 Only freaks and weirdos eat insects. - People sometimes ridicule things that they
are not familiar with. While it can be tempting to judge everything
that is different, it's usually more rewarding to ask questions
and learn new things.
-
 They're
gross and disgusting.- Words like "gross" and "disgusting"
are knee-jerk responses that do not involve our brains. Different
cultures do things differently, and when a person makes a judgment
about a cultural choice, he or she might consider why he or she
is being judgmental.
-
- Bugs look awful, and they must taste awful too.
- By most people's aesthetic standards lobsters
and snails aren't very pretty, but millions of people love to
eat them. Not many people find pigs to be beauty contest material
either, but we eat them. As for how insects taste, how would you
know if you've never tried them?
-
- The
idea of eating insects is gross because they carry diseases.
- While it's true that fleas carried bubonic
plague into Europe and that malaria is spread by mosquitoes, the
vast majority of insects are disease-free. Many insect species
have specific defenses against internal micro-organisms. Even
so, it's best to cook them before eating them (just like most
other foods.)
-
- People
eat insects only if they have no other choice and are starving
to death.
- At markets in China, Mexico, or other countries
you'll find a variety of bugs for sale. Sometimes they sell out
quickly. Some insects are quite expensive restaurant fare; you'll
find them on the menu in Don Chon's in Mexico City, Café
Typhoon in Santa Monica CA, and in many other places. "In
fact, there are 1,462 recorded species of edible insects."
(bbc.co.uk.)
-
 Only
people in other parts of the world eat insects.- Many Native American groups ate insects. Asian,
African, and South American civilizations ate insects, and still
do. As for Western Europe, Aristotle found cicadas delicious;
a book published in England in 1885 recommended the cockchafer,
a large species of beetle.
-
- Bugs
are not nutritious.
- They are among the most nutritional foods in
the world, containing higher percentages of protein [per body
or per pound] than any of the more conventional bird and mammal
food species, and most kinds of vegetables.
-
- Eating
beef, chicken, and vegetables is healthier.
- A lot of recent research has focused on the
antibiotics, growth hormones, and genetic mutations administered
to food-animals. While science hasn't proven whether this could
harm us in the future, the "organic foods" movement
comes out of the concern for more natural foods. Insects fit right
into this.
-
- There's
no need to eat insects when there are plenty of "normal"
foods.
- Research shows that we can't maintain our food
production habits, and the food industries will have to change
sooner or later. The time, food, and money required to raise one
cow can produce many thousands of pounds of insect protein, none
of which goes to waste.
-
- Why
should I have to change my eating habits?
- While no one HAS to change his or her diet,
people's food habits are likely to change in the future; being
flexible now is a good way to leave a better world for our children
and grandchildren. There's nothing wrong with eating insects.
People have just become stubborn in their assumptions about it.
Isn't learning new things what life is all about?
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