News Taffy

What’s the first thing that happens when you are in a nice restaurant and find a bug in your food? I thought so. That would be my reaction too. If you are at a swanky party and your boss’s wife offers you a plate of crickets, will you politely try one or will you think it’s an elaborate hoax cooked up by your sadistic boss?

My bug paranoia has gotten better as I get older; only the largest, nastiest ones truly scare me now. If the extra large spider that was above the garage door last night had jumped/fallen on me, I would have stripped naked in front of the yard man, screaming all the while. Then I would have had shivers for hours and been unable to sleep. But why are we talking about insects you ask? What does this have to do with good health? I’m not about to share dirt on some local restaurant found to be crawling with bugs, I’m about to test your gag reflex with the latest food craze sweeping the nation.

In many parts of the world, eating insects is common. Our cultural conditioning has taught us Westerners that bugs are nasty. But we would be wrong. With food shortages all over and many people suffering from starvation or food insufficiencies, insects could provide a wonderful source of protein, vitamins and minerals. Insects require much less room to raise than more typical sources of animal protein and produce less waste. For example, 10 pounds of feed produces just 1 pound of beef but 6 pounds of edible insects. In the near future, raising insects could be a great small business venture!

Celebrity chefs and some restaurants are now jumping on the trend, offering up bug infested dishes for eager diners to try. Just imagine cricket cornbread or chocolate chirp cookies. Supposedly, maggots taste like scallops and locusts like peanuts. (While scallops are one of my favorite foods and I recently had an allergic reaction to them, I will NOT stoop to eating maggots.) If you’d like more information or perhaps recipes and serving suggestions, check out these blogs; girlmeetsbug.com and insectsarefood.com.

So what do you think? I have tried crickets once and they weren’t bad. One of my daughter’s friends bought a bag of them at a novelty store and dared me to try them. I did eat a bug accidentally once while galloping through the pasture on my horse. It left a bad taste in my mouth and taught me to keep my mouth closed. So it turns out that bugs aren’t just for Bear Grylls. This trend could turn out to make a real difference to world hunger. After all, sushi was a novelty once.

Until next week,
Lisa