NPR: “Time for a ‘Bug Mac’?”
NPR has an interesting story about Dutch research on protein. Specifically, bug protein.
Ph.D. student Dennis Oonincx is checking out his mealworms living in the cricket lab, and says his research into how the worms metabolize a waste product shows how superior insects are as a protein source — better than cattle or sheep.
“You can produce more food for people with less input,” he says. “It’s good food and it’s better for the environment.”
Arnold van Huis, head of Wageningen’s entomology department, is one of the world’s premier experts in entomophagy, or eating insects. He believes the rising price of meat will help change diets.
“If your Big Mac is going to cost about $100 and your Bug Mac is going to cost only $4, people will change to a Bug Mac,” van Huis says.
Van Huis says the challenge is to make it delicious. That’s where Marian Peters comes in. For years, as secretary of the Dutch insect breeders association Venik, she’s been active in bringing edible insects to consumers’ tables. And Peters says the first commercially available bug sandwich will be out soon — a wrap filled with insects and peas.
In the abstract, I think it sounds great – I imagine certain bugs (like mealworms) would be a great source of cheap, nutritious and (hopefully) decent-tasting protein. Not sure about a “Bug Mac,” though – personally, I think I’d opt for a Gardenburger or falafel first, lol.
April 13, 2012
Or, a Chicken McBuggett
April 13, 2012
I guess I would be willing to give bugs a try. I will say that it would have to taste pretty good for me to eat on a regular basis.
April 13, 2012
I won’t lie: I’m a tad squeamish about putting something that looks like an insect in my mouth. I’d get over it soon enough, if it was tasty (after all, insects are basically dry land versions of shrimp and lobster), but there’s still that cultural conditioning “hump” to get over.
I think I’d prefer my first (voluntary) exposure to be in the form of – say – mealworm protein powder or TVP. This is one case where “food processing” isn’t a four letter word, lol.
April 14, 2012
I see your point. If it’s bugs, process the crap out of it,lol