Will We All Be Eating Insects Soon ?
Have you heard of ‘Entomophagy‘.
Entomophagy is the human consumption of insects and arachnids as food. This includes insect eggs, larvae, pupae, and mature adults.
Before you say disgusting, read these facts :
Two billion people worldwide eat insects
There are more than 1,900 edible insect species on Earth
Insects are packed with protein, fiber, good fats, and vital minerals
According to Anthropologist Julie Lesnik the ingestion of insects could promote brain growth
Yellow jacket wasp larvae are popular in Japan, Cicadas are treasured in Malawi, and Weaver ants are devoured in Thailand.
Why there is a need to eat INSECTS
The world population is steadily growing, with each year, adding up another 70 million people. If growth continues this way, by 2050 the population would reach a whopping 9 billion. Feeding all these hungry mouths is going to be a debilitating task and agriculture, livestock and ocean products would not be able to meet the needs. So next option available is to include INSECTS into diet. U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization has been urging all nations to encourage Insect diet to tide over food shortage.
Truth is ….You have been eating Insects, though unknowingly
It is estimated that we eat, on average, 140,000 ‘bug bits’ every year
You might be surprised to find out that you have been eating insects as part of your regular meal.
- Canned fruit juices are allowed up to 1 maggot per 250 ml
- Curry powder is allowed up to 100 insect fragments per 25 grams
- Chopped dates are allowed up to 10 whole dead insects
What’s so good about insects?
There are several good reasons that make Insects future food choice
- Insects are extremely plentiful and are found in nearly all environments
- Insects are very efficient at converting feed into protein
- Insects have a low risk of transferring diseases to humans, unlike pork and poultry
- They are High in nutrients such as calcium, iron, B vitamins, selenium and zinc
- Insects are rich in essential amino acids and omega-3 fatty acids
- To grow Insects we require significantly less land and water
- Insects produces only a fraction of greenhouse gases such as methane and ammonia when compared with other livestock
- Gathering and farming insects can offer employment and cash income, either at the household level or in larger, industrial-scale operations
Globally, the most commonly consumed insects are beetles , caterpillars and bees, wasps and ants. Following these are grasshoppers, locusts and crickets, cicadas, leafhoppers, planthoppers, scale insects and true bugs, termites and dragonflies.
Countries that eat Insects
- People from China snack on a wide variety of insects, from water bugs boiled, roasted bee larvae to fried silkworm moth larvae
- Fried bugs are commonly served with beer in Thailand
- In Mexico one could find Chocolate-covered locusts and candy-covered worms. Worms even make their way into a popular type of Oaxacan alcohol called mezcal.
- In Brazil, queen ants, are a favorite snack
Omg… Don’t know weather to say eww or wow.. :)… This was really something to add to my knowledge.. Didn’t know so many of these facts
what a beautiful way of eradicating insects, I am sure f humans begin consuming them they would be produced in large scale though.
Insect farming is slowly growing into an industry
Firstly it would be difficult for many to eat insects. Specially in india its very difficult. Personally i cant eat. Should find the other way for this problem. Thanks for sharing this unknowing fact
Reading your headline I was thinking we already consume them without our knowledge.. and viola you’ve written about the same thing.
I am not sure how to react.. Are we really going to consume insects in future 🙁
Not sure, but probably people who are willing to try can experiment
What a unique post. I have never read anything about entomophagy before. This certainly adds to my knowledge.
Thank you Charu
Yeah!! I know many people eat insects. But being a vegetarian it is a NO for me.
I love watching man vs wild… I think we all r going to follow bear grylls soon
I saw a man eating inscts on discovery. Well I am a pure Vegetarian so I just felt ewwww. I liked reading the post 🙂
it might come as a surprise to may people or may be disgust but commenting on people diet’s is something i really don’t like there is a food chain and we are omnivorous so its perfectly ok if people eat meat of any kind….I grew up in north east and it is very common there there are few insects that are consumed there and thanks for sharing the facts about various food products which already have insects it will make people less of judgemental with others food habit when they know they are consuming themselves
Probably we are not used to seeing insects served on platter, thats why we feel it as odd
Even if they are healthy, I can’t imagine myself eating it. .
I simply am in love with the way you guys come up with interesting posts and facts which one would have never heard about. Well, with regards to this posts I am really not sure if I will die of starvation since insects would be the lasts thing that will go in my mouth. Having said that I realize the larger problem that you have tried to showcase via this post. We need to be conscious of the resources we have to avoid facing such situations in future.
Thank you Rakhi for your inspiring words. Unless we use our resources wisely, we will land into deep trouble. There will be shortage of food, air and water
Wow! Didn’t know anything about it. We might be eating insects but wont eat them knowingly. Informative article.
Thank you for stopping by
I don’t know what to say being a veggie. The article is surely informative.
Omg never …I can’t eat. Yes I know we are consuming some without knowledge but . But they are hidden like in curd, khamir, curry powder etc. Even they are healthy for us. But directly omg never
Good point about resources. I am safe as a vegetarian, but the state of things is truly worrisome!
Fun post and very interesting. Not sure I would like it as a major part of my diet
very informative post. The title made me say disgusting but i literally laughed when you wrote – “before you call it disgusting …” lol! Lovely read but cringe worthy too. Im never buying that crazy juice agian
Wow so that means I have already eaten a good share of insects :Chocolate covered insects ?
Man,this is going to be hard for me:-( I’m already counting the dates I have eaten:(
Not sure whether we should avoid it completely as it brings in lot of good proteins
Ye… Even my husband had once told. Me once about this… Its so true..
Oh my… I didn’t know about this… I will never imagine myself eating insects.. Ewww… But the post is really informative…
I learned a lot from this post and had read something similar a few months ago aout this. If I didnt know, oh well, but to intentionally do it, I doubt I could.
I think What ever we are accustomed to we will do. So eatting insects for the next couple of generations may be the norm in the U.S. ps its great to read a different kind of blog. I enjoyed it.
Thank you Ebony
This is SO cool! Definitely not something you normally find in a Mommy Blog niche. Things tend to be boring or vapid but this was so well researched and absolutely FASCINATING information! I love learning something new every day. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for your kind words. Happy to know that you liked my post
I tried different types of food and tried one or two types of insects I love to experiment with food. But insects are not that much popular in our country … Anyway very good article.
This was a great post and really gives you something to think about. I have eaten a few insects, some on purpose, some not so! I can see them becoming more popular in the future as part of the worlds diet.
Thank you Jenny that you liked my post
Eww, I hope not!!