Watch this [TED Talk by Marcel Dicke] to understand just a few of the many reasons why we should be eating insects.
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You back? Cool. Let's talk about that.
What are some of your initial reactions to the videos? Had you heard of entomophagy or considered eating insects prior to your time in this course? Were there any pieces of information that surprised you? Why might you still be skeptical?
As I have stated time and time again in our discussions, I feel that many of the problems with our agricultural industry are tied to a disconnect with food. In particular, we have lost many of the old, sustaining techniques and foods that our ancestors were able to thrive from. In their place, we have well-established monoculture that places a great deal of importance on efficiency at the cost of diversity and the health of the planet. I believe that entomophagy and the practice of micro animal husbandry are ways in which we can look to our past to push back against the tide of the current system while still aiming to progress as a society.
Slow, organic farming, and micro animal husbandry are just a few ways that farmers today are bringing back lost practices with the hope of benefiting humanity and the planet. What are some other ways that we can utilize the knowledge of our ancestors to this end? Do you feel like this is a viable alternative? How might we need to adapt these practices to accommodate the growing needs of the human population?
Head on over to Henry's post to discuss major issues facing the entomophagy movement as well as other innovative solutions.
I read an article before this class that described the up and coming popularity of cricket flour and the different ways people were using it in baked goods and other recipes. The article reviewed the dishes based on taste, texture, and overall utility of substituting cricket flour for grain flour and found that it worked pretty well as long as the crickets were finely ground up. While I would be game to try insect protein in this form or in the way that your company is producing it, I can't say with confidence that I could toss a whole caterpillar in my mouth or eat insects in their raw form. I have however tried fried crickets while on a trip to China and while the flavor was good, the texture was pretty hard to stomach.
ReplyDeleteI think the arguments presented in the video are very convincing and I agreed with the point that a big part of accepting insects as a part of our diets is primarily a change in mindset. I think disguising the insects in some way (like in a powder or flour) will be an essential part of getting Western consumers to incorporate them in their diets- at least until people get more accustomed to the idea. Whether we like it or not, this is likely the direction we are heading in as our planet simply cannot sustain our meat consumption habits as they currently stand.
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ReplyDeleteSo one question I have ties to the history that our TED speaker aligns for the adoption of agriculture and the rejection of insects... why then is is so widely accepted in other parts of the world, who undeniably practice their own methods of agriculture? And isn't it also possible that our ancestors rejected insects after associating them with an array of illnesses-sort of like the way rats are "banned" for similar reasons?
ReplyDeleteI'm not really arguing the main point here, just some of the side issues. I know that I am coming around to the idea after some basic explanations from you and other peers, and I imagine that many other americans would feel similarly about eating insects if they were given the right "pitch." Now more than ever I think Americans are reexamining our food systems and culture and I think that with more such education pieces, perhaps even beginning at a young age, one could win plenty of converts.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Abby that it would be great to have the bugs incorporated in flour, and baked into our daily meal. I think this is a great way to get the protein and not be, exactly, intimately connected with the bugs themselves. I also agree with what the video said about this being normalized. I know as a child it freaked me out to see raw meat, but now that I am used to it I have no problem cooking with it. I would also point out that although bugs are eaten in other cultures there not exactly loved. While I was in Thailand I went to a market where fried bugs were sold in bags. When my host mom she looked at them she shook her head, made a gagging face, and told me that it really grossed her out. Both my host sisters and the family friend, who was with us, said the same thing. I was surprised by this reaction because of how openly they were presented. Knowing this made me question what the TED talk was saying. Personally, I would love to know more about how bug farms would/could be managed and maintained in away that would fix the current system we have going. I would also love to know more about how much protein, say, crickets contain and the process of making cricket flour?!
Entomophagy is honestly something I never even thought of before this class, and I am glad it is being brought up. One thing I have been thinking about that I am surprised neither video adressed is the idea of pain. I believe Michael told me that crickets are a great thing to eat because they can't feel pain. A huge reason for eating insects is the idea of cruelty towards animals. The first video brought up lobsters, which made me think of David Foster Wallace's Consider the Lobster. In this piece, Wallace discusses many different things to consider about lobsters. One is what the video mentions; that lobsters used to be considered disgusting. Now they are one of the most valued meals. But it also got into the ethics surrounding lobsters. Lobsters are boiled alive, they feel excrutiating pain for a temporary culinary treat for us. With the idea of entomophagy, I think this presents a great solution to an alternative to eating animals (lobsters and otherwise) or at least reducing our intake and replacing it with insects that cannot feel pain. I still struggle to get past the ideas that have been ingrained in me that insects are gross-just as lobsters were-but because of this conversation I am definitely warming up to the idea!
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ReplyDeleteI remember Riley telling me months ago that he was starting a cricket farm in his basement and I thought he was joking. Since then, I think the idea of farming insects for our consumption has been incorporated into discussion here at K and seen as less "absurd" by our student body. (Thanks to you all!)
ReplyDeleteThe TED talk outlined some successful ways that folks have incorporated insects into business and production that I found to be interesting! It's funny how so many people would rather eat something when it's covered in chocolate (myself included). I agree with the previous comments that disguising insects will need to be the first steps in normalizing this practice in the U.S. My only concern is that people don't always like to look or think about eating a living organism in its entirety. I grew up watching my grandfather roasting whole pigs during family dinners in Venado Tuerto and was always told that I should be able to look at my food in the face. My mother grew up telling me stories that she would befriend her father’s chickens and weeks later was eating them. I never took these stories too seriously but they helped understand the life and death connected to meat consumption. A topic that Amy, Marie and I dived into a bit on the farm today.
Why not carry that mentality when eating insects? The video compared insects with meat production but I am uncertain of this direct comparison. Meat consumption is completely separated from the actual animal in the US. I am not trying to argue for people to "save the animals" I just think that eating whole insects might make the general population uncomfortable because they are eating a face and organs with it.
In the second video, the speaker spoke of bugs becoming a major component of processed goods. I think this would be a wonderful strategy to create high protein snacks in an affordable, accessible way. The companies certainly can’t hide the fact that the products contain bugs, but I don’t know if using it as a selling point could create more than a novelty product. This will sound a little pessimistic—but I think it will be quite some time before Americans eat insects that are shaped like insects.
ReplyDeleteI know the market is currently thriving the most in the western US, but I think insects could be a really interesting addition to local food cultures. Even though buying a share of a cow is expensive, hopefully a few kilograms of crickets each week could be more accessible to families.
Finally, I really enjoyed the twist on entomophagy that’s happening today. We’re appropriating the practice from our hunter-gatherer ancestors and making it stationary. I’m excited to see these farms become sustainable (both environmentally and economically!) parts of the farming landscape in the US.
Thanks for the interesting post, Michael. I was first introduced to the practice of eating insects in Thailand. I actually shared a few homemade salads topped with mealworms with Henry there. Like the TED contributors suggested, insects weren’t associated with disgust, but considered a delicacy (and sold at a price corresponding to this status). I agree with you, Henry, and those contributors that entomophagy has the potential to be an economically and environmentally sustainable solution (that should be paired with other, complimentary strategies) to climate change, food insecurity, and population growth. However, I noticed that the videos you shared seemed to frame how “other cultures” embrace insect-eating in a way that I see as airing on the side of problematic. While I understand that the intention of introducing the fact that insects are a part of many cuisines around the globe and were integral to human evolution is to emphasize that insects are edible and are a culinary option, there often seems to be an equation of insect-eating communities of today with those “of the past.” When these pieces of information are presented next to one another (rather than one or the other?), it seems stereotypes about “non-Westerns” as “backwards” or “undeveloped” are reinforced. And I think that beyond treating each other with respect through choosing and arranging our words and concepts sensitively, the internalized capitalism in me sees this as a potentially bad marketing strategy. If we have been socialized to hierarchize humans, considering both “non-Westerners” and peoples of the “past” to be inferior, wouldn’t many be turned-off to entomophagy framed in that way? Even if exoticism comes to the marketing rescue in this case—as people want to try something “different”—it seems that that might only sustain a fad (and I know that you Colony Farm-ers want to introduce insects as a staple food, not a “one-and-done” try). Of course, many “non-Westerners” DO eat bugs and our human ancestors as a whole DID eat bugs, but approaching the topic of entomophagy from this angle seems to run into a few landmines.
ReplyDeleteEntomophagy is something I had heard of but with which I have limited experience. It is something I associate primarily with countries in East Asia. This is in part because friends who travelled there would return with stories about outdoor markets filled with different bugs cooked in various ways. The other exposure I had to entomophagy was the scene in the Lion King where Timon and Pumbaa talk to Simba about their like for bugs and convince him to eat them too. They debate about whether slimy or crunchy bugs are better and then break out into song. In other words my exposure to Entomophagy is limited to say the least. I associated it through most of my life as something a part of different cultures and something distant from my own life. I did not realize how popular eating bugs was for humankind before the development of agricultural and that was something important I learned from the Ted Talk. The fact that eating bugs is also better on the environment and better for you than eating animal meat is also something I enjoyed learning about through the Ted Talk. What I found interesting though is the video discussed how insect eating is something that is popular in various East Asian countries, like China. However, the video also stated that the amount of meat being eaten in China is also growing rapidly. That raised concerns for me. What does it mean that in a country where eating bugs is a large part of the culture the rate of animal meat eating is increasing rapidly? It makes me wonder how much effect developing a bug eating culture will have on the worldwide meat consumption. I think it is possible for them to develop side by side. If people start eating bugs it does not necessarily mean that they will choose them over meat or eat less meat. Just something I am pondering.
ReplyDeleteI love trying new foods, so the idea of eating insects is really interesting to me. (Though I know Marcel is right--I'm sure I actually eat lot of bugs without knowing it, especially since most of my produce comes from my organic backyard!) I notice though, that eating insects like crickets and locusts is much more mentally palatable to me than larva like mealworms and caterpillars. I guess it's because I've squished a lot of caterpillars and their insides squishing out does repulse me a bit. So the idea of their insides squishing out in my mouth isn't very appetizing! But I'll try almost anything once.
ReplyDeleteFor me, though, even though I appreciate all of the information about how environmentally sound and healthy eating bugs can be, it ultimately comes down to taste. Are they delicious? Then I want to eat them. If they aren't delicious, then I'll pass. Which is why I think that if this movement is going to take off, it will need more chefs and other culinary-minded folks to work on recipes and cookbooks to teach people how to prepare and enjoy insects.
I'm remembering John talking about when he and his friends in college decided to learn to cook healthy, vegetarian meals. He said that most of their cooking was pretty awful-tasting at first, until they learned how to use the new ingredients. I can imagine that might be similar with insects--since we don't have a cultural background that teaches us how to prepare and eat them, we'll have a bit of a learning curve in that. But, ultimately, I don't think people will be primarily motivated to eat bugs because of health or environmental reasons--they'll eat them because they like them.
I have heard about entomophagy prior to taking this course. In some of the prefectures in Japan, people eat insects on regular basis. For example, locusts boiled in soy sauce and sugars are often eaten by people live in Northern Japan. Additionally, some people eat “cherry blossom worms,” fuzzy worms inhabit on cherry blossom trees. I personally have nothing against eating insects, and tried a chocolate protein bar made of crickets last year.
ReplyDeleteHowever, whenever I talk about the idea of eating insects to the people around me, their expressions turn into disgusts. I think people have stereotypes that insects are disgusting and dirty, even though in reality, insects are nutrient rich and contain a lot of minerals. One of the causes of this stereotype is, I believe, that children today don’t have much opportunity to go out and actually touch the living organisms. (Recently, Japanese notebook company featuring various insects on the cover page was accused of using “disgusting images” on children’s study materials…)
My first response to that video was how effective the animation was. It was a really open, colorful, light tactic in introducing facts and information so that none of it seemed preachy or overwhelming, but fun and inviting. Even as I was feeling this way, though, I still had my reservations: it is gross to eat insects in our culture, after all, and that’s going to be one of the hardest things to get over if this is ever to gain traction in popular food culture. It’s going to take a lot of open-mindedness and perhaps even incentives (free samples!) by the bug sellers to make the practice of intentionally eating what we have largely tried to eradicate from our food attractive. I have never heard of the term “entomophagy” (in fact, Word on my computer doesn’t recognize it), but I know that humans eat bugs, and have for a very long time. Throughout my life, every candy store I have been in has had chocolate-covered, salted, or caramelized crickets, ants, and caterpillars. It’s a novelty – a joke gift for your stocking on Christmas, really – but food? Until I went to Thailand, I didn’t see the potential. However, there is a huge market for locusts, especially in rural Thai markets; one of my host mothers made her living gathering, killing, preparing, and selling the pests from the village’s land. Even then, I didn’t try one. I did though, in that same homestay, try a bit of grilled tarantula, and it was pretty good (it sort of tasted like spicy beef)! Henry also brought cricket pesto to the farm a few weeks ago, and those are my only experiences eating bugs. That being said, I’m totally on board. What you said in the latter half of your post all rings true: farming and consuming insects just makes sense! You bring up so many questions that I wonder when thinking about this topic, and I don’t have the answers now, but you’ve pushed me to deeper thought and the desire to do my own research, so thank you!
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