Eating Insects
Collin Raynaud
Winter 2009
Mon, 12-2
Insects, Food?
Introduction:
Insects have been here long before human civilization, foraging the world and utilizing its nutrients. In a sense then, every human being ever has been forced to interact with insects, so then why has this “household” item not been utilized as a food source for humans? Well, that’s not entirely true. Entomophagy, according to Webster’s Dictionary, is the practice of eating insects. Using insects as a food source isn’t as uncommon as one may think, the practice of Enotmophagy has been performed for centuries, dating back to Indian tribes and Australian aborginals. Insects greatly outnumber humans and are found in nearly every possible location in the world, so their presence in and around human food isn’t unbelievable. While this practice is becoming more popular around the world, consumers in the U.S. are still skeptical of the idea Whether its eating them “a la mode”, or eating them without knowing, insects are increasingly prevalent in food consumed by humans.
Main Body: Insect consumption seems a little farfetched, yet there are several reasons that this idea may not be crazy. Meat is considered to be one of the best sources of protein in diets, however, certain insects provide amounts of protein comparable to that of meat; thus making insect consumption a much cheaper alternative to meat in developing countries. Take, for example, 100 grams of dried caterpillar, providing fifty-three grams of protein, seventeen percent carbohydrates, and a whopping fifteen percent fat. In fact, they are believed to have a higher proportional fat and protein value than that of beef and fish. Also, most edible insects are proven to be much cleaner than fish. For example, According to Pulitzer prize winner, Dr. E.O. Wilson of Harvard University, there are an estimated ten quintillion (10,000,000,000,000,000,000) insects in the world, or about one hundred and fifty million insects per one human being.
Winter 2009
Mon, 12-2
Insects, Food?
Introduction:
Insects have been here long before human civilization, foraging the world and utilizing its nutrients. In a sense then, every human being ever has been forced to interact with insects, so then why has this “household” item not been utilized as a food source for humans? Well, that’s not entirely true. Entomophagy, according to Webster’s Dictionary, is the practice of eating insects. Using insects as a food source isn’t as uncommon as one may think, the practice of Enotmophagy has been performed for centuries, dating back to Indian tribes and Australian aborginals. Insects greatly outnumber humans and are found in nearly every possible location in the world, so their presence in and around human food isn’t unbelievable. While this practice is becoming more popular around the world, consumers in the U.S. are still skeptical of the idea Whether its eating them “a la mode”, or eating them without knowing, insects are increasingly prevalent in food consumed by humans.
Main Body: Insect consumption seems a little farfetched, yet there are several reasons that this idea may not be crazy. Meat is considered to be one of the best sources of protein in diets, however, certain insects provide amounts of protein comparable to that of meat; thus making insect consumption a much cheaper alternative to meat in developing countries. Take, for example, 100 grams of dried caterpillar, providing fifty-three grams of protein, seventeen percent carbohydrates, and a whopping fifteen percent fat. In fact, they are believed to have a higher proportional fat and protein value than that of beef and fish. Also, most edible insects are proven to be much cleaner than fish. For example, According to Pulitzer prize winner, Dr. E.O. Wilson of Harvard University, there are an estimated ten quintillion (10,000,000,000,000,000,000) insects in the world, or about one hundred and fifty million insects per one human being.