Creep Insect Consumption Toward Mainstream

Why aren’t we eating more bugs these days? Researchers at San Diego State University and American University of Beirut say the reasons go beyond Western cultures considering insects to be the creepy denizens of garbage heaps and memorable nightmares.
     The giant water bug question, of course, is why we all should eat more bugs these days. The researchers’ answer is that insects can serve as a highly nutritious, highly economical food source. Entomophagy—yep, that’s a fancy name for including insects as a regular dietary item—has been promoted for many years as a way to address world hunger. This is part of the problem, though. When such consumption is promoted as well-suited for rescuing the starving, those of us who are not starving see no need for it.
     Another part of the problem is that entomophagy is seen as not a normal practice, but instead as catering to on-the-edge appetites. The worm inside the mezcal bottle to get marketing attention. The wax moth larvae sprinkled on the corn custard featured by The Brooklyn Kitchen as an exotic offering. The fresh cup of fried grasshoppers available to spice up baseball spectating at the Seattle Mariners field.
     Achieving the advantages of insect consumption requires a concerted effort to move it toward the mainstream. Here are techniques based on the studies:

• Educate about the advantages. Beetles are a good source of iron, calcium, and zinc. Grasshoppers and crickets are abundant in unsaturated fats. Per ounce, insects contain more iron than red meat. 
• Make the unfamiliar more familiar. This is the classic tool for building acceptance of novel items. Part of this could include informing people about the use of insect content in items they currently consume. 
• Increase availability. As interest grows, stock more insect items on the shelves, feature insect dishes on restaurant menus, and offer classes on insect food preparation. A complaint from retailers wanting to sell insect-based items is that the supply chains are unreliable. 

     Insects are the single most diverse group of organisms on earth. Only a few kinds are suitable for human consumption. And some religions forbid insect consumption. Still, entomophagy is currently part of the dietary culture in more than 110 countries worldwide. Americans consume shrimp, which vaguely resemble snails, and the French prize escargots, which are snails. A crawl toward greater consumption of insects raised far away from garbage heaps is not too big a stretch.

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