Unconventional Science: Eating Bugs as Sustainable Food
CHAPTER ONE
FOOD FOR A HUNGRY WORLD Daniella Martin hosted a cooking and travel show On the show’s first episode Martin prepares her special taco recipe She heats olive oil in a frying pan Then she adds chopped onions They sizzle and brown in the hot oil She removes the taco filling from the freezer and adds a cupful to the pan After two minutes dinner is ready Martin spoons hot filling into a soft tortilla Avocado slices and chopped tomatoes go on next Finally she sprinkles on cilantro and a dash of hot sauce Martin takes Some people enjoy dishes made with waxworms
WHO EATS BUGS This map shows by region the number of countries where people frequently eat bugs What continent has the most countries where people eat insects Europe Asia Africa W N S E Oceania North and South America 23 Countries Europe 11 Countries Africa 36 Countries Asia 29 Countries Oceania 14 Countries North and South America
a big bite of taco As she does waxworms tumble from the taco onto her plate Waxworms are wax moth caterpillars Some people would be disgusted by a taco filled with waxworms But Martin thinks waxworms are delicious In fact she thinks lots of bugs are tasty Martin is an entomophagist a person who eats insects She has eaten more than two dozen kinds of bugs She hopes that her cooking show will encourage others to eat bugs too WHAT DO BUGS TASTE LIKE Edible bugs have a range of flavors Some taste like blends of familiar foods Others such as the giant water bug have a unique flavor that people find hard to describe When roasted most insects taste nutty Roasted crickets remind diners of nutty shrimp Waxworms and bee larvae taste like mushrooms nuts and bacon In Australia honeypot ants are prized for the sugary liquid they carry in their swollen bellies In sub-Saharan Africa children collect termites after rainstorms Boiled salted termites are popular snacks They taste like bits of crispy bacon
