Will We All Be Eating Insects Soon ?

Insect as food
Insects are packed with protein, fiber, good fats, and vital minerals

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.

Insects are rich in essential amino acids and omega-3 fatty acids : Image

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.

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

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38 Responses

  1. momsmethods says:

    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

  2. what a beautiful way of eradicating insects, I am sure f humans begin consuming them they would be produced in large scale though.

  3. 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

  4. Sangeeta says:

    Reading your headline I was thinking we already consume them without our knowledge.. and viola you’ve written about the same thing.

  5. I am not sure how to react.. Are we really going to consume insects in future 🙁

  6. What a unique post. I have never read anything about entomophagy before. This certainly adds to my knowledge.

  7. Yeah!! I know many people eat insects. But being a vegetarian it is a NO for me.

  8. Mrinal says:

    I love watching man vs wild… I think we all r going to follow bear grylls soon

  9. Jiya B says:

    I saw a man eating inscts on discovery. Well I am a pure Vegetarian so I just felt ewwww. I liked reading the post 🙂

  10. 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

  11. beautyissh says:

    Even if they are healthy, I can’t imagine myself eating it. .

  12. Rakhi Parsai says:

    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.

    • PanagiaAdmin says:

      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

  13. Wow! Didn’t know anything about it. We might be eating insects but wont eat them knowingly. Informative article.

  14. mahekg says:

    I don’t know what to say being a veggie. The article is surely informative.

  15. Rashmi Singh says:

    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

  16. Good point about resources. I am safe as a vegetarian, but the state of things is truly worrisome!

  17. Fun post and very interesting. Not sure I would like it as a major part of my diet

  18. Mummasaurus says:

    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

  19. Zainab says:

    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:(

  20. Ye… Even my husband had once told. Me once about this… Its so true..

  21. Snigdha says:

    Oh my… I didn’t know about this… I will never imagine myself eating insects.. Ewww… But the post is really informative…

  22. 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.

  23. Ebony Hinton says:

    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.

  24. abrightneighborhood2017 says:

    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!

  25. anamika says:

    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.

  26. Jenni Petrey says:

    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.

  27. Emily says:

    Eww, I hope not!!

  1. November 3, 2020

    […] Edible insect: Insect used as food […]

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