Entomophagy, the eating of insects and other arthropods, is
practiced throughout the world and has been since before recorded
history began, back when we were still hunter-gatherers. Even Aristotle
in the fourth century BC wrote in 'Historia Animalia' about his
obsession with hunting for cicadas, describing the correct time to
harvest them from the ground and which ones tasted best. A couple of
centuries later, Pliny wrote in 'Historia Naturalis' about the Roman
taste for beetle larvae and how they used to raise them on a diet of
flour and wine.
Edible insects worldwide
As most of us know, the practice has been preserved to this day in many parts of the world. The Aboriginals of Australia and the Saan Bushmen of Southern Africa are among many indigenous people that still count insects as part of their diets. However, it is not just indigenous people who make meals out of insects and other bugs. In fact it is only in the West where the taste for them has recently been lost. Throughout Southeast Asia, China, India and Brazil (to name a few), you can walk down almost any street, even in the cities, and find a range of fried or roasted bugs on display. It just so happens that these regions account for the vast majority of the world's population. In fact, over 80% of the world's nations are known to eat insects. Europe and the US are very much in the minority, and there really is no logical reason for it besides the fact that we are no longer accustomed to it.
Nutritional Content
Among one of the many benefits of entomophagy is the nutritional advantage. Insects are very high in protein and most are relatively low in fat. By dry weight, beef contains 50 grams of protein per 100, whereas crickets contain 65 grams and grasshoppers even more so. Most are also full of essential nutrients such as iron, thiamine and niacin, all of which can be found in your average humble caterpillar.
Environmental Impact
As far as other benefits over the more familiar output of the cattle industry are concerned, there are many and they are far-reaching. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations released a publication in 2013 titled "Edible insects - Future prospects for food and feed security". Their primary foci were the environmental comparisons between the two food sources. For example, insects on average require ten times less plant matter than do cattle to produce the same amount of meat, meaning that they are tenfold more efficient at converting nutrients into biomass. Taking into consideration how much more quickly and with what greater magnitude insects reproduce, this nutrient conversion efficiency is thought to be closer to twenty times greater than that of cattle.
The same is true for their use of water. Grasshoppers gain most of their water from the food they eat, hence the production of 150 grams of grasshopper biomass requires considerably less water than the three thousand litres needed to produce the same weight of beef.
With the ever-rising global human population, any alternative to traditional livestock farming, which has been shown to inherently exacerbate the effects of deforestation, water pollution and climate change, should at least be explored further. To quote Stefan Gates, a food writer and presenter for the BBC:
Edible insects worldwide
As most of us know, the practice has been preserved to this day in many parts of the world. The Aboriginals of Australia and the Saan Bushmen of Southern Africa are among many indigenous people that still count insects as part of their diets. However, it is not just indigenous people who make meals out of insects and other bugs. In fact it is only in the West where the taste for them has recently been lost. Throughout Southeast Asia, China, India and Brazil (to name a few), you can walk down almost any street, even in the cities, and find a range of fried or roasted bugs on display. It just so happens that these regions account for the vast majority of the world's population. In fact, over 80% of the world's nations are known to eat insects. Europe and the US are very much in the minority, and there really is no logical reason for it besides the fact that we are no longer accustomed to it.
Nutritional Content
Among one of the many benefits of entomophagy is the nutritional advantage. Insects are very high in protein and most are relatively low in fat. By dry weight, beef contains 50 grams of protein per 100, whereas crickets contain 65 grams and grasshoppers even more so. Most are also full of essential nutrients such as iron, thiamine and niacin, all of which can be found in your average humble caterpillar.
Environmental Impact
As far as other benefits over the more familiar output of the cattle industry are concerned, there are many and they are far-reaching. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations released a publication in 2013 titled "Edible insects - Future prospects for food and feed security". Their primary foci were the environmental comparisons between the two food sources. For example, insects on average require ten times less plant matter than do cattle to produce the same amount of meat, meaning that they are tenfold more efficient at converting nutrients into biomass. Taking into consideration how much more quickly and with what greater magnitude insects reproduce, this nutrient conversion efficiency is thought to be closer to twenty times greater than that of cattle.
The same is true for their use of water. Grasshoppers gain most of their water from the food they eat, hence the production of 150 grams of grasshopper biomass requires considerably less water than the three thousand litres needed to produce the same weight of beef.
With the ever-rising global human population, any alternative to traditional livestock farming, which has been shown to inherently exacerbate the effects of deforestation, water pollution and climate change, should at least be explored further. To quote Stefan Gates, a food writer and presenter for the BBC:
"Will we one day look back on the early 21st century as a time when the world was bursting with food, but we just didn't appreciate it?"
Matthew W. Anderson is a Systems Biologist and Biochemist with a
healthy passion for spreading the message behind how eating insects can
be highly nutritional, environmentally-friendly, and more often than
not, delicious!
By
Matthew W. Andersonhttp://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matthew_W._Anderson