Entomophagy: Eating Insects

Entomophagy is the human use of insects as food. The eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults of certain insects have been eaten by humans from prehistoric times to the present day.

Human insect-eating is common to cultures in most parts of the world, including North, Central, and South America; and Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Over 1,000 species of insects are known to be eaten in 80% of the world's nations. The total number of ethnic groups recorded to practice entomophagy is around 3,000. However, in some societies insect-eating is uncommon or even taboo. Today insect eating is rare in the developed world, but insects remain a popular food in many regions of Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Some companies are trying to introduce insects into Western diets. FAO has registered some 1900 edible insect species and estimates there were in 2005 some 2 billion insect consumers worldwide. They also suggest entomophagy should be considered as a solution to environmental pollution.

Definition of Entomophagy

Entomophagy is sometimes defined broadly to cover the eating of arthropods other than insects, including arachnids and myriapods. Insects and arachnids eaten around the world include crickets, cicadas, grasshoppers, ants, various beetle grubs (such as mealworms), the larvae of the darkling beetle or rhinoceros beetle, various species of caterpillar (such as bamboo worms, mopani worms, silkworms and waxworms), scorpions and tarantulas. There are over 1,900 known species of arthropods that are edible to humans.

Recent assessments of the potential of large-scale entomophagy have led some experts to suggest entomophagy as a potential alternative protein source to animal livestock, citing possible benefits including greater efficiency, lower resource use, increased food security, and environmental and economic sustainability.

History

Before humans had tools to hunt or farm, insects may have represented an important part of their diet. Evidence has been found analyzing coprolites from caves in the US and Mexico. Coprolites in caves in the Ozark Mountains were found to contain ants, beetle larvae, lice, ticks, and mites. Evidence suggests that evolutionary precursors of Homo sapiens were also entomophagous. Insectivory also features to various degrees amongst extant primates, such as marmosets and tamarins, and some researchers suggest that the earliest primates were nocturnal, arboreal insectivores. Similarly, most extant apes are insectivorous to some degree.

Cave paintings in Altamira, north Spain, dated from about 30,000 to 9,000 BC, depict the collection of edible insects and wild bee nests, suggesting a possibly entomophagous society. Cocoons of wild silkworm (Theophilia religiosae) were found in ruins in the Shanxi province of China, from 2,000 to 2,500 years BC. The cocoons were discovered with large holes, suggesting the pupae were eaten. Many ancient entomophagy practices have changed little over time compared with other agricultural practices, leading to the development of modern traditional entomophagy

Western Culture

Eating insects has not been adopted in the West, despite attempts to introduce insect based food in Western markets. The most likely early adopters of insects as a meat substitute in Western societies have been profiled as younger males with a weak attachment to meat, who are open to trying novel foods and interested in the environmental impact of their food choice.

Market introduction of insects foods is usually done by small companies, often startups. A few companies have introduced products made using insects, whole or processed into food products. Whole insects as snacks (Jimini's in France) or as novelties (HotLix lollipops in the US) are examples.

In France, the first online shop for edible insects and products with edible insects came online in 2009. They have been offered edible insects from Thailand, Africa and Europe especially as appetizer, a ready-to-cook range but also home made candies and gluten-free protein bars with bugs. In 2011, Micronutris created the first French farm to raise insects. They grow mealworms and crickets in the South of France at Toulouse and craft fine products with them. In 2013, edible insects ready to cook are back with the first recipe book in France, Délicieux ! 60 recettes à base d'insectes. The first North American edible insect online marketplace opened in 2015; and distributes products from entomophagy companies from the US, Mexico, Europe and Thailand.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entomophagy