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QUESTION Eating Insects Could Be the Future of Culinary Innovation - Reason.com

I've eaten insects before. I've had deep-fried crickets, salted witth garlic and a dipping sauce. They were tasty. Chocolate-covered roasted ants weren't bad, either. And some sort of mealie worm , which I didn't really care for. The texture was off-putting.

BookDeath 8 Mar 18
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When looking at the teeth of animals in regard to what they eat, meat-eathers have jagged meat-incising teeth. Herbavoirs have large flat teeth for grinding plants. Insect eaters, on the other hand, had smallish (smaller than herbavoirs), grinding teeth. We, seem to have the kind of teeth that insectavoirs have, rather than those of meat or plant eaters. This suggests to me that we (humans) evolved to be the omnivoirs we are, with a bent to eathing various inscects that we encounter...likely centering on termites and and ants just as do chimpanzees.

Humans (like our nearest cousins, chimps/bonobos) have an differentiated tooth row. This means we evolved as omnivores. Even those cousins (chimps, bonobos) eat meat on occasion. They've been observed in the wild, killing a monkey and offering it up to their group because meat means power. (I conduct primate tours at the zoo, usually for college anthropology students. Occasionally, I get a rabid vegan who will argue that we're not ''meant'' to eat meat. Sorry. WRONG. We may not have a tiger's canines, but we do have them.)

The earliest primates we've found were insectivores, and many prosimians and monkeys still are. But even most herbivores regularly grind up and eat insects with their plant diet, and can get horrible nutritional deficiencies if the insects are removed. They found that out in zoos over a century ago.

@Donotbelieve They contain Formic Acid...acids generally have a "sour" taste.

@Donotbelieve Yes, could be. That pilot who was shot down around Serbia during the Yugoslavian break-up told about eating ants. He mentioned that they had a sour taste...was prepared to eat them due to Air Crew Survival training he received in the Air Force.

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I once ate a roach when a cop was behind me. It wasn't that bad.

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I've looked at the arguments, for and against..scientically high protein comes from insects..if they were made into a burger or similar nobody would probably know the difference(with added flavors/texture)....environmental impact could be smaller(though I think I've seen arguments against this for mass production). I'd say homegrown insect eating could be adventageous.Remember millions of people eat shrimp/prawns which are closely related to woodlouse(and apparently tastes much the same).I personally don't understand the revulsion....and especially from animal lovers who choose to eat certain meats before others(mammal wise).

*for the record I eat meat..I would consider something else perhaps.

So long as they're labeled, so those of us with a shellfish allergy know to stay away.

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In Africa,eating insects is as normal as sipping a glass if wine.

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I don't advise eating meal worms...they can trigger SEVERE allergies in some people who didn't know about that reaction because they don't normally eat larvae!

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Have heard of mosquitoes hamburger. When I was in Thailand many years ago they would serve candied palmetto bugs (flying cockroaches) as a treat. I never tried one. I have eaten the worm at the bottom of a bottle of mescal before.

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I will die of starvation then. I hate insects, smothered in garlic sauce (which I love) or chocolate, I'm out.

hate? thats a lot of hate as they outnumber us rather highly 😉

@Paddyola I know right? As a kid my cousin threw a grasshopper on me and it spit on me. Thank goodness for bats! Weird thing is that snakes don't bother me! But I won't pick up a poisonous one.

@Presley1209 That spit I beleive was a fluid designed to stop you eating it lol

@Paddyola haha! It worked!

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I've had insect in college, but since developed an allergy to shellfish. It's made me more cautious about eating bugs, because anaphylaxis sucks. Shrimp and lobster are basically sea bugs.

Poor you! (More for me!)

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Not for all us... Not interested on mosquito steaks. I like beef not chocolate. Not my future.

"mosquito steaks".....LOL!

@LucyLoohoo you need a tiny knife and forget about spider drumsticks.

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Yeah.... Um..... No.........

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I am not eating bugs. Period.

watch out for the cavity spider..they lay eggs in peoples teeth

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