lollipop with ants grown on the special farm - Wikipedia
In most of the Sci-Fi books or movies the future food is depicted as
colorful, shiny geometrical tablets. A report by the FAO came recently to
challenge this picture. The future food source is insects!.
In an interesting report by the FAO, it was predicted that some insects
might be the future source for protein instead of the currently used meat or in
addition to it. According to the FAO report the insects form part of the
traditional diets of at least 2 billion people around the world. More than 1
900 species have reportedly been used as food. The most commonly consumed insects
are beetles, caterpillars and bees, wasps and ants. Following these are
grasshoppers, locusts and crickets, cicadas, leafhoppers, plant hoppers, scale
insects and true bugs, termites, dragonflies, flies and other insects. The practice
of eating insects is known as Entomophagy (from Greek ἔντομον éntomon,
"insect", and φᾰγεῖν phagein, "to eat"). According to the
report, the insects may provide a rich source for proteins, in addition to micronutrients
such as copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, selenium and zinc, as
well as riboflavin, pantothenic acid, biotin and, in some cases, folic
acid. Of course the nutritional value depends on the type of insect and on the
method of preparation (raw, boiled, broiled, etc.).
The report also mention other benefits of consuming
insects: they can be also used as a food source for the livestock, and they
have economical value through stablishing“edible insects’ farms”.
After crossing the emotional barrier and terror to
those of us whom the idea of consuming insects is totally new, we might be able
to glimpse the benefits the FAO report mentioned. It is also worth mentioning
that it brings with it a whole set of unanswered questions: is it healthy? Should
we expect a new set of diseases through consuming different kinds of insects? What
are the risks in general? Studies can search for some of the answers in the
communities already consuming insects as part of their normal diet.
Sources:
- Edible insects Future prospects for food and feed security
- Edible forest insects
- List of edible insects of the world (April 4, 2012)
- Entomophagy - Wikipdia
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