“The question really should be: ‘Why do we NOT eat insects?” says Marcel Dicke, a food scientist and heal of entomology at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. He argues that bugs provide a healthier, more economic and green source of protein.
Dicke and his colleagues presented groundbreaking research into the possibilities of replacing animal meat with insects at the university to an audience of about 200. The guests were also invited to try a range of food prepared with grasshoppers, meals worms and buffalo worms. With the help of chef Henk van Gurp, the bugs became ingredients in a range of foods, from pastries to Thai spring rolls.
“Tasty…kind of nutty!” said one taster, Walinka van Tol of a meal worm praline. Dicke says that taste isn’t the issue, but rather convincing people that eating bugs doesn’t have to be disgusting. “People think it is something dirty. It generates a Fear Factor response,” he said, referring to the TV show that forced contestants to eat living bugs.
Dicke also says out that recent hikes in beef and other meat prices are indicative of a long-term trend. There will come a day when a Big Mac costs 120 euros ($163) and a Bug Mac 12 euros, when more people will eat insects than other meat,” said head researcher Arnold van Huis.
The researchers further point out that the average person already eat about 500 grams of insect parts unknowingly, in processed foods like jam or bread.
Via Discovery News.
Also Read: