As far as low environmental impact protein farms go, I personally prefer shellfish. They’re delicious, can survive mostly on algae (which I’d love to become another dietary mainstay), and can be used to clear heavy metals in non-dietary utilizations. Spirulina is delicious as well, but tends not to be a great heavy metal sink.
In the end, I just don’t love the texture of most bugs and I hope sustainable protein farming can branch out more in the future.
I’m skeptical of any sort of seafood. Yes, it might be low environmental impact but we’ve overfished so much
Very fair. I’m not a fan of the misrepresentation of modern fish farms as sustainable, either.
The idea would be to farm shellfish, like we do tilapia.
Maybe the insect protein farms can be used to develop food supplements instead of just being food by themselves.
That’s pretty much my stance, if you make my protein bars with them or sausages or whatever that don’t look or taste like them, I couldn’t care less. Putting a huge, wiggly, juicy larva in my mouth is a hard no though.
In the end, I just don’t love the texture of most bugs and I hope sustainable protein farming can branch out more in the future.
That’s fair, and… to me the concept/look/smell is off-putting, but it’s a huge industry in much of Asia.
That’s honestly how I feel about shellfish as well.
Shellfish is also a common allergy
can survive mostly on algae
This reminded me of our pet crayfish Pinchy. I found him crossing a road not near any water after a storm and he was missing a claw. We kept him in a plastic tub and did nothing but add water and give him algae wafers for the 5 more years he lived. He grew his claw back and seemed perfectly happy to sit in the same place and not have to search for food for the entire time. Talk about a low maintenance pet!
Crickets are actually pretty tasty when prepared well; they make good snacks for when you want something crunchy like potato chips but with a heartier nutritional profile. I’ve had them in both sweet and savory flavors. Crickets are a tiny bit gritty as a protein powder, but still pretty good. I haven’t tried them as flour but it’s probably similar to the protein powder.
It’s not on the list, but I’ve always wanted to try honeypot ants.
Allergenicity? Are any humans allergic to insects as food?
A friend of mine is epi-pen levels of allergic to shellfish and they wouldn’t let him try crickets in culinary school because there’s often an overlap.
With 17 year cicadas popping up, people were eating them like shrimp. There were actually warnings put out by health agencies not to try it if you had a shellfish allergy.
Huh, TIL. I tried crickets once as a kid and don’t remember having any issues with it, but I can’t order cream cheese wontons from the Chinese place near my house because it’s the same fryer they use for squid. I found that out after I ordered them once and had a reaction. :/ Weirdly, I used to love crab rangoon before I went vegetarian and I never had a problem with it, and I don’t remember having problems the few times I’ve tried shrimp either. Squid has always been a problem for me though, the few times I’ve tried it or been exposed.
If it helps, that might be irrelevant for you! My friend mentioned that chitin was the issue (no idea if he’s right, please don’t take medical advice from me), so things like shrimp and crab are huge problems for him, but I think cephalopods less so
Yeah, in my case it might just be molluscs (or possibly just squid, but I’m probably going to avoid escargot and mussels), which is less common but possible - crustaceans only is apparently much more common, but they apparently generally associate the two because it’s not unusual for both to cause problems and with serious allergies it’s better to not fuck around and find out.
Must have an allergy to mollusks, but not crustaceans.
removed rather eat bugs than eat mushrooms.
In Clarkson’s farm last season he starts growing mushrooms in this tiny space and the production just looked insane, like come back two days later to kilos and kilos of mushrooms. I seriously considered starting this as a side gig but I don’t have any space for it.
The main issue is you can’t smell a TV show. Notice how he literally threw up inside his respirator?
Saw crispy cricket in a fancy package at the grocery store last week. Was intrigued but it was $15 for a fairly small package.
If they make 'em cheap I’ll try it.
The ones in the thumbnail look like silkworm pupas, which I tried cooked in oil in Korea. It was pretty good actually, like a nutty taste. Bit oily though-- wonder if they’d be good roasted instead.
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The thing in the thumbnail, I don’t know what it’s called but it’s tasty AF.
I’m pretty sure I don’t need to know anything about which insects people in Singapore eat
Explain
The article says “here’s everything you need to know”
While I suppose there’s uses for the knowledge of what insects are legal to serve as food in Singapore, it isn’t necessary knowledge unless I’m a restauranteur in Singapore thinking about insect food
No, I dont think I’ll eat bugs
Global warming killing off massive populations of livestock doesn’t care.
You will eat bugs; you already eat bugs. What percentage do you think is in your vegetables you eat, breakfast cereals, snack foods and other processed foods you buy?
Do you seriously think the factories that mass produce your food actually spend the money to fucking process your food in sterile clean rooms?
Accidentally eating a bug here and there is a bit different than scarfing down a bowl of centipedes, just saying.
The lizard overlords demand that you eat bugs.
You’d think they’d rather you didn’t so there’s more for them.
Why? Because they’re bugs? You probably consume yogurt and cheese. Did you know cheese is made with the gut bacteria from a cow? You like rotten gut milk. You probably also enjoy slave labor food.
Why draw a line at bugs lol? Not enough suffering involved?
Because theyre bugs. Please respect consent.
No I think it is petty and I find it extremely annoying as someone who handles food regularly the silliness people have about what is acceptable and what is not in terms of ingredients like this.
Make pigs suffer but bugs are ewwy? Grow up
You likely consume plenty of bug parts in your fruits and veggies and other plant-based products. Non-consentually.
Theres a difference between inperfect food prep, and intentionally eating a bowl of bugs.
I had to eat bug’s once I survival training. It’s disgusting. That’s the only time I’d eat a bug again
Y’all carnis are a joke. You will eat anyone rather than just eat fucking plants yo. It’s pathetic.
You think you’ve never ingested an insect eating plants? Really? This is a question of how many you’re willing to consume rather than whether you do or don’t.
Yeah, like I’ll eat yer mum
carnis
I think they prefer juggalos.
