree that the humble palm weevil could potentially eradicate world hunger and malnutrition.
 

In case you’ve tried all the suggestions in your current edition, they’ve now released the revised edition of 40 Ways to Cook Crickets, Grasshoppers, Ants, Water Bugs, Spiders, Centipedes, and Their Kin.   

The media is crawling with reports about the UN recommendation that we all consider eating insects. Apparently, two billion people already do--and that doesn't count those of us who involuntarily suck in bugs while biking on warm summer days. Edible insects are being promoted as a low-fat, high-protein food that comes with appetizing side benefits: Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and livestock pollution, creating jobs in developing countries, and feeding hungry people around the world. 

Bon appétit---in an entomological sense.

by dan gogerty  (top photo from travelingboy.com, bottom pic from youtube.com)