{"id":13275,"date":"2022-10-19T16:27:14","date_gmt":"2022-10-19T21:27:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/?p=13275"},"modified":"2022-10-19T16:27:14","modified_gmt":"2022-10-19T21:27:14","slug":"entomophagy-101-redux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/field-station\/bug-of-the-week\/entomophagy-101-redux\/","title":{"rendered":"Entomophagy 101 Redux"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note: All links leave to external sites.<\/small><\/p>\n

Howdy BugFans,<\/p>\n

Instead of slaving over a hot computer, the BugLady has been hanging out on the hawk tower. The Red-tails were blowing past sideways on Tuesday. Here\u2019s a rerun from eight years ago, with a few new words.<\/p>\n

The BugLady\u2019s first experience with entomology (well, except for the fresh-from-the-garden earthworms she consumed when she was 8) (they do not taste like chicken) came when someone gifted her family with a little box of chocolate-covered insects from a novelty store. No one ever opened it. Her first serious exposure to the idea of eating bugs came when she spent a week at the Audubon Camp in Maine. One of the camp\u2019s teachers mentioned that he had eaten ants, and while the small red ones were too spicy for him and the large black ones were too bland, the species that are red at one end and black at the other were, like the Baby Bear\u2019s bed, just right. The BugLady didn\u2019t hear the term \u201centomophagy<\/em>\u201d until at least three decades later.<\/p>\n

\u201cEntomophagy\u201d simply refers to the use of insects by humans as food (notwithstanding the fact that an \u201cextract\u201d of a scale insect called the cochineal bug provides a natural red dye called \u201cred dye E120\u201d or \u201ccarmine\u201d that is widely used in food products; and that the FDA standards for food purity allow five fly eggs or one maggot per can of fruit juice and 400 insect parts per 0.22 cup of ground cinnamon). Used broadly, the term includes spiders and millipedes, but it does not include invertebrates like crayfish that are already part of our cuisine. Eggs, larvae, pupae and adults may be used, depending on the species. Some insects are eaten in recognizable form, but if staring into your food\u2019s compound eyes isn\u2019t your cup of tea, some insects are ground into \u201cflour.\u201d<\/p>\n

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There are several large issues around entomophagy.<\/p>\n

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The first is that producing conventional protein on the hoof is very expensive ecologically. Americans are expected to consume more than 220 pounds of meat per capita in 2022, and with about 5% of the world\u2019s population, we eat 15% of the meat. Insect farming uses only a small fraction of the resources (including land) required to raise the more charismatic herbivores<\/a>\u00a0(remember, rainforests are cut down so that the world can have hamburgers), and it contributes little to water and atmospheric pollution. In a 2008 New York Times<\/em> article, author Sam Nejame contends that insect (\u201cmini-livestock\u201d) farming and consumption is far more sustainable in a growing world than traditional meat-ranching, and that it offers \u201cfood security.\u201d He quotes an entomophagy enthusiast who says \u201c\u2018Insects can feed the world. Cows and pigs are the SUVs; bugs are the bicycles.<\/em>\u2019\u201d The Netherlands leads the Continent in experimenting with these unfamiliar forms of protein; Dutch entomologist Marcel Dicke says, \u201cGive a cow 10 pounds of feed and you get 1 pound of cow. Give crickets 10 pounds of feed and you get 9 pounds of cricket.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What\u2019s a confirmed carnivore to do?<\/p>\n

The second issue revolves to a large extent around our Western (US, Canadian, and European) cultural aversions (a.k.a \u201cthe \u2018ick\u2019 factor\u201d). Eating insects turns up as an ultimate challenge on those contemporary social yardsticks, TV reality shows. But insect-shunning is not a global phenomenon. The BugLady once watched a PBS show that showed Giant water bugs in oriental markets<\/a>, dipped in batter and deep fried, their crispy legs sticking out below.<\/p>\n

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What kinds of critters are we talking about, anyway? \u201cWikipedia<\/em>\u201d says that well over 1,000 species of insects are consumed across 80% of countries worldwide. Grasshoppers, crickets and mealworms (a type of beetle larva) may be the most universal insect foods<\/a>, followed (in no particular order) by other beetle grubs, cicadas, ants, tarantulas, bee and wasp larvae, cockroaches, termites, caterpillars, cocoons of silkworms, scorpions (we are reminded not to overcook these), giant water bugs, the eggs of water boatmen and backswimmers, and even dragonflies (though many dragonflies carry internal parasites).<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Nutritional value is another concern, but Sam Nejame assures us that \u201cBugs compare favorably to traditional livestock in available protein and fatty acids; for some vitamins and minerals, they better them by a wide margin.<\/em>\u201d Overall, insects are protein-packed, high in fiber and low in fats \u2013 the perfect food. It is recognized, however, that as they become more popular, some \u201cbest practices\u201d will be needed in order to standardize collection, preparation and storage to ensure their wholesomeness. \u201cFree range\u201d insects may be exposed to pesticides. A few people may have allergies.<\/p>\n

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After that, the only question is \u201cHow are you going to prepare them?\u201d Here is a potpourri from the BugLady\u2019s research:<\/p>\n