Last week, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization suggested that edible insects could help secure the global food supply, fight world hunger, reduce greenhouse gases, and help save the environment.
We started wondering, which insects could we incorporate into our diet?
About two billion people around the world, mostly in tropical regions, already belong to cultures that traditionally consume insects. Insect-eating is even making its way into high-end dining.
We talked to Purdue University entomologist Tom Turpin and one of the report's co-authors, Arnold van Huis, for insights into the best edible bugs.
Mealworms are one of the few edible insects commercially available throughout the United States. They have a lot of healthy fats and are high in Vitamins A and B (including B12). "We gave people mealworm meatballs, which in a blind taste test they preferred over regular meatballs," van Huis said.
"When we do our demos, we cook mealworms in some kind of cooking oil or even butter, and you just stir fry them and they taste a little bit like popcorn," Turpin told Business Insider.
Tropical crickets, such as this one in Cambodia, are much larger than those found in cooler regions, and are packed with nutrients. "One of my students did a study on greenhouse gases, and found that insects emit 100 times less greenhouse gases than conventional livestock," van Huis said.
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