Monday, March 31, 2008

Eat bugs for Earth Day

Frying bugs

Via The New York Times: "David Gracer eats bugs. Not any old crushed, oozy, sidewalk kind of bug, but insects selected just like any other food — for sustenance and taste. He eats them sautéed, filleted and roasted. And he thinks you should eat them, too.

"Wielding a grasshopper covered in burned caramel, he said: 'Insects can feed the world. Cows and pigs are the S.U.V.’s; bugs are the bicycles.' Provocative as that sounds, insects do meet the test of environmental sustainability: they create far more edible protein per pound of feed as cattle. Moreover, given world consumption trajectories, scientists warn that a complete collapse of global fish stocks is possible in the next 40 years. We might want to hedge our bets. Perhaps then it’s no surprise that the concept of bugs as food is getting serious consideration from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations."