You Can't Eat That, But You Can Sure Try! Quiz

Answer: Entomophagy

The Online Dictionary defines the word entomophagous as "to be feeding on insects". Entomophagy as a concept, however, embraces more than insects within its sphere. It broadens the range to also encompass the consumption of arachnids (I believe tarantulas are very popular) and myriapods such as centipedes. The word "entomophagy" seems to be a modern term with the first known recording of it appearing in the middle of the twentieth century. It is considered to be of Greek origin, coming from the words "entomos" and "phagein". The former meaning "insected" or "cut in two" while the latter word is the verb "to eat".

Endodermal relates to the innermost of the three primary germ layers of an animal embryo, entremets are dishes served in addition to the main course of a meal and entozoic means living inside an animal.

Answer: True

People of many races have used insects as a means of nutrition for thousands of years. These days our senses are not so keenly attuned to this and, particularly in the Western nations, animals and fish are the preferred protein options. The "ick" factor when it comes to eating bugs is a powerful deterrent in most developed countries and, in a number of societies, there are also strong taboos about using insects for food.

Here's some food for thought (yes this is a bad pun but it is so intended): Western societies will readily adopt prawns (shrimp) and lobster into their diet as a source of protein yet these creatures have similar characteristics to some insects. One set is considered a delicacy while the other is looked upon distastefully as "a bug".

Insects, however, are still a sought after food source in some small areas of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Answer: Relies on external heat

The term exothermic is used in different ways in both physics and biology. In physics it describes a reaction that releases energy whereas in biology the inverse is true i.e. it describes an organism's ability to gather heat from its surroundings to reach its normal working temperature. Unlike insects, birds and mammals are endothermic, which means they will generate their heat requirements internally. To achieve this they will need fuel (food). "So what" you may ask.

The advantage that insects offer us as a food source is an opportunity to reduce our carbon footprint. Consider this; man is an endothermic creature, which means he needs food to generate internal heat.

He chooses his main protein source as traditional livestock such as beef cattle or sheep.

He then needs to clear land to farm them. These livestock are also endothermic and they too will need to be fed. Not only is this an inefficient way of feeding but it also requires more land be cleared to grow the grain to feed the livestock ... and so our circle widens. By reducing our reliance on traditional livestock and supplementing our diets with insects we gain spatial advantages by not requiring the same area of land to farm our protein or grow the additional grain to feed it.

Answer: Insects reproduce quicker

Insects will reproduce at a greater rate allowing you to build your stock holding faster. It is taken for granted that this is partly necessary as it will take greater numbers of bugs to produce a similar amount of product as an individual cow, sheep or pig.
Insects, however will take up less living space reducing the amount of land that needs to be cleared to house them. Likewise it would take a lot less to feed them. Drawing a longer bow, it could be debated that the rate of pesticide use will also reduce but stronger arguments can be mounted that the need for machinery would be less and that veterinary, slaughtering and transport costs could be decreased as well.

Answer: False

When you start to look at potential risks the first consideration that needs to be understood is that most of the insects that we consume are "wild harvested". This means that they're not bred in captivity, which, in turn, is an indication that their environment has not been controlled. It's at this point that you start to remember your mother's voice screaming at you as a youngster "Put that thing down, you don't know where it's been". Therein lies your first risk. Farmers will spray their crops with a wide range of chemicals and pesticides to protect their livelihood and any insect that comes in contact with these is a chance to bring some contaminant to your table.
In addition to this some insects have the potential to cause allergic reactions in much the same way as some seafood can. Some bugs may even have the capacity to be toxic to humans.
Having said that, if you are in the wild and you have to resort to feasting on bugs to survive, here's a simple rule of thumb that "may" save your life:
"Red, orange and yellow, forget this fellow.
Black, green or brown, wolf it down".

Answer: They are high in protein but low in carbohydrates

Whilst most insects provide a healthy high protein/low carbohydrate balance you should also bear in mind that how you prepare your meal will also have an impact on its nutritional value. For example, a deep fried cricket will have little difference to a deep fried piece of chicken.

In both instances you would have increased the fat levels and essentially turned them into slices of junk food. Professor Arnold van Huis, an entomologist at Wageningen University in the Netherlands provided a paper to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation spelling out the high protein advantages of insects as an alternative meat source for a hungry population.

In his report he spells out that there are other advantages when comparing, say, crickets with beef. One hundred grams of beef will provide double the protein of the same amount of cricket meat but the crickets will only provide 121 calories to beef's 288 and provide 6 grams of fat to beef's 21 grams.

In addition, crickets are also an excellent source of calcium, thiamine, riboflavin, phosphorus and iron.

Answer: No

The Old Testament has viewed most insects as dirty but indicated that there were certain types people could consume. The caveat was that there were only four insects acceptable to eat. These were the locust, the bald locust, the grasshopper and the cricket.

The first difference amongst these creatures is that they are "winged" insects that walk on all fours. The next separation they have is that they have jointed legs above their feet, which enables them to leap on the ground. All other insects are described in Leviticus 11: 20-23 as "detestable".

There are also passages in the Bible that describe John the Baptist surviving in the desert on little more than locusts and honey.

Answer: Australia

The witchety grub is common to Australia and Papua New Guinea where it is prized for its nutritional value and texture. Grubs are extremely rich in protein and are an excellent source of potassium and iron. The grubs are wood boring caterpillars of the Cossid moths (Cossidae) and because of the arboreal diet tend to have a very nutty flavour. They can be eaten raw but taste better after being toasted over hot coals.

Answer: Minilivestocking

Minilivestocking is not confined to the farming of insects. As the name suggests it embraces the field of small animal farming, incorporating creatures such as arthropods, rabbits, snails and guinea pigs. Insects offer a range of advantages. They do not need to be fed grains, which can then be utilised for human consumption.

When you add to this their higher food conversion efficiency, their ability to reproduce faster and their reduced need for space and water they do present a strong argument to being a more ecologically friendly farming operation than traditional livestock. However, there are some drawbacks. Due to the specialised nature of insect farming there may not be adequate veterinary support available, some species may be aggressive (wild bees for example) and may need extra care and precautions, which can lead to an increase in costs.

Some may be a hazard to the balance of the environment if they're an introduced species and manage to escape. Others may be a source of transmittable diseases.

Answer: No

The simple answer is "No" but there are a couple of ways to approach this. The first view is that "they'll taste how you expect them to taste". This means that you first need to get it out of your mind that you're eating a bug or, get past the "eeewwwww" factor. If you look at it and think to yourself "that's disgusting" then the chances that you'll find that toasted cricket at the end of a stick tasty are pretty remote. The second approach is with an open mind and that you treat your attempt as a "taste adventure". Not all bugs are going to appeal to your palate but the same can be said about fruits and vegetables. The bonus is that you give yourself an opportunity to be pleasantly surprised.
David Gracer, working as an adviser for the "Insects Are Food" organization, once wrote that insects can conjure up all sorts of flavours in much the same way that a fine wine can evoke different essences on the tongue. He advised that dry roasted crickets have a distinct sunflower seed taste, palm grubs taste remarkably like bacon soup and the toasted katydid has an avocado quality about it.

Bug appétit!