Unless you’re a veggie, meat is an important part of your diet – and insects could become a part of it. If you find cows adorable and the guilt is getting to you, why not give crickets a shot instead?
We’re not massive on the idea of eating insects in the west. I guess France has snails, but they’re technically molluscs – not insects. However, insect meat has the potential to provide a decent source of protein and its carbon footprint is a lot more environmentally friendly. They provide all the essential amino acids while cancelling out any artificial ingredients such as hormones, antibiotics and pesticides.
Chocolate topped with dried worm… Yum? (Image: Kremena Despinova/Barcroft Images)
Insects such as crickets, grasshoppers and buffalo worms can be sought in the dried variety. From there on, it’s up to you how you want to serve them. Maybe a cricket stir fry? Grasshopper burger? Buffalo worm spaghetti? After removing the wings and legs from a grasshopper they’re said to taste very much the same as prawns.
Better for the environment
If meat industries could get people to accept a transition to insect meat, we’d be doing the Earth a huge favour. Apparently, for a kilogram of crickets you need 2000 times less water, 12 times less food and 13 times less land than you would for a kilo of beef. That’s quite a beneficial reduction of impact, and there’s nothing to stop you keeping your own insect livestock at home, if you’re not too creeped out by them anyway.
Crickets are a great source of protein if you can stomach them. (Image: Kremena Despinova/Barcroft Images)
Maybe not quite yet, but insect meat could be the next big change in our diets in the near future. I might get ahead of the game and start my own cricket farm. Nothing better than free food!
Source: Metro