Some two billion people, about a quarter of the world’s population, already eat insects as part of their everyday diet, according to the United Nations. More people should join them, according to a growing tribe of bug advocates who champion insects as a healthy and green choice. But is the prospect of saving the planet enough to get people to sample their top creepy crawlies?
“We have to focus on making them delicious,” said New York-based chef Joseph Yoon, who designed the cricket-laced menu for the conference, along with Singaporean chef Nicholas Low. The event had permission to use only crickets.
“The idea that insects are sustainable, dense with nutrients, can address food security, and so on,” is not enough to make them palatable, let alone appetising, he added. Studies have found that crickets are high in protein. And rearing them required less water and land, compared with livestock.
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Insects may well become the “superfoods” of the future, as coveted as quinoa and berries. They may be grudgingly eaten, rather than sought out for the joy that a buttery steak or a hearty bowl of ramen brings.
