Just like bacon, chicken and shrimp BUT.. NOT REALLY

If someone should ask me “Hey, do you want to try this delicious fried grasshopper? It’s full of proteins that can help you to be healthier!” I would kindly answer “No.” .

The culture of eating bugsThis food culture’s name is Entomophagy and is quite popular in more than 80% of the world, in particular in Africa, South America, Asia and Australia. Today eating these bugs is very frowned upon in Europe and North America, but some companies are trying to introduce them also in western diets, even if some religions (like Judaism) forbid it, for example because bugs aren’t considered kosher (a must for the Jewish dietary laws).

The Food and Agriculture Organization has registered more than 1900 edible insects in the world and suggests entomophagy as a possible solution to environmental degradation caused by livestock production. The species include 235 butterflies and moths, 344 beetles, 313 ants, bees and wasps, 239 grasshoppers, crickets and cockroaches, 39 termites, and 20 dragonflies, as well as cicadas.

Bugs as food: an established practice

As aforementioned, there are some countries in which eating food is an established habit, with more than a decade long tradition. Traditionally several ethnic groups in Indonesia are known to consume insects. In Java and Kalimantan, grasshoppers and crickets are usually lightly battered and deep fried in palm oil as crispy kripik or rempeyeksnack. In Banyuwangi, East Java, there is a specialty botok called botok tawon (honeybee botok), which consists in beehives with bee larvae, being seasoned in spices and shredded coconut, wrapped inside a banana leaf package and steamed. Also traditional Thai markets often have stalls serving deep-fried grasshoppers, bee larvae, silkworms, ant eggs, crickets and termites. These are also ingredients used a lot in places such as Hidalgo (Mexico), which popularity caused an important decrease in the populations of these species.

Advantages of eating bugs

We’re going to repeat it , just to be clear: 80% of the world’s cultures eat insects! It’s seems weird, but sometimes the only problem with that is that we have some kind of “prejudices”...In fact, heath-wise, there are a lot of reasons to eat them. For example,insects are great and inexpensive sources of protein, and there are researches that believe insects may be the food of the future. Also, it sounds weird and you may not believe that, but many insects are tasty: in fact, as we’ll see later on some larvae taste like bacon and who doesn't like bacon? Eating bugs can also have a positive impact on the environment, it is proved that it takes less water to raise them. So, our advice is to give bugs a try, and don’t be afraid, they are also highly nutritious!

Disadvatages of eating bugs

Ok, eating bugs may look like a good thing...but there is also the other side of the coin! We all agree that many of them look really disgusting, but the major problem is that most of the time they live in what are considered unsanitary places, that can cause people to feel sick and they may also be poisonous (quite and important element to consider, in our humble opinion)! In all seriousness, we need to be careful though, for some scientists believe that switching to a bug diet will only be a change from one destructive food system to another, delaying a problem that will eventually manifest itself either way. Therefore, is thinking about eating bugs just a palliative solution?

Reviews

But let’s see what the people who actually tried it thought about it.

Since cans of assorted edible bugs are sold on Amazon.com, we thought of looking also to some of the reviews left by the customers, collecting the most “interesting” ones.

So according to a certain S.Eggie, they taste like unsalted pumpkin seeds, according to others grasshoppers taste like chicken and crickets taste like a nutty shrimp. Now, we haven’t tried them still, but we’re quite curious: if you have, leave a comment below and let us know! We promise we won’t judge!

To know more about weird diets and eating habits, look up our partners, The Brave Tasters, and check out their latest article!