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[Fawoosh]

Yeah. Lets get on that.

.

 

[adamsappel]

There used to be a bar in DC called the Insect Bar that had an insect tasting menu. I could never get my friends to go there, so I never got to try them. I've eaten novelty seasoned crickets, which were too small and pretty unremarkable. I don't like the idea of mushy insects, but I'd try crunchy things.

Shield bugs? People eat shield bugs in Mexico?

In the US, we call them "stink bugs." No way would people ever eat them.

 

[Nikodemos]

We could do things the american way and process them so that we dont see the bugs. I tried some chocolate chip cookies made with 'cricket flour' (from these dues http://bittyfoods.com/) and they tasted like normal cookies.

Puree them, texture them like fish cakes, deep fry them and serve in a bun topped with onions, tomato, lettuce and sauces. Nobody will spot the difference.

creating meat from beef is one of the most wasteful practices humans are doing to destroy the planet. Any solutions to resolve this should be looked at seriously.

Seriously. Raising cattle exclusively for meat is a terrible idea. And one that is surprisingly recent. Back in the old days single-purpose (beef) cattle were considered far too expensive and wasteful.

 

[Hari Seldon]

Good idea, if everyone eats bugs there will be more delicious cow for me.

 

[cajunator]

There used to be a bar in DC called the Insect Bar that had an insect tasting menu. I could never get my friends to go there, so I never got to try them. I've eaten novelty seasoned crickets, which were too small and pretty unremarkable. I don't like the idea of mushy insects, but I'd try crunchy things.


In the US, we call them "stink bugs." No way would people ever eat them.

I would try shield bug, but the high iodine content gives me pause as I am allergic to iodine. It limits my intake of fresh shrimp. A tragedy really.

 

[Tyreny]

Bee larvae sauteed in butter and a little honey apparently tastes like bacon.

Baby sauteed in breast milk

 

[Winterblink]

I think the easy way to go about this is to do something like cricket flour. I've never used it, but I saw a guy pitching it on Shark Tank and it sounded like a good idea to me.

Looks very inoffensive, and is efficient protein.

See this is where I think we'll end up on this; insects, but processed enough that we will get over the cultural stigma of eating them whole. I liken it to snails: most folks wouldn't eat a snail but escargot is fucking delicious.

 

[Aiustis]

Baby sauteed in breast milk

I'd try that too.

 

[longdi]

While seafood are the insects of the sea, they look way more appetizing than bugs! Cooked seafood turns tantalizingly reddish, and inside their shells you can see and feel actual meat that have been naturally seasoned with delish sea salt! Yummy!

Insects are what? Brackish hairy creepy crawly crunchies that turned to slimy guts and goo upon biting and probably tastes like earth and dead leaves. Yucks!

80% my ass.

 

[JordanN]

That moment when you forgot to cook your dinner properly and they come alive.

 

[moggio]

Interesting BBC4 documentary about this:

Can Eating Insects Save the World?

 

[triplestation]

wtf no

 

[mrklaw]

is cochineal food colouring from the same-named insect still used today?

 

[Zukuu]

Maggots look delicious already. Insects will be THE nutrition supplier in the not so distant future.

 

[Akuun]

Process them into nuggets, spam, sausages and such. People will eat them then.

 

[Regulus Tera]

Chocolate grasshoppers are fucking delicious.

 

[jchap]

Here is how the typical argument breaks down. Speculative premise: Insects are a cheap source of protein that could emerge to feed the world. How it will actually go: Insects are a cheap source of protein that doesn't taste great and as such will be relegated to the poorest of the world. The poorest americans are wealthy by world standards and as such we will continue to consume meat.

 

[mdubs]

3. Many animal rights activists often won’t get up in arms over eating bugs, as they are already exterminated on a daily basis (the bugs, not the activists).

Why do I care what animal rights activists like or don't like, that's their problem.

No I will never eat bugs, screw that noise. I already don't eat anything with claws, shells or tentacles so this is just another thing on that list.

 

[Regulus Tera]

Insects are quite common in Mexico, except in the north because most of them are toxic there. So far my experiences are:

This post made me hungry

 

[speculawyer]

If they are safe and healthy then I'm all for them grinding them up and putting them into my food. For example, I thought it was silly that Starbucks pulled some product when people found out it had an insect in it. Did it suddenly become bad? No, people just got irrationally squeamish.

I don't want to eat one as whole insect though.

 

[Fenderputty]

Not gonna happen. I get all the environmental benefits and how it would be easier to feed the world protein, but NOPE not for me. I've been conditioned this way and it would take a TON of reconditioning to get me to eat bugs. I don't think I would be alone.

I just had my first snails this last weekend though. Does that count?

 

[Nikodemos]

is cochineal food colouring from the same-named insect still used today?

I think it's the same compound, except synthetic.

 

[adj_noun]

They'll just end up changing the names to minimize the insectyness.

It's not cricket flour, it's Earth Friendly Flour.

 

[Ray Wonder]

Sorry but looking at those pictures actually makes me feel like I'm going to vomit. If I'd ever try it, like many others have said, it has to look like something else. Like a nugget.

 

[Coriolanus]

I think the easy way to go about this is to do something like cricket flour. I've never used it, but I saw a guy pitching it on Shark Tank and it sounded like a good idea to me.

Looks very inoffensive, and is efficient protein.

Make it half the price of whey and within the year that thing would be used by bodybuilders everywhere. 12g of flour have nearly 8g of protein and 3g of fat with a lil' bit of fiber and no carbs. Gawd damn, gimme.

 

[SpaceHorror]

Nope. I'll keep eating beef, chicken, pork, etc.

Fuck eating insects.

 

[Shining Sunshine]

Uuuuh we have so many other solutions to take on before needing to eat insects.

 

[Grym]

is cochineal food colouring from the same-named insect still used today?

Yes. It is still in plenty of processed food products for coloring. Some companies pulled it from their products (notably Starbucks after that whole weird thing with them). The FDA now requires it to be listed. I think most commonly you can see it in the ingredients list as cochineal extract, carmine, crimson lake, or natural red 4. You will find it in quite a few yogurt and juice products I believe.

 

[ahoyhoy]

I think the easy way to go about this is to do something like cricket flour. I've never used it, but I saw a guy pitching it on Shark Tank and it sounded like a good idea to me.

Looks very inoffensive, and is efficient protein.

Looks like it can be used to make some tasty stuff.

Uuuuh we have so many other solutions to take on before needing to eat insects.

Reducing food scarcity, freeing up land, reducing carbon output, improving slaughterhouse conditions (by not needing as many anymore, potentially making it more economical to free graze cattle), not to mention making food overall healthier (see above cricket flour which is loaded with nutrients normal flour lacks)

Seems like there are a lot of benefits to offloading our protein consumption on insects.

 

[Rapstah]

I probably eat worse shit than insects in nugget form every time I eat a nugget. Bring it on.

 

[Nikodemos]

Make it half the price of whey and within the year that thing would be used by bodybuilders everywhere. 12g of flour have nearly 8g of protein and 3g of fat with a lil' bit of fiber and no carbs. Gawd damn, gimme.

Make it out of silkworm pupae and it's gonna be real cheap. Boiled pupae are a byproduct of silk manufacture.

 

[Kinyou]

How about some spiders while we're at it?

 

[okno]

If they are safe and healthy then I'm all for them grinding them up and putting them into my food. For example, I thought it was silly that Starbucks pulled some product when people found out it had an insect in it. Did it suddenly become bad? No, people just got irrationally squeamish.

I don't want to eat one as whole insect though.

It was actually pulled, because vegans couldn't eat it and made a big stink out of it. It was the strawberry & cream frappuccino and it used a bug as a food coloring additive to give it that pink color. Once vegans found out there were insects in it, they made a stink and Starbucks was forced to change it.

 

[Sakura]

No thanks...
I don't care if some larvae tastes like bacon. If I want bacon I will just eat bacon.

 

[XenodudeX]

I think I'd rather starve

 

[Cybrwzrd]

I had scorpions in Japan, they were tasty. I also love shrimp, crab and lobsters, so I can probably eat land insects as well.

 

[njean777]

I really don't mind it, I just think we need to grind it up and make it look like meat.

 

[ahoyhoy]

It was actually pulled, because vegans couldn't eat it and made a big stink out of it. It was the strawberry & cream frappuccino and it used a bug as a food coloring additive to give it that pink color. Once vegans found out there were insects in it, they made a stink and Starbucks was forced to change it.

I honestly didn't know vegans really cared about insects so much as to manage to get a major chain to pull something made from insects from their menu.

I wonder what those same vegans do when they get termites...

 

[Vilam]

I've never seen a less compelling top ten list. You all go ahead and eat your insects, I'll stick with burgers and stuff, thanks.

 

[Nikodemos]

How about some spiders while we're at it?

Glaze dat shit in hoisin sauce, put a bowl of spicy zha cai alongside it and gimme a big-ass bottle of sorghum beer to wash it all down and I'll murder those.

 

[Timeless]

Make a bug burger that tastes exactly the same as a cow burger, and I'm in.

 

[TwEE-N-Toast]

Can't help but associate bugs and food combo with filth, disease and squalor and I'm sure most people in the developed world feel the same.

Might have an equaly hard time convincing fold to incorporate bugs into their sexy time. Fill your undies with a writhing bucket of larva and grub.

 

[Kurdel]

I feel there must be some kind of insect eating lobby going, after seeing much we dee this pop up over the last 3 months.

 

[Cow Mengde]

Yeah, sounds great.

All animals have guts.

 

[ReAxion]

Put them on the market and see what happens. American food marketing can sell anything.

 

[Chris R]

I had a protein bar made with cricket.

It was tasty and I didn't mind it. Don't know if I could eat a plat full of unprocessed cricket though.

 

[entremet]

I've eaten bugs before. I can't stand the texture of the exoskeletons.

 

[slit]

Put them on the market and see what happens. American food marketing can sell anything.

Yeah, there not going to do that, at least at the major chains as people would assiocate it as the insect supermarket.

 

[Rookje]

They're basically big sea insects.

 

[Blargonaut]

I'm all for it (Asian here).

What will it take to cause a shift in perception in the US?

The only way I see it happening is a wealthy company that is able to generate lots of initial inventory and able to take the initial loss, brute-forcing their product onto shelves by offering the sheer virtue of greater affordability compared to the traditional product(s)? Market it to poorer people?

Suffer the initial loss in generating the first gigantic 'crop', process the visible 'fuck-is-this?' out of it to make it look more desirable (e.g., cricket flour), then utterly saturate the US market with vast amounts of your insect food product by showing the proof that its healthier, cheaper to make and easier to mass-produce compared to the established brands? Throw some marketing magic onto it and shit.

I'm just pulling this out of my abdomen...


How can we really make insects happen in the US?