Photo is my own.
Yep, that's me taking a bite of a scorpion snack... bread, cream cheese, a big black arachnid... and I ate everything except the claws. It was ... interesting... Have you, or would you, eat a "bug"?
Years ago friends in Minneapolis experimented with starting a business raising crickets and making them into food. To announce their new endeavor, they asked for three volunteers to eat giant scorpions at a food party. (Because that seemed more attention-grabbing than a little cricket, and one of the founders raised scorpions as a hobby). I also sampled their granola made with cricket flour. It was high in protein and tasted like... granola. It was really amusing to watch kids taste the granola and see their reactions when they were told it was made with crickets :)
Although they didn't pursue the business long-term, I learned a bit about entomophagy and the reasons eating insects may be a more sustainable solution to feeding the world's population, rather than livestock.
I won't go into detail, as there are plenty of online sources (including articles on Steemit!) highlighting reasons both for and against developing this idea on a greater scale. I've included one example to pique your interest:
Meat has been the main source of protein in rich countries for years and consumption is increasing in middle-income countries such as China and Brazil, where eating meat is a signifier of wealth. But eating animals exacts a high toll on the planet. The bigger the beast, the more food, land and water is needed to produce the final edible product, resulting in higher greenhouse-gas emissions. A cow takes 8kg of feed to produce 1kg of beef, but only 40% of the cow can be eaten. Crickets require just 1.7kg of food to produce 1kg of meat, and 80% is considered edible. Insects are also high in protein, minerals and micronutrients.
Graphic Source: pixabay
Personally, I am interested in sustainable, environmentally-friendly, and compassionate sources of food that offer high quality nutrition. Including cricket granola. How about you???
I was a poor kid that grew up in the country. I have ate about anything that flies, crawls, or slithers.
Including snakes?! I've picked up and held snakes, but have not tasted one...
Oh yeah. rattle snake, alligator, squirrel , rabbit, bear, quail, frog legs, snails (or as the french call em escargot). You name it i have probably ate it
Wow, you've been an adventurous survivor! I spent my early childhood in rural North Dakota. My family's diet consisted mostly of anything we could hunt, catch (trapping and fishing) and gather from our enormous garden. We canned, pickled, smoked, and preserved as much as possible for the long, cold winters... Ah the days before Lucky Charms and Cocoa Puffs...
Yep. I grew up in the Ozark mountains. Our property shared a boarder with the ozark national forest at the top of a mountain. As far as i could see to the south was land that could never be occupied. Obviously the aligator tale was eaten when we went down to LA on the bayou.
Fascinating! I can't imagine the killer views and adventures you had!
roughly 1.2 million acres. You could walk for days and never see another human
Noooo! I had a pet Emperor Scorpion (what you ate) back when I was in high school many moons ago. She was an awesome "friendly" pet, until I put too many crickets in the tank to feed her, they ended up eating her... What's the dictionary definition of that?
Oh no! I took care of this friend's scorpions while he traveled, including emperors. I'm glad I didn't pour in too many crickets! I googled "crickets eating scorpion" and found a YouTube video. You're not alone in your trauma. I don't know about a dictionary definition, but the headline that came to mind is, "When the prey becomes the predator."
I like the headline haha! Crickets are mean in numbers...
Good on you trying that. I don’t think I would be able to eat that as I’m not that adventurous. Crickets was the only insect I managed to eat in Thailand.
What was the cricket like? I imagine if it was covered in chocolate I might like it :)
They were small crickets, and were fried and crispy. Not much flesh (which is why I was game enough to try them) and they just had a salty sort of flavour to the crunch.
I could handle that :)
makes me scream "eeewh"
But I've eat rabbits and snails. In Indonesia, we made the rabbits into satay. And in some villages, we cooked the snails, and make it as a chip.
rabbit satay
snail chip
I may have eaten rabbit as a young child. My older siblings mentioned eating rabbit, but I don't have a memory of it. Thanks for sharing your unusual food photographs. Did you like the recipes?
You're brave! I dont know if I could try it out.
We'll find out when I go overseas later this year.
I ate this in the U.S. (Minnesota). You don't have to wait until you go overseas ;) I imagine there are tasty insect recipes around the world. I'll have to earn more SBD so I can travel :)
hahaha no thanks, I'll wait til fate brings me to one then I 'might' consider eating it lol
how's the taste? it's good @mininthecity
It didn't have a strong taste. It was crunchy and chewy and strange.
I...can't...even...That looks like State Fair food- hahaha and everything tastes better with bacon! My 1st thought was holy sh*t, she ate it tail first! Would I? if I were blindfolded and hungry enough I guess....