Is there something simple that you could do to help look after the future of our planet? There are lots of things that you do already, such as ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’, but have you thought about eating insects? This could make a big impact too!
Entomophagy is the eating of insects, which is something that we’ve done for thousands of years, if not from the time of the first hominid. Why are they not very popular in British diets? Over 2 billion people around the world eat them regularly!
Insects are rich in vitamins and minerals, as well as essential fatty acids like Omega-3. Some of them are also low in fat and are a good source of protein.
Farming for meat, particularly beef, uses about one third of our available land, including land used to produce the food that livestock eat, and has resulted in water shortages and deforestation, as well as creating about one fifth of our greenhouse gas emissions. Farming edible insects uses smaller amounts of land, water and feed and produces far fewer greenhouse gases.
Why not give it a try?
Look at the links below, if you want to find out more, including some delicious recipe ideas!
http://www.bugsfeed.com/are_insects_better_than_meat
Bugsfeed website – read it for recipe ideas, links to other sites focusing on insects and more detailed information about the nutritional values of various insects
Natural History Museum website
BBC Two – Tomorrow’s Food – This series is currently available on BBCiPlayer
Perhaps insects could be processed into something like tofu or quorn, which could then be used as meat substitutes. That would be more palatable (to me, at least) than a plate of insects!
I do NOT find insects appetizing.
(Just wanted to point that out)
Fair enough! I think our mental attitude towards them, in Europe at least, is that they are necessary for healthy plants and for other animals to eat. This is slowly changing though and who know what the future holds…
I found this intresting