CleverRoot

f a l l 2 0 1 8 | 4 1 Not Slimy, Still Satisfying Back in the 1960s, the arrival of sushi in the U.S. perplexed restaurant- goers. They couldn't wrap their heads around why people would eat raw fish, yet slowly but surely, more Japanese people conducting business in California would request this unfamiliar cuisine. We still weren't sold . . . until a clever chef introduced the California Roll, disguising the fish in rolls of rice and avocado and therefore making the dish less intimidat- ing for Americans. Photographs emerged of celebrities going gaga over sushi, and what had once seemed like an inaccessible trend was forever cemented in the American culinary zeitgeist. It's my hope that bugs will take a similar path, but a few steps must be taken to get there. One of the biggest factors is the name: We eat sushi, not raw fish; beef, not cows; and fruits and vegetables, not plants. This means we might need a better name for the bugs we eat. We also need to break down the biases and prior assumptions many people have about bugs. Nearly 25 years after the release of the Disney film The Lion King, some still look at edible insects and imagine the scene in which Timon and Pumbaa chow down on grubs, famously exclaiming "Slimy, yet satisfying!" as they slurp up the last worm. Many expect to bite into a bug and get a burst of slimy guts, but that's not the case at all. In fact, many edible bugs are dried and taste more like peanuts or sunflower seeds; they also often come ground up in protein- powder form. Bugs are typically sorted into three unofficial flavor categories: nutty and earthy like crickets and mealworms; fishy like locusts and scorpions; and meaty and savory (sago grubs, for example, are often called the bacon of the bug world). They also serve to open a dialogue about how what we eat impacts our bodies and our environment, as there's a reason a significant portion of the global population has consumed bugs for thousands of years. Choose any environmental metric you'd like—gal- lons of water, Co2 equivalents of greenhouse gases, acres of land, and feed-conversion-ratio comparisons, to name a few—and bugs come out ahead of traditional livestock. According to the educational nonprofit Little Herds, insects can be raised virtually everywhere, don't waste en- ergy converting feed into body heat, and on average produce 100 times less Co2 while taking roughly 1,000 times less water to raise. Bugs are also packed with nutrients, and while their nutritional value varies depending on the species and what they consume, comparing 100 grams of crickets to the same amount of beef finds the cricket contains all nine essential amino acids and two to three times more protein, cal- cium, iron, Vitamin A, fiber, and potassium. Considered to be roughly 60 percent protein, bugs pack such a nutri- tious punch because we also tend to eat the whole critter, unlike with animal products. Some parts of a bug's anatomy, like its exoskeleton, are also rich in micronutrients like Vitamin B12. Opening Minds and Mouths Given all of their proven benefits, why exactly do we find the concept of eating insects so difficult to swallow? Considering there are roughly 40 tons of bugs for every human on this planet, it's clear that while they're certainly not the solution to our global food problem, they can certainly play a valu- able role. A huge key to making that leap is to open a broader dialogue. We've made progress as a society before when it comes to addressing the prejudices that define what is and isn't acceptable to eat: Lobster, the creeping, shelled, 10-legged crustacean we so lovingly dip in butter, was once deemed too repulsive to occupy a plate, let alone a marquee menu spot at fine-dining restaurants. In many parts of the world, insects are already a popular—and important—dietary item. Let's continue to open minds and mouths by promoting the many intriguing attributes of our planet's six-legged livestock. When ground up into protein powder, edible bugs can be a satisfying addition to smoothies. Protein-rich bugs can also serve as a sustainable alternative to meat. ■cr

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