“That’s gross!” Tara said after swallowing a spoonful of her Lobster Bisque. “No one eats shrimp tails! Normal people break them off and throw them out.”
“I eat them,” I replied, almost shamefully.
“Ugh. I forgot. You eat bugs too. That’s way worse then eating shrimp tails.” She faux-gagged and clutched her throat dramatically.
“What’s wrong with you anyway?” Tara asked. Tara was my friend but never truly understood me.
“Ok. Firstly, I don’t EAT bugs, I HAVE EATEN bugs. There’s a difference. And secondly…”
“Nope. No difference,” she chirped.
“And secondly, you’re eating Sea Bug Stew right now. Lobsters are just bugs of the ocean. And they’re huge!! Why is it you can eat a lobster but not a beetle?” Tara didn’t answer. She was too busy stirring her bisque half expecting a grotesque ocean termite to bob to the surface.
I was secretly praying one would.
Dinner?
So why don’t we eat bugs? I personally have eaten ants on a bet (I scored 50 cents), wax worms, superworms, a Deer Fly, and about a dozen accidental gnats.
Cultures all over the world eat insects. Some cultures in South America, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Australia have eaten insects for years and still eat insects today. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 1,400 species of insects and worms are eaten in almost 90 countries. And it really makes sense. They are packed with protein and “conventional” protein can be hard to come by in more impoverished areas. As a matter of fact National Geographic claims that cooked grasshopper contains up to 60% protein with just 6 percent fat versus the roughly 18% protein and 18% fat in hamburger. Also insect fatty acids, like fish fatty acids, are unsaturated and much healthier. And we all know fish is good for us. What about the environment? Well, it takes far less water and grass to raise a pound of grasshoppers than a pound of beef.
Yummmmmy! Do I smell Hopperburgers?!