Seems the Economist keeps promoting entomophagy through their ice creams with grasshoppers in it. I've tried some foods and I hear they're trying to get this up and running in the Netherlands. How do you feel about chomping on bugs? Would you mind it if your mcdonalds burger had 'protein supplements' in it? Seems with a growing global population there are things we can do to maintain an adequate diet with sufficient nutrients and reducing carbon emissions whilst we're at it. So what do you think can be done, and would you be happy to participate? Or would you prefer that everyone else reduced their emissions and so you can increase your carbon footprint?
Entomophagy, vegetarianism and other energy efficient diets
- Thread starter Kharille
- Start date
Users who are viewing this thread
pentagathus
Baron
I wouldn't give a **** about eating bug based protein powder and if the bugs are tasty I would happily eat them as they are. I doubt most Europeans or westerners would feel the same though.
Austupaio
Duke
I'm fine with it, if properly prepared. Would I eat straight-up bugs that are just glazed (something I've seen before)? No, not really. However, I did hear about various brands of protein bars and such that were infused with cricket flour, and that cricket flour is fairly nutritious. In this instance, if the protein bar tasted alright, which they probably do, I'd be fine with that. I was going to buy some, but unfortunately due to their hip, alternative, organic, vegan hipster status, they're more expensive than normal bars.
I've heard that insects taste like crustaceans. The whole concept of cricket flour sounds delicious to me.
If someone sold insect meat near me I would go out of my way to eat it.
If someone sold insect meat near me I would go out of my way to eat it.
How does the production of bugs cause less CO2 emission than meat? I'm totally ignorant here.
Smaller animals are much more efficient than big ones, and all the animals we eat are quite big.
How many cockroaches do I have to eat if I'm bulkin' and liftin' all day everyday?
Honestly, nothing wrong with eating bugs if you feel like it, I doubt there's a bug in the world that tastes good on its own (Though if you catch a regular ant you should try eating the "butt" or whatever that sack of acid is, it's a peculiar taste) but as far as I've seen in travel shows and the like, in South-East Asia and other places where they do eat bugs regularly, they pretty much dump them into oil and deep fry them.
I don't think companies should start hiding insects in their products as "extra protein" though, that's just calling for trouble.
Honestly, nothing wrong with eating bugs if you feel like it, I doubt there's a bug in the world that tastes good on its own (Though if you catch a regular ant you should try eating the "butt" or whatever that sack of acid is, it's a peculiar taste) but as far as I've seen in travel shows and the like, in South-East Asia and other places where they do eat bugs regularly, they pretty much dump them into oil and deep fry them.
I don't think companies should start hiding insects in their products as "extra protein" though, that's just calling for trouble.
Thing is with fish and insects their body temperature is the ambient temperature. They're more efficient in that they can convert wastes like grass cuttings, cellulose waste/wood/hay into proteins. Thing is they also have a fast life cycle so you can readily expand your 'farm' whereas fish farming is harder to contain.
Theres been articles in TIME and others that I recall even back in the 90's on this.
Maybe not such a need in the developed word, but theres no need for vegetarianism either if you look at it from certain perspectives.
I've heard that its actually even more efficient if we all switched to vegetarianism. Might sustain 5x the current global population if everyone was happy to make the switch. I think India is one of the most densely populated countries in the world with a lot of vegetarianism.
Theres been articles in TIME and others that I recall even back in the 90's on this.
Maybe not such a need in the developed word, but theres no need for vegetarianism either if you look at it from certain perspectives.
I've heard that its actually even more efficient if we all switched to vegetarianism. Might sustain 5x the current global population if everyone was happy to make the switch. I think India is one of the most densely populated countries in the world with a lot of vegetarianism.
One thing which I haven't read into is how efficient it is to use the whole body of an animal carcass rather than select cuts. I suppose we give that to the livestock or pets, the stuff that we don't tend to eat. Would be a pain I we were so selective about 'edible' grasshopper anatomy...
Adorno said:
Because the raising of cattle is a very CO2 intensive activity. Cows need to be bred and raised. They need to be fed, watered, their waste dispose of, then there's the near-constant lighting, the heating for winter, the antibiotics and growth hormones they're injected with, the vet check-ups, the land they take up and the fact that methane is produced in their four-chambered stomachs. When they've been slaughtered, not every part of them is used, so there's also the disposal of the bits that don't get used.
Add to that the fact that in some countries, carbon sinks (forests) are destroyed to make way for cattle farming, which 1) reduces new-growth forest ability to absorb carbon, because there is no new growth, and 2) releases the carbon stored in old-growth forest back into the atmosphere, compounding the issue even further.
Insects are "cleaner" in that they don't require the same labour intensive (and CO2 intensive) processes. They grow faster and reproduce faster, they are easier to care for and maintain, and you don't have to worry about things like TB or foot & mouth.
To answer the OP; no, I wouldn't. I don't eat any animal, and I do just fine. I get my protein from nuts, seeds and mycoprotein (quorn) which is a lab-produced fungus. There are plenty of non-animal sources out there. Hike up the price of red meat and let them eat bugs, I say.
Edit: chances are you're already eating some part of bugs and not even realising it. Carmine is the red dye which comes from cochineal (bugs) and is widely used in the food industry to produce red colouring.
Okay. Sounds like a more realistic goal would be to reduce carbon emissions from meat production,
rather than making bugs so popular they will oust most of the meat consumption
rather than making bugs so popular they will oust most of the meat consumption
Adorno said:Okay. Sounds like a more realistic goal would be to reduce carbon emissions from meat production,
rather than making bugs so popular they will oust most of the meat consumption
The best way to reduce carbon emissions from meat production would be to switch global energy production from fossil fuels to renewable or nuclear energy, and run the trucks which move the animal produce on electricity instead of petrol. It would essentially mitigate a large part of the CO2 issue and allow animal farming to be powered by green energy. You'd still have the issue of methane production, though, which is a pretty serious issue; methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas than CO2.
But good luck getting governments of the world to switch to renewables/nuclear so everyone can have more burgers.
Similar threads
