Have any of you found ways to use insects as a sustainable food source? I feed mealworms to my gerbils but I understand that these have become popular for human consumption. If we want to save the planet, the future of food is insects
Hello Cello, I too am interested in how the world will approach replacing industrial food with creepy crawlies. Everybody consumed these things once upon a time and the majority of us have moved further and further away from it ever since the discovery of fire. Fire evolution can be seen pulling us away to a parallel world in that sense and it can be blamed for everything that has gone wrong here upon Terra ever since. Devil. You're being obliged to create this very thread is proof that a natural instinct is compelling us to consider it. This is done every day but it can also be dangerous; What Are The Most Important Pros And Cons Of Eating Insects? It's too soon to safely survive on this but that does not mean we can't get the ball rolling and slowly reverse the menu by starting with reptiles, amphibians and crustaceans for a few generations and then maybe moving on to the most imperial of invertebrate subclasses like tarantulas and scorpions (Arachnid), locusts (Acrididae) and Snails (Gastropod). They ought to be farmed by experts to avoid parasites.
I've eaten Chocolate Covered Ants which I found pretty good. That's about it other than the occasional bug that will fly into your mouth, usually in the summer and when you least expect it.
Plummeting insect numbers 'threaten collapse of nature' "More than 40% of insect species are declining and a third are endangered. The rate of extinction is eight times faster than that of mammals, birds and reptiles. The total mass of insects is falling by a precipitous 2.5% a year, suggesting they could vanish within a century." Considering the precipitous decline in insects globally, I doubt that they can save us. However, there is another protein source that's overabundant, underutilized, and as always, ripe for exploitation. Bon appétit!
Those who survived the trillion-locust swarms of the Rocky Mountain locusts in 1874/5 (declared extinct in 2014) learned to eat them, as they had consumed all the crops in the fields. This is one recipe: Locusts and grasshoppers are prepared for cooking by removing the wings, the small legs, and the distal portion of the hind legs. Then pull off the head, withdrawing any attached viscera. Boil prepared Rocky Mountain locusts in salted water. Add assorted cut-up vegetables, butter, salt, and vinegar to the broth and cook until the vegetables are tender. Serve as a thick soup or over boiled rice as a main dish. WARNING: grasshoppers should not be eaten raw as they may contain harmful parasites. Do not eat the large grasshopper legs as they have barbs which may stick in your throat.
Recipe: Cicada cookies 'Emergence Cookies'; "These should look like cicadas emerging out of a little pile of chunky mud!"
