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Want to Help the Environment? Eat Insects.

discovermagazine.com — A group of experts endorse bugs as a nutritious and sustainable food source.

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  • ChronicColonic, on 05/09/2008, -7/+30I think I will find another alternative in helping the environment, thank you.
    • tman84, on 05/09/2008, -4/+6Activism by convenience right? That's what it's all about.
      • aphexcoil, on 05/09/2008, -2/+3No, it's more like activism without throwing up all over your room because you ate one too many bad *****.
        • MWeather, on 05/09/2008, -1/+1You don't eat roaches. They're bitter.
    • tehrich, on 05/09/2008, -0/+6I've had cricket, scorpion and mealworm. All not that bad if you give 'em a chance. They have a nice crunch. Think Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
    • giid, on 05/09/2008, -4/+3I prefer to help the environment by eating other things that eat insects.
      • petrodollar, on 05/09/2008, -0/+3How does that help the environment?
    • passedoutghost, on 05/10/2008, -0/+0I've had baby scorpion doused in brandy i think it was, or rum. But yeah that was a weird experience.
  • ZakNicola, on 05/09/2008, -8/+1The next fad in dating.
    • cdigioia, on 05/09/2008, -0/+4dieting?
    • shervin123, on 05/09/2008, -0/+0...taking out a lady...bug.
    • humperdeath, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1I'll have to remember this info, next time I host a backyard party. Don't need to buy food, just open the trash cans the day before, and the 'entre' will fly to you!
  • copaceticZ, on 05/09/2008, -2/+17hey I don't give a ***** as long as they taste like shrimp!
  • Hoogs, on 05/09/2008, -13/+8No thanks. The minute Al Gore tells me to start eating bugs is where I draw the line.
  • fadetoone, on 05/09/2008, -7/+15No thanks. I will let the environment destroy itself first.
  • edebolt, on 05/09/2008, -1/+14They eat them here in Thailand. The problem is to make them taste good they are fried in gnarly oil and heavily salted. I tried them once and never again. The damn legs get stuck between the teeth. No thanks !
    • gwyrth, on 05/09/2008, -0/+4ew @ greasy and leggy food
    • aphexcoil, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1If you blend them, you can make a delicious bug juice milkshake. It takes a little getting used to, but it has a lot of protein. You can change the flavor by adding some kool-aid mix to it.
    • JointVenture, on 05/09/2008, -0/+2Rats.
      • mjn23, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1Rats taste pretty good too.
      • petrodollar, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1You want to eat the field rats though, not the ones that crawl around your local sewer.
    • ubuwalker31, on 05/09/2008, -1/+3The problem with eating insects (according to Bizzare Foods, at least) is that they tend to taste like whatever they have been eating. So, if you eat a bug thats been eating leaves, its gonna taste like leaves...and if its been eating gnarly decayed matter, its gonna taste like crap. So, the solution is to actually farm the insects you want to eat...which sort of defeats the whole point of the exercise.
  • sangjmoon, on 05/09/2008, -8/+3This will probably work as well as subsidizing ethanol production. If we all switched to insects, we would deplete insects and wreck the ecology.
    • petrodollar, on 05/09/2008, -3/+1Why do you assume insects can't be farmed?
      • BOFH2, on 05/09/2008, -1/+3so can corn and rice and other things and look where we are now
        • petrodollar, on 05/09/2008, -1/+1Corn and rice are do not give nearly the same caloric return per capital input as insects.
        • djholybolt, on 05/09/2008, -2/+0@ petrodollar:
          *WHEEW*
          Over the head...
  • Skaistrendy, on 05/09/2008, -12/+3I didn't know we were that far into a succession......
    • Ganja420, on 05/09/2008, -0/+9succession
      1. the coming of one person or thing after another in order, sequence, or in the course of events: many troubles in succession.
      2. a number of persons or things following one another in order or sequence.
      3. the right, act, or process, by which one person succeeds to the office, rank, estate, or the like, of another.
      4. the order or line of those entitled to succeed one another.
      5. the descent or transmission of a throne, dignity, estate, or the like.
      6. Also called ecological succession. Ecology. the progressive replacement of one community by another until a climax community is established.
  • uziko, on 05/09/2008, -11/+14NO I DO NOT WANT TO HELP THE ENVIRONMENT
    • Ganja420, on 05/09/2008, -3/+4ENVIRONMENT THE HELP TO WANT NOT DO I NO
    • DeFex, on 05/09/2008, -2/+3You spilled something sticky on your caps lock and now its stuck!
      • uziko, on 05/09/2008, -4/+1no it's not stuck it was just in the "on" position because i turned it on, because i wanted my sentence to be in all caps instead of lowercase
        • Ganja420, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1u forgot the cruise control for cool thing
        • uziko, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1doh, i knew i was forgetting something
  • coffee200am, on 05/09/2008, -17/+31LOL!
    Get rid of your cars, jobs, houses, live in the trees and eat bugs.....sounds "progressive".....
    • turkeyssr, on 05/09/2008, -9/+7The only clever post, yet you're dugg down...hmmmm...digg-tard prejudice??
      • coffee200am, on 05/09/2008, -3/+7I made the mistake of using the word "progressive"....
      • blackcloud333, on 05/09/2008, -7/+1LOL!!!! -1
  • omnithought, on 05/09/2008, -3/+11It's not for me, but it makes sense that we likely ate them as a supplemental protein source for most of our species' existence. At least, until we got "civilized" and made up some value judgments against it.
    • WoollyMittens, on 05/09/2008, -4/+7There's nothing judgmental about it. Cows are delicious and worms are gross.
      • Aensland, on 05/09/2008, -3/+3Says you. Watch how they make burger patties starting from the slaughtering process sometime, it's stomach turning.
        • nbcaffeine, on 05/09/2008, -2/+7They kill them, gut them, cut them up, and then grind the meat. Whats your point?
          I still eat venison after having killed and gutted my own deer. Not everyone is a wuss with a weak stomach.
          • MacEnvy, on 05/09/2008, -1/+4Is your stomach strong enough to eat a caterpillar sandwich though? I mean, THAT'S a real man.
          • kelmaster1, on 05/09/2008, -3/+1cows are stupid, I enjoy killing them and eating them. I'm a carnivore, that's what humans do.
          • dash1185, on 05/09/2008, -1/+2@kelmaster1
            Humans never were carnivores. Actually until cattle and pig domestication, meat was a luxury. There's nothing wrong in eating meat, but you do NOT need your 16 Oz. steak *every* ***** day. Try to diversify.
      • omnithought, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1There are worms in your yummy cow. Just sayin'
        • theviceroy, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1not in the muscle! (yummy pig has worms all over)
  • donkeySays, on 05/09/2008, -11/+5Hai, my name Ching Fong. Come to my chineese restaurant for some some chineese fooood. We serve you steamed grasshoppers and mantis egg soup.
    • kelmaster1, on 05/09/2008, -0/+4Thanks Wang Chung, I'll try your alley cat surprise too!
    • coffee200am, on 05/09/2008, -0/+3Do you still serve Kitty Fetus Surprise???
    • TechMike, on 05/09/2008, -0/+3My local Chinese place serves *****!
  • coffee200am, on 05/09/2008, -4/+14I'd rather eat cute, cooked animals....with ketchup and mashed taters...
  • dupeduperson, on 05/09/2008, -2/+24is lobster close enough to a bug that it would count? How about crawfish?
    • coffee200am, on 05/09/2008, -0/+2OMG! Barbarian!
    • Jektal, on 05/09/2008, -5/+3Lobsters and crabs are basically sea spiders as far as I'm concerned, and shrimp aren't much above them. Everyone says they taste great, but I don't want to eat anything with an exoskeleton, ever.
    • MattB123, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1It's a start.
    • petrodollar, on 05/09/2008, -0/+2Grandma always called them the insects of the sea.
    • bdbr, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1Scuba divers call them "bugs" for slang!

      If you consider the crap that lobsters, crabs, and shrimp eat - dead animals and other decaying matter on the bottom of the sea - its not too far off. They'll even eat each other.
      • BabyWookie, on 05/09/2008, -0/+3They are still delicious though.
  • TheSarf, on 05/09/2008, -2/+28OM NOM NOM NOM NOM
  • jzuska, on 05/09/2008, -7/+22You first hippie.
    • coffee200am, on 05/09/2008, -12/+2Hippies eat babies....not bugs...
  • AndreRollins, on 05/09/2008, -1/+7Can't wait for those new trendy restaurants to start showing up featuring "insect cuisine". The latest rage!
    • brucewestfall, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1I, for one will only eat free range bugs. The thought of the poor little things living crowded together with only a moist paper towel makes me want to form the (S.P.C.I) Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Insects!

      Poor little defenseless things....YIPES! A *****! GRAB THE RAID! PSsssssssst.

      Nuts! Now it isn't organic anymore.
  • cogitocogito, on 05/09/2008, -2/+37From the US Army Survival Manual:

    Insects
    The most abundant life-form on earth, insects are easily caught. Insects provide 65 to 80 percent protein compared to 20 percent for beef. This fact makes insects an important, if not overly appetizing, food source. Insects to avoid include all adults that sting or bite, hairy or brightly colored insects, and caterpillars and insects that have a pungent odor. Also avoid spiders and common disease carriers such as ticks, flies, and mosquitoes.
    Rotting logs lying on the ground are excellent places to look for a variety of insects including ants, termites, beetles, and grubs, which are beetle larvae. Do not overlook insect nests on or in the ground. Grassy areas, such as fields, are good areas to search because the insects are easily seen. Stones, boards, or other materials lying on the ground provide the insects with good nesting sites. Check these sites.

    Insect larvae are also edible. Insects such as beetles and grasshoppers that have a hard outer shell will have parasites. Cook them before eating. Remove any wings and barbed legs also. You can eat most insects raw. The taste varies from one species to another. Wood grubs are bland, while some species of ants store honey in their bodies, giving them a sweet taste. You can grind a collection of insects into a paste. You can mix them with edible vegetation. You can cook them to improve their taste.
    • bdbr, on 05/09/2008, -0/+2I ate some ants in Air Force survival training. Tangy!
    • passedoutghost, on 05/10/2008, -0/+1The Indigenous Australians eat witchetty grubs among other things. I went as part of a cultural experience program for my school to the country and had some. Weren't too bad once cooked.
  • DeFex, on 05/09/2008, -0/+8Just think of them as "tasty land lobsters"
  • WoollyMittens, on 05/09/2008, -3/+33Why don't they feed my portion of bugs to a pig, after which I'll eat the pig.
    • coffee200am, on 05/09/2008, -5/+1Best response. I'd vote for you if you were running for office..
    • cdigioia, on 05/09/2008, -6/+0I dunno...probably cuz they're hippies
    • afruff23, on 05/09/2008, -1/+2You know only about 10% of the insect energy gets passed on to you when you eat the pig that eats it. I guess at that point, it's not "sustainable" (whatever that means).
  • netsnake24, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1boah. sounds like a weight-watchers-idea...
  • nausicaaczyk, on 05/09/2008, -1/+2I actually do quite enjoy a spot of lemongrass steamed crickets.
  • fr3ddie, on 05/09/2008, -5/+3living off fruit makes more sense to me.... (buried for stupidity)
    • MattB123, on 05/09/2008, -0/+4Not much protein in fruit. We need protein.
      • hempydave, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1thou shalt eat the meat of the beast of the Field> cow
  • Exekutor, on 05/09/2008, -0/+15Hakuna Matata!
  • WikiEasy, on 05/09/2008, -5/+10Stop having children. That alone will help the environment a lot more than any of these stupid feel-good fads.

    But of course, most people will only go as far as some superficial feel-good thing, as long as it doesn't really involve giving up some sort of self interest.
    • tman84, on 05/09/2008, -4/+4Don't worry, there are plenty of eugenics programs in the works to give you that population control you crave.
      • mos6507, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1Who needs eugenics when nature provides its own population control? It's called overshoot and die off!
    • BeforeSputnik, on 05/09/2008, -2/+7The problem with that idea is that all the smart, world-conscious people will stop having children while all the idiots will reproduce like rabbits.
      We need to implement a birthing license. Some people are not qualified to breed.
      • afruff23, on 05/09/2008, -2/+3You first fascist.
        • BeforeSputnik, on 05/09/2008, -0/+2FIne. I have no problem applying for a birthing license. I'd qualify.
      • coustoe, on 05/09/2008, -1/+1wow, didn't hitler have the same great ideas?

        socialist/facist whats the difference. they want to control everyone.
    • GhostFreeman, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1Or, we can just say that having kids is EXPENSIVE
    • uziko, on 05/09/2008, -1/+1and then that would take out one of the 3 reasons to live, girlfriend, friends, and kids. you are an idiot
  • usgovterrorists, on 05/09/2008, -12/+3Want to help the environment terrorist United States Government?
    Stop making wars based on thousands of lies!
    Stop using tons of depleted uranium on countries whose only crime is owning an oil field!
    United States Government are terrorists, war criminals, and horrific liars.
    • Brownds, on 05/09/2008, -3/+2Were you born stupid or did momma terrorist drop you on your head too many times?
      http://www.x-dezyn.com/MySpace/big_cup_of_shut_up_ ...
    • Jektal, on 05/09/2008, -0/+7Likely so, but you're a troll.
    • usgovterrorists, on 05/09/2008, -6/+1The terrorist United States Government is also the greatest envirmental terrorist!
      Nuclear Explosions, Nuclear Tests, Nuclear Weapons, Bombs, HAARP...
      The terrorist United States Government loves making war, you may be next!
  • cowsgonemadd3, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1Who wants "I love eating bugs t-shirts"...??
  • Devilboy666, on 05/09/2008, -0/+10But I already eat McDonalds twice a week
    • GhostFreeman, on 05/09/2008, -1/+1I think bugs would be an upgrade from whatever "mystery meat" McDonalds uses.
    • hovester, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1That's right the beef has worms added to it. Almost forgot.
  • siktath, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1I would laugh if idiots out there started taking this nonsense to heart! Please, go backwards!
  • Shippwreck87, on 05/09/2008, -0/+5"Slimy, yet satisfying!"
    • CandiLain, on 05/09/2008, -0/+2I can think of something else that is "slimy, yet satisfying", and I don't have to search the wilderness for it either ^_^
  • kelmaster1, on 05/09/2008, -2/+2Uhh, Human's used to eat insects, (some still do), I think we kind of evolved past that.. I would like to see the statistics where "869 gallons of water is used to produce a 1/3 pound of beef". That's *****...
    • 776721, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1I wouldn't say its entirely ***** when you take into account the ridiculous amounts of grain consumed throughout the life the cow producing the 1/3 of beef.
      A little over exaggerated? probably, but still not too off the mark.
    • desertDenizen, on 05/10/2008, -0/+1Calculate how much water you drank in your first ten years of life and divide by .8 (the muscle component) of your own body weight. The statistic is accurate, grasshopper.
  • diegoripley, on 05/09/2008, -3/+4I don't see why people are so grossed out at eating insects. Give me three good reasons why eating animals is better than insects.
    • uziko, on 05/09/2008, -3/+61. beef tastes better than insects
      2. beef looks better than insects
      3.beef smells better than insects

      too hard to understand?
      • diegoripley, on 05/09/2008, -1/+1You have to cook it so all of that happens do you not? , you have to add sauces and spices (or whatever you add to it) for it to taste good. Would you eat it raw?

        We eat animal heart, testicles, penis, I can go on, what's the difference.

      • BabyWookie, on 05/09/2008, -1/+1Have you actually tasted some delicious giant dung beetle grubs?
    • twiztidsinz, on 05/09/2008, -2/+4How about one DAMNED good reason?
      We only eat portions of the animal, you eat bugs (more or less) whole.. Including its digestive tract and fecal matter.
      • adnams, on 05/09/2008, -1/+5My girlfriend is Spanish and her favourite food is snails, apparently the "poo" is the tastiest bit of the snail...gross
  • GhostFreeman, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1Once I accidentally ate a cracker with like four or five sugar ants on it. It wasn't bad, but I wouldn't do it again without them being cooked or covered in chocolate.
  • m4lomb, on 05/09/2008, -1/+1yeah, lets all eat BEES that will help the environment....LOL...On a more serious note, at this rate, we may have to get used to eating bugs.
    • frenchi, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1NO! haven't you watched the BEE movie?? eating bees is bad for the environment.
  • coffee200am, on 05/09/2008, -0/+8I say make bugs into fuel. Save corn for people.
  • focsa, on 05/09/2008, -4/+1You think you will find another alternative in helping the environment smart guy? eat your own ***** ?!
  • carbonetc, on 05/09/2008, -1/+6It's very true. I wish people would take it seriously. It's healthier, easier, and I'm sure there could be hundreds of recipes devised that would make them almost unidentifiable as insects. After all, what's on our plates now rarely really looks like a freshly slaughtered animal looks... if it did, most of us would be grossed out by that too.

    It's really not much different from people refusing to eat pork because it's "unclean" which I'm sure most Diggers think is stupid. It'll be a better world when we get over this silly taboo.
    • frenchi, on 05/09/2008, -0/+3I vote for you to be the first one to go on an all insect diet. I'll read your report in 5 years. In the meantime I'll be eating steaks, and sushi.
    • BurgerDST, on 05/09/2008, -0/+3Good point. Many people who would happily eat a fish fillet sandwich would not want to have a fish head staring at them. Not many people like to stare a dead pig head, but bacon sure tastes good. We process food until it is almost not food. Surely we can find a way to get protein from bugs without legs stuck in our teeth.
  • j0keR, on 05/09/2008, -0/+2How about stomping on them instead? Environment be damned.
  • pookkake, on 05/09/2008, -3/+4Semen is high in protein. Just imagine all the energy that goes into semen which later goes to waste as it gets left in condoms, bedsheets, and cum rags. We need to start reclaiming our precious white gold. Perhaps we could put receptacles on the street for used condoms along with a plastic cup dispenser for those that feel compelled to donate to the cause in a more easily reclaimable form. We could process it and feed the world!
    • BurgerDST, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1That made me laugh... but then I was too grossed out to dig it.
    • BabyWookie, on 05/09/2008, -0/+2"Semen is high in protein." == Common myth that's wrong.
  • petrodollar, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1" It takes 869 gallons of water to produce a third of a pound of beef, about enough for a large hamburger."

    WTF?
    • tyroney, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1Cows are thirsty critters. And don't forget the water for the crops for the food they eat.
  • BigManOnCampus, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1So, Lost Boys is really an environmental show on MTV? Who knew!?!?
  • frenchi, on 05/09/2008, -0/+2Give me some good tasting bugs. I'll eat them. I'm waiting...... waiting......
  • 4abtrlife, on 05/09/2008, -2/+0Spookkake, you remind me of a joke;
    Once a professor was teaching his high school class that semen is rich in sucrose (as an energy source for migration of sperms). This puts Heather into a deep thought and after a while she asks, "anything that has sucrose has to be sweet right? Then why does it taste so gross". Then the prof goes...."taste buds are in the anterior part of the tongue, but you taste sperm at the back of your mouth, close to the throat and that's why you don't taste the sweetness"
    Now gals...I won't guarantee you'll taste it's sweetness with the tip of your tongue
  • mahku, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1Sign me up for that *****
  • mos6507, on 05/09/2008, -0/+6Even more sustainable... Soylent green!
    • coustoe, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1but soylent green is made from people!!!!
      • BabyWookie, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1That's what makes it so nutritious and delicious.
  • thedogfatherx, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1Yea. Okay.
  • airship, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1The 'back meat' on beetles tastes exactly like lobster. If someone would come up with a way of extracting it from bazillions of beetles at a time, it could easily become a very real source of food.
  • doobes, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1Already do.

    They are called crawfish in Louisiana.
  • coustoe, on 05/09/2008, -0/+1what?! didn't you know leonardo dicaprio eats bugs to prevent global warming.

    If a celebrity does it then we must do it because celebrity's are cool!!
  • hempydave, on 05/09/2008, -1/+1OM NOM NOM NOM
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