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Why Eat Insects?
Most people don't realize that they are probably already eating a pound or two of insects each year. One cannot see them, since they have been ground up into tiny pieces in such items as fruit jams, peanut butter, spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce, frozen vegatables, etc. Actually, these insect parts make some food products more nutritious.
Edible insects can be consumed in their larval stage (e.g. grubs and caterpillars, including silkworms) or in their adult form (e.g. grasshoppers and ants). In
Thailand
, over 50 species of insects may be consumed throughout the year, and in
Ecuador
83 different species have been recorded as an important complement to other sources of animal protein.
In parts of
Asia
, the sago grub (Rhynchophorus ferrungineus) is considered an important food and in the western lowlands of Irian Jaya, the grub has become part of a complex cultural system. In Thailand and
Japan
, edible insects are sold as canned foods and in
China
, many insects are consumed for medicinal purposes. Overall, around 2000 edible insect species have been recorded around the world.
Entomophagy (the eating of insects) has yet to become a day-to-day activity for most people in the west in spite of the superior nutritional content of edible insects compared to other animals. Other cultures around the world have made insects a main ingredient in their diets, providing an excellent source of protein and nutrition. Insects are an inexpensive substitute for meat in many developing countries.
Most people are put off by the looks of insects but if this could be overcome then many people around the world would benefit from the many advantages of insect eating.
Below is a list comparing 100g of edible grasshoppers to 100g of beef, the results are very interesting.
100g Grasshoppers
100g Beef
14g protien
23g protien
5.5g Fat
22.2g fat
121 calories
228 calories
75.5mg calcium
25mg calcium
185.3 mg. of phosphorous
189 mg of phosphorous
9.5mg iron
1.5mg iron
Low feed to meat ratio
High feed to meat ratio
Simple butchery techniques
Gory complicated and usually cruel butchery techniques
Easy to breed and raise
difficult and expensive to breed and raise
require minimal space per pound of protein produced
require huge spaces per pound of protien produced
No animal activists object to the killing of edible insects
Animal activists object to the killing of mammals
The most wholesome source of protein on earth cannot be found in any of your local supermarket s, but it can be found right in your backyard! Insects have been a staple of almost every indigenous culture, not only because of their delicious flavor but also because they provide a more complete protein than soy, meat, or fish, and are concentrated sources of calcium, niacin, magnesium, potassium, the B-vitamins, and many other nutrients.
As the world heads for food shortages in the next century, insects can help meet humanity's growing nutritional needs.