CleverRoot

4 0 | t h e c l e v e r r o o t IMAGINE YOU HAVE A friend who paints beautiful pictures, but only uses red, pink, and yellow. Their work is more than satisfactory, but one day you show them the full spectrum of colors that exist—the blues, greens, purples, oranges, silvers, and other facets of the rain- bow—and they realize the vividness their paintings lacked before. That's more or less where we are now in the culinary world. While chefs utilize a massive range of raw ingredients, on the fringes exist innumerable flavors to explore. On that note, allow me to introduce myself: My name is Aly Moore, and I eat bugs—so many bugs, in fact, that I created Bugible, a blog about the world of edible insects, to share what I've learned. It might sound dubious to many, but bugs are sustainable, packed with nutrition, and actually tasty when prepared correctly. While studying public health and food policy at Yale University, I took a trip to Mexico and tried grasshoppers for the first time. After returning to the States, my impish inclinations led me to research how to purchase bugs that were safe for human consumption (to prank friends and family, of course). Due to the lack of information available, I ended up calling the owners of a few cricket farms, and those discussions changed my life. I soon began working closely with producers in the edible-insect sphere to educate Western consumers about this stigma- tized food. To reach broader audiences, I started hosting events like bug/wine pairings, dinners, and cooking classes where first-time bug-eaters could feel more at ease. My website, eatbugsevents.com, emerged as a means to make entomophagy accessible while educating the public and sup- porting bug-entrepreneurs simultaneously. A BUG'S LIFE Making the Six-Legged Leap A BUG EXPERT SHARES THE BENEFITS OF ADDING EDIBLE INSECTS TO YOUR DIET by Aly Moore photos by Ashley Corbin-Teich Packed with nutrients, edible bugs can be surprisingly tasty when prepared correctly.

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